I don't recall my dad ever having a clutch done on his cars. And the
only engine problem we had was on the 1968 bus (1500 engine), which
burnt its valves. My brother rebuilt it and drove it to Denver (and
burnt the valves getting there.) He rebuilt it again (as a 1600) and
it lasted for 20 more years before it was converted to a 2 liter. It
was sold to a friend and we kept track of it until 1998, when that
guy finally sold it.

Which departs from the original. My dad drove VWs until the service
locally declined then he switched to Toyotas until their service
declined. Then Subarus and he moved to Florida. He's back with
Toyotas again (Prius) as Subaru doesn't have a hybrid. With the Prius
he finally does not drive a manual. Of course the Prius does
regenerative braking, so the intent is the same.

As to the worry about wear on the engine. We use good oils and change
the regularly. And don't have any problems that can be attributed to
"increased wear" on the engine.

On Apr 26, 2006, at 12:44 PM, Sam Walters wrote:

> Not really disagreeing with the concept, but just raising a point of
> inquiry.
>
> But what is the rate of clutch replacements when you emphasis its
> use so
> heavily in deceleration.  Clutch jobs are much more expensive than
> brake
> jobs.