Have I been another female ripped of from my local garage?

Question

Last night my car broke down on me. The cluctch just gave way to the floor. I had to get it towed to the nearest Garage i Stratford. At the garage I have been told that bearing had gone and they fixed that and he put in a complete new clutch.......he charged me £230 including parts and labour but that was because initially he thought it was the clutch cable. Can anyone help.

Answer 1

i own and operate a repair shop,and if he put in a complete clutch and pressure plate,and all the needed parts in it,that wasn't a bad deal, i would have asked to see the old part though but when a pressure plate gets worn out where the bearing rides on it,you have to replace it,so he only probably did what had to be done on it,he would have had to replace the clutch disc and the pressure plate and the release bearing in it,so that wasn't bad ,providing he really did all of that,id find out for sure,good luck with it i hope this helps.

Answer 2

Did he not tell you exactly what had failed and ask your permission to deal with it? I'd suspect a broken cable or failed master cylinder too, but it is possible (just) that the clutch needed to be dismantled, in which case it would be sensible to replace the it at the same time if it was wearing.

If he just replaced the cable, you've been done. If he actually did replace the clutch you actually got a good deal. Like has already been said there should be witness marks on the gearbox bolts if it has been removed recently.

Answer 3

show me the parts...good mechanic would have showed you the used and damaged parts ........now...does the clutch feel like new now, any complaints with how the job came out?the good news...the first thing that I would have looked at would have been the cable..had that been fine I would have moved on to the clutch, bad throwout bearing is normal you have to learn to take your foot off the clutch pedal..dont say you do cause thats the only thing thats going to cause it to fail..this in turn causes the fingers on the preassure plate to wear out ...the disk was probably fine...you never do that job without changing the disk So to answer your question he didn't charge you for a cable so I would say that he charged you for the repairs needed Let this be a lesson to you ask to see the defective parts and when not shifting put your foot back on the floor not on the clutch pedal

Answer 4

If it was a broken clutch cable then yes you were, if it was the throw out bearing, then probably not because he would have to pull the transmission to get to it, and while he has it apart, you might as well put a new clutch plate and pressure plate in if the car has a fair amount of miles on it. Good luck

Answer 5

depending on the vehicle 230 isn't a bad price for a clutch. if they had to replace the thrust bearing it comes as a kit including clutch plate, so doing the whole thing is visable otherwise come 2 months the plate might need doing so another 230 to pay out. nowadays most cars dont have a cable they are hydraulic again you'd have to change the whole clutch

Answer 6

Foot to the floor would be as described above , fluid loss or cable. It is hard to see the actual clutch componants causing this, unless the pivot arm in the gear box went on a cable , but this is not what has been said. I think it may be worth getting a freind to look at the various mounting bolts on the gearbox , if this has been removed recently you should be able to see witness marks. Without seeing the parts though you may struggle to prove anything without actually whipping it out again. Good luck.

Answer 7

what kind of car and how long did they have it there? sounds like they may have fixed it way to fast to have replaced the clutch. if the throw out bearing was bad then it would make sense to replace the clutch while they had it apart. But i don't think your clutch falling to the floor is indicative of a bad throw out bearing. possible a broken clutch cable or a bad hydrualic slave cylinder depending on what your car is equiped with.

Answer 8

If the clutch pedal just went to floor, it most likely was a clutch cable (unless the clutch is hydraulic, in which case it is either a master or slave cylinder failure).

The price you were given was reasonable IF they actually replaced the clutch. In your situation, I'd be worried that they just replaced the clutch cable, but charged you for a clutch replacement. I'd ask to see the old parts.

Answer 9

When the clutch gives way like that it's usually that the cable has broken, if the clutch itself had broken I would have expected you to notice it start not working properly for some time before finaly breaking.

It sounds to me like it's just the cable that broke.

All I can suggest is that you find a reputable garage (word of mouth is usually the best recommendation), and maybe get a Haynes manual for your car. Also somewhere like Kwik-Fit should be ok - you can usually watch them doing the work and they should have prices ready before you agree to any work being done.

I tend to drive old/basic cars, one reason being that if they brake down I like to think I have a good chance of repairing them myself - with modern cars even minor problems can cost a fortune because whole units of mechanical/electrical bits have to be changed.

Answer 10

Sounds like it should have been more. Some garages charge by the hour and a new clutch isn't the easiest of jobs. Best thing to do is phone up the garage pretend to have the same problem and ask how much to do the same job and see what your quoted.......