Clutch Fluid Leak

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I was wondering if I could get a view from maybe a car assessors angle on the following.
I went to start my car one morning after it had stood on the drive for 3 days. It is a Volkswagen cc so you have to depress the clutch to start it. I did this and the clutch pedal didn't return. I called the breakdown service and he inspected the car, underneath it, inside by the pedal, under the bonnet and the reservoir level. All seemed fine to him so he couldn't identify any loss of fluid.
He then drove my car to the approved repairers. They say they did an inspection of it including the cylinders and removing the engine covers etc and they found no loss of fluid. They diagnosed contaminated fluid and so drained and replaced it. I used it for one journey of approximately 18 miles and then parked the car up. A few days later when I came to use it the pedal was back on the floor and the fluid over the driveway.
The warranty refused to pay out saying it was a long term leak. The repairers hadn't told them that they had worked on it and inspected it 18 miles ago.
Could the repairers diagnosis have been wrong ?
I know the failed part would have needed replacing anyway but the clutch was contaminated so the damage far worse.
Another point I would like to make is that when the warranty company sent an assessor in to the garage I noticed that at the top of the report he is informed of what type of warranty I have and that cause of breakdown being latent build up is unlikely. I also noted that the garage had backdated the claims date and added around 50 miles to the recorded mileage on the car. I must stress that it was on paper only for the assessors report. They also with held the information from him that they had worked on the car. His findings were that the fluid leak had been there for around 1000 miles and that I should have noticed the symptoms.
Thanks
 
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Watched a video on YouTube some years ago with clutch pedal sticking down that would fix itself only to happen again at random.

Been part bombed with new oil and cylinder ect but fault remained. Could go week with no problems then stick down.
Turned out to be a rubber O ring jammed in pipe moving about and would randomly cut off the oil causing pedal to stick down. The clue was in paperwork as a small leak from new was fixed under warranty and it was thought the O ring was left and accidentally jammed in when replacement pipe was fitted. Swapped the pipe £18 and all good. I can find video if you want.

Other problems I've seen are links coming apart only to pop back on by themselves. Each one needs inspection.

Costly part bombing with guesswork is not the way to go
 
Thank you Wayners. The breakdown was due to the concentric slave cylinder failing after the garage worked on it but the warranty have said it wasn't a sudden breakdown because it had been leaking for up to 1000 miles in the assessor's opinion but he was never told that both the breakdown mechanic and their approved repairers had inspected the car 18 miles earlier and found no leaks. It has now cost me nearly £1000 to repair because the warranty said it is wear and tear.
 
How long you had car? If fault was existing you can claim against the company that sold you car?
 
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I have had it nearly 3 years but took out the extended warranty. It just annoys me that it was their repairers that may have mis- diagnosed the problem and charged me 154.95 to fix it the first time and then nearly £1000 to fix it again, and also that by backdating the claim they were committing fraud.
 
On my vw caddy the clutch pedal went straight the floor, after being parked. There was no fluid leak, turned out the be the unit behind the pedals, slave or master cylinder... it was an easy cheap fix.
£35 for the bits. I had never changed one before.
 
Thanks Mr Chibs
I do think they got the diagnosis wrong and caused more damage.
 
Watched a video on YouTube some years ago with clutch pedal sticking down that would fix itself only to happen again at random.

Been part bombed with new oil and cylinder ect but fault remained. Could go week with no problems then stick down.
Turned out to be a rubber O ring jammed in pipe moving about and would randomly cut off the oil causing pedal to stick down. The clue was in paperwork as a small leak from new was fixed under warranty and it was thought the O ring was left and accidentally jammed in when replacement pipe was fitted. Swapped the pipe £18 and all good. I can find video if you want.

Other problems I've seen are links coming apart only to pop back on by themselves. Each one needs inspection.

Costly part bombing with guesswork is not the way to go

Was that Alan Howatt with the Mondeo?.
 
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