Clutch went, 'mobile mechanic'accross the road said he could fix for £500. Fine, go ahead. Came back to me, needs a clutch slave in addition to 3 part clutch taking price to £620 - reluctancly go ahead (car worth about £700). I went on holiday came back to an additional bill for £250 for, in addition to the above, replacing master cylinder and pressure testing clutch. Final bill £870. Is the gadge at it or is this just cars?
I wouldn't pay for something that I've not been told about. Seems a bit sus that all these things went wrong at once.
Should always ask you before going ahead with any work.
He's at it I reckon.
You can have clutches replaced for £350.
Whooa what car?!!
My old Forester (quite complex to access the clutch as you need to take alot out first just to get anywhere near it) was only £350.
Ring around a few garages for a 'quote'. Give them your car details and say 'this is what a mechanic mate says is needed - roughly (worse case) - what price do you think'.
Then speak to this mechanic.
My old Passat clutch was fancy-la dual mass thingy job and cost £600+ for parts alone, so your cost it not unreasonable with any extra work. Can't comment on if that work is needed...
In my experience if the car was designed to have a 3 part clutch then surly it would come in the kit and one price.. and yes maybe the clutch master did need replacing but for all the price you paid you think the pressure test would be part of it..
thats alot of money to have a clutch and master replaced.. depending on the car and the cost of parts...whats his hr rate?
Ask him if he wants the car in payment.
If he says it's not worth it then ask him why he went ahead and did work that was worth more than the car?
Him being a neighbour makes it all a bit more awkward though.
Bloke who lived next door to us ran a big local building firm. I asked him about getting some work done and he said he'd never do work for neighbours or freinds as he'd had his guys do stuff as a favour for people in the past and it had ended up causing problems.
What car?
My car is worth (guess) £900 MAX. I wouldn't spend more than £200 on any one repair on it. Its due its MOT in 3 weeks. If any repairs go over £200 I'm binning it.
Bloke who lived next door to us ran a big local building firm. I asked him about getting some work done and he said he'd never do work for neighbours or freinds as he'd had his guys do stuff as a favour for people in the past and it had ended up causing problems.
I have a very mechanically minded retired Engineer on our road who is currently doing up a old Beetle (ground up restoration).
He once told me he'd done a neighbour a favour for a few quid and it turned into the favour from hell when something needed drilling out with hours and hours of work. It still wasn't right. He looked haunted by the experience.
Then ontop of that there was XTR-rear mechgate where I ended up giving a neighbour an XTR rear mech after a favour went wrong....
Never ever again when it comes to neighbours.
Audi A4, 2001ish model.
came back to an additional bill
All other things aside, he can roll this tightly and grease it lightly. You haven't authorised the additional work, simples.
brother in laws citroen picasso's clutch went and that was extorionate
brother in laws citroen picasso's clutch went and that was extorionate
Subaru (officially approved) in Stockport ask for £1,000
Subaru specialist but 4miles away asked for £350.
Very very expensive that, what's a clutch pressure test all about??
I'd also question, was it the Clutch that had gone or was it the Master Cylinder, I can understand the slave going along with the Clutch, but for both to go it a bit coincidental......
My brother in law paid less than that for a clutch, slave & dual mass flywheel in a Mondeo.
Thanks for feedback. Am somewhat over a barrel, as have already paid the £620. On the hourly rate, he has charged me £120 labour to fit master cylinder. Seems a lot. I'll put it down to experience.
I'd also question, was it the Clutch that had gone or was it the Master Cylinder, I can understand the slave going along with the Clutch, but for both to go it a bit coincidental......
Id debate the former (nothing in the slave to make it go with a worn friction plate surely?), but then gain it could have been the slave that failed and covered the friction plate in oil/fluid.
But......
A failing master cylinder could be miss diagnosed as a worn clutch?
addition to 3 part clutch taking price to £620
All clutches are 3 part (friction plate, pressure plate, bearing)
OP
I'm happy to help with advice, but I really need as much information as possible:
Year: 2001
Make: Audi
Model: A4
Engine size: ?
Petrol or diesel?
Engine code (if possible) In your case if it's a diesel it will have a 3 letter code on a paper label in the spare wheel well.
With this info I can give you a figure for the 'book time' for the job and a rough estimate of the cost of the parts.
Having said all that a clutch pressure test is a new one on me, but I've only been repairing Cars for 25 years, so what do I know?
Hth
Marko
Jesus thats well over the top considering my commercial Van has a heavy duty clutch with a dual mass fly wheel which has to been done at the same time and the total for all works was £800 i would say he is doing you big style !
Also ask to be shown all old parts and show you the shiny new master cylinder on the car you can tell if its old or not 😉
I drove from Devon to Stafford on tuesday to get my golf sdi repaired. It need a full exhaust and cat, rear springs, anti roll bar bushes and drop links and rear discs and pads and 2 abs sensors. Including parts, labour and fuel it cost £550. Bargain
Finding a good mechanic is hard. I also think it is mad that i can drive 500 mile return journey and save myself £300 over local garages.
The price depends entirely on the car and available parts prices, but he shouldn't have done the extra work without asking.
However:
1) Clutch kits are generally ~200, plus about 4-5 hours to install - not impossible depending on his prices.
2) There's no way in hell the slave and master have failed together (it's bloody unlikely either failed to be honest) and there's no need to pressure test anything (at least not in a way that is chargeable).
Sounds to me like an incompetent or out to get you, but it's hard to say to be fair, without looking over the car in person.
FWIW I can have a clutch replaced on the GT4 for £350+VAT, that's a £180 clutch kit and what's quoted as 12 hours by a Toyota dealer (only the guy I know knows what he's doing). If you wanted a new slave cyl it'd be £30ish and a bleed. Master would be a lot more im sure.
A failing master cylinder could be miss diagnosed as a worn clutch?
No, failing master would simply not put sufficient pressure on the plate and so no disengage it. So I guess it all hangs on what he thought was wrong with the clutch in the first place.
Soops my old legacy failed its mot on a rotted exhaust (54 plate) again Subaru wanted 1k but a drive to Birmingham for a 300 aftermarket catback one was better. 250 mile round trip- well worth it!
my guess is scam. It is bad form to do work without asking and even worse to do it on a low value car to more than it is worth.
hora, it is mad that i had to do it. Whats the world coming to!
There is something to be said for spending more on a car than it's worth. Cos then, you know you've got a new one of whatever bit it is. If you buy another old car for the same price then that bit might fail again at any time.
I know what you mean molgrips but you can get sucked into a real moneypit.
You need to know when to throw in the towel on a particular car. Even if you ended up replacing everything in a car the new oldest bit is only guaranteed for 12months.....
Seen it on a certain brand of car where a worn clutch causes the master cylinder to over stroke and die !
But usually you **** the mc first replace it and it goes again soon after rather than think ah ill change the clutch the first. Time it dies !
Possible ?
Hora.. yes.. but replacing a permament stream of knackered old cars is also a moneypit. I spent quite a lot on my cheap old Passat, but then I ended up with a car with new injectors, shocks, springs, water pump etc etc, which I wouldn't have got even if I'd spent five grand.
I reckon as long as the body's good and the engine's fundamentally sound you are good to go. Takes a bit of effort mind.
Id debate the former (nothing in the slave to make it go with a worn friction plate surely?), but then gain it could have been the slave that failed and covered the friction plate in oil/fluid.
On a lot of modern day cars the Salve is part of the release bearing, so if the clutch has overheated the slave can be damaged, i.e. rubber seals etc....
