Learning to drive a manual car can be difficult. Those of us who still remember learning the ol’ three-pedal setup made plenty of embarrassing mistakes. Although the worst I ever did was roll back and give the car behind me a big scare or maybe spun some tires here or there, I never destroyed a clutch, unlike this young man who test drove a brand new Mazdaspeed3 back in 2010.

Test driving a Mazdaspeed3 as your first time driving a manual is probably a bad idea 

The Drive reports that a thread on Reddit described by poster HairJordan87 says a “kid from the rich part of the state” came to the dealership and, while accompanying a salesperson, test drove a new, red 2010 Mazdaspeed3 for under 30 minutes before the salesperson noticed an issue with the car. The salesperson then took the helm to find the clutch able to hang on just long enough to get back to the car lot. 

The poster, HairJordan87, told The Drive, “We knew the clutch was screwed as soon as we heard it get back into the lot. He goes on to say that the final word on the clutch came when the car had cooled down, and they found that the gear shift would no longer budge. “After it was parked and had cooled down, it would not move out of any gear. That’s when we pushed it in, and I dropped the transmission. All of that clutch material had fallen out as soon as I separated the engine and transmission.”

What happens when you damage a car during a test drive?

Well, typically, the old adage, “you break it, you buy it,” applies in this sort of situation. Of course, once the kid’s dad stepped in on behalf of his son, the pair of “not so hot shoes” not only didn’t pay for the damage but, of course, decided not to buy the car, leaving it for another unwitting buyer. 

The clutch-struction was thankfully covered under warranty, and a new clutch kit was installed. Although the Reddit user mentioned the flywheel was discolored but not damaged, so the warranty wouldn’t cover its replacement. 

Learning to drive a manual car can be hard, but it ain’t that hard

Blowing up a clutch in under 30 minutes, however, is a feat indeed. The audacity of going to a dealership and driving something you know you don’t have the skill set to operate is beyond stupid. 

The shame here is that a perfectly good Mazdaspeed3 was treated so poorly in the hilarious process of eviscerating a clutch that quickly. 

The Mazdaspeed3 is a sneaky cool car

You know a car is cool when the manufacturer stops making it because it wants to become “more mature and upscale.” That is honestly the lamest thing any care maker has ever said. Full stop. Think about how many performance cars this statement directly insulted; Insinuating that a  BMW M4 or Cadillac CTS-V isn’t luxurious or upscale. Pssssh.