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I purchased a second hand 2014 Vauxhall/Opel Zafira Tourer 5 days ago. Last night I noticed that the clutch pedal wobbled to the left and right; there's even more movement when the clutch is pressed to the floor.

I'm not sure if this is a "feature" of the car, or possibly some sort of safety issue that I need to deal with right away.

The car is still under manufacturers warranty and only has 25k miles.

Any input in to the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Update Thank you both for your answers. I got the smartphone out and had a look around the pedal, but I couldn't see anything obvious that I could tighten. My wife took the car to the dealership today and they've ordered a new pedal box that they will fit on Thursday. (she's currently heavily pregnant and quite persuasive. I would have got fobbed off until next week!) Thankfully the part and ~8 hours labour are covered under the warranty. The mechanic said that the car is safe to drive in the mean time. Both answers were useful, but seeing as the actual solution was "take it to someone who knows what they're looking at", I've given the "correct" answer to the first poster. Thanks again.

2 Answers 2

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An "unhappy" amount of movement in the pedal doesn't seem right, especially in a new car. If no one here can give you a definitive answer, and looking at the pedal mount and linkage under the dash isn't possible or doesn't tell you anything, I'd encourage you to go visit the dealer. They can inspect it and you can try some new cars and see if they have similar behavior.

It could be normal, but it could also be a good catch of a developing problem.

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The first step is figuring out where the wiggle is coming from. Stick your head or a camera under the dash and check the pedal assembly. If you don't have an Olympic gymnast-like ability to contort your body under the dash, a good trick with these new-age smart phones is to stick your camera under there, record a video with the flashlight, and wiggle the pedal until you can see where the wiggling ends.

It sounds to me like the pedal is loose in it's mounting bracket, rather than just a loose pin where the pedal connects to the master cylinder fork, though it could still be something as simple as a loose bolt.

It may be something you can fix yourself, but as user 'dlu' suggested, I think you should take the car to the dealer so the problem can be documented, just in case you encounter the same problem down the road. especially since you're still under warranty. If you can pinpoint the source of the wiggle and show them the video evidence it may may expedite the service too!

Good luck!

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