16,000 miles on a clutch is ridiculous, definitely a defect.

Probably not, but they haven't torn it open yet; once they do I will make the case for it.

That's ridiculous

And if they tell you it's your problem, you have to pay the Stealership double what an indy would have charged for a new clutch?

Worth a shot I guess, but man that would annoy me.

Happened on my 330i too. I don't recall the exact mileage when it ran out of clutch disc, but I remember it being somewhere in the high-teens. Dealership quietly replaced the clutch assy without any fuss or $ charge, and said that it was a bad PP.

Could the clutch be under engineered for the R Golf variant?

Hopefully JST’s dealer does the same.

It should be warranteed. But it's VW, so I'm not optimistic they'll cover it without a fight.

Fingers crossed. There has got to be some underlying (non-driving style) problem that led to the early wear. It didn't clamp well, or something leaked into it or a bearing, could be many...

I wonder if maybe just one pad became unrivetted, flopping around making smells (and adding shudder)