Your make specific forums are usually the best bet for finding good make specialist indies.

You can't compare a general all make indy garage with a make specialist, where the specialist indy beats the main dealer into dust is that the indy is concerned with saving you money, hence repairing things where possible and if they've found a way of condensing a 5 hour job into 1 hour, they'll charge accordingly, where the main dealer mechanic will make bonuses because you'll be charged full price regardless, most main dealers don't repair anything, they fit new parts.

1st thing i'd try would simply be Googling "VW service near me". This will almost certainly give you the nearest main dealer, but it should also give you some other options. You will have to sift through which, if any, of the results 'specialize' in VW, but with Google you should also get reviews.

2nd thing i'd try would be asking on a VW forum or owners club. Seeing as you mention forum enthusiasts, i'm assuming you are already a member of a VW forum?.

3rd and final suggestion, is to look at the ads in a VW magazine.

There is a huge VW following in this country, so unless you live somewhere very remote, i doubt you should have much trouble finding a VW specialist not too far away.

How can I find a capable and trustworthy independent garage that are VW experts but don't charge such high rates or is this just not possible?

They certainly exist - less than a mile from me in Cheshire is a decent bodyshop which also specialises in VAG repairs, charging about £50 an hour. Google or Yellow will turn up something, but word of mouth is the safest route. Ask around.

Have a look at the Good Garage Guide on this site (click on it right at the top of the page) and see if there are any good independent VW specialists within striking distance. They are likely to have considerably lower labour rates than the main dealers, who have their glass palaces to maintain.

You don't say what engine your's is fitted with. but there are two types of clutch slave cylinder fitted.

On the smaller petrols it's an external slave (outside the gearbox and easy to change) .

On the bigger petrols and diesels it's a concentric slave cylinder which is inside the bellhousing and even though the part is cheap it's a big labour cost and you will probably need to change the rest of the clutch as it's probably been contaminated with brake/clutch fluid - it's also false economy not to replace whiltst you have the gearbox off the car.

PS - frequently garges replace the master cylinder first as it should be a fairly cheap job (er yours wasn't) - just in case this is the issue -but it's usually the unreliable concentric slave cylinder, also unreliable on other car makes! The next bit is an expensive job - time to move away from the main dealer me thinks if that is what they charged for the master cylinder replacement - wow!!! As it is clutch, I doubt you'll get very far with customer services. Beware the next hit of a few hundred pounds just for diagnostic charge!

Look out for dripping brake/clutch fluid underneath from the base of the gearbox bellhousing.

Edited by Big John on 21/11/2019 at 20:51