worse case scenarios

[joflasher]

I need to stop planning for worst case scenarios. Every time I do, that scenario happens. Today is an excellent example. My car is in the shop getting some work done. My car has been having transmission problems in 5th gear. You let out the clutch, gears engage. You stomp on the gas and all of a sudden you loose power and the RPMs spike. 2 seconds later, the RPMs go back down and you start accelerating. So into the shop it goes.

The shop just called, they say I need a new clutch. What the FUCK! This car only has 40,000 miles on it, why the HELL would it need a new clutch? Now I believe them, don't get me wrong. I don't think they are lying about it needing a new clutch. Still, I only put 16,000 on it since I got it and I can't imagine what the old owner did to it to destroy a clutch in 40,000 miles. I will never buy a used car again if I have the money to afford a new one. Oh, and they say it'll cost $900 for them to replace the clutch. For some reason, I thought manuals were cheaper than automatics and they only wanted 1150 to redo the whole transmission in my old escort.

Not a good day!

Comments

[meerkat299.livejournal.com]

$900 may be about right for replacing a clutch in that car as long as they are replacing it with a name brand clutch (with a long life expectancy). I have replaced the clutch in my civic twice (every 75k miles or so) and it has usually cost $600 for the cheapo clutch and $800 for the good Honda clutch (including labor).

[luminifer.livejournal.com]

just out of curiousity... are you sure it needs the new clutch?

just asking because i've heard of so many people getting ripped off by auto people... even silly things like air filters at jiffy lube (they'll say it needs replacing, and charge you, and not replace it!)

Re:

[flasher.livejournal.com]

well, something is definitely wrong the transmission and Josh thought it was the clutch as well.

ouch

[snarx.livejournal.com]

You have my sympathy - I've just spent £200 on a car I don't even own!!

[talldean.livejournal.com]

A new clutch isn't uncommon at 40k miles if you're hard on it, or if you ride the clutch a lot.


$500-$1000 is a reasonable range for a new clutch. I'd say find out how much of that $900 is parts, and how much is labor, and get a second opinion.

I don't know what you drive, but my guess is that $1000 would buy you a racing-grade clutch at the right shop, and junk at the wrong one.

Re:

[vandebeast.livejournal.com]

I figure my clutch'll be toast by 40k-50k. Then I have a tendancy to dump a lot of power onto it.

If I remember correctly it is a Subaru, which probably has more expensive parts that a simple Escort. Although I haven't been pricing things for a while.

Re:

[flasher.livejournal.com]

Already okay'ed the work since I can't really do much without my car. Its a subaru forester and I'm getting the work done at one of thier in-house shops. Probably more expensive labor wise than somewhere else but I trust them to use good parts and do a good job.

Re:

[talldean.livejournal.com]

That makes *much* more sense.

The dealerships charge more than anyone else by a heavy margin. On the other hand, they stand by their work, and they always use the right parts.

In Van's car's case, however, I'd recommend buying a performance clutch; he'll notice the difference, I think, and the cost difference isn't terrible.

Re:

[vandebeast.livejournal.com]

I'm not there yet, but I'm figuring I'll get one rated for a 600 ft-lb torque and 600 hp engine. I guess you can connect the dots and figure what I may want to do with the engine. :)

Re:

[talldean.livejournal.com]

(sorry to pwn flasher's post, but...)

Yeah. Got the dot-connection skills there.

My girlfriend's brother has a '92 Mazda 626 somewhere between 500 and 600 horsepower, with most of the extra weight stripped out of it. His primary concern now is shattering the gearbox when really laying into it.

I'm currently driving a Hyundai Elantra. Once it's paid off (two, three years?) going to consider dumping an engine from a Mitsubishi Evo into it, since they use the same mounts... Little bit of extra work there puts me into 300+ hp into a very nondescript car. :)