Had a very frustrating day on Friday. Put the Justy in to Mr Clutch to have the slipping clutch sorted (an intermittent problem but like to solve things before they totally go wrong) Anyway I got the phonecall at lunch time that I had been expecting there was something else wrong. A leaking main oil seal from the gearbox causing the clutch housing to be "swimming" (their word) in gearbox oil.
Their solution working days and £200 - £250 to fix it. Seemed rather a lot as the gearbox was already off the car.
Rang my Subaru dealer in the north who is normally expensive who informed me that the clutch change would have been slightly more expensive (as use Subaru bits) but the oil seal is a quick job and wouldn't cost more than £100! (remember main dealer labour costs!)
Typical! trying to save money and has cost me a lot more has anybody else had similar problems?
Cheers Tom
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Tom,
Remind Mr.Clutch that the time to do the clutch is three hours and ask how much time they expect to spend on the seal.
Find out the cost of the seal from Subaru before speaking to them and then negotiate a price based on their published labour rate or a comparison of the labour quoted for the clutch compared to the shorter rear seal job.
I'm sorry to say that this is the much aired complaint of many fast fit outfits. That little extra job they find can be more than the original work.
True story:
Girl goes into a Midlands branch of a Kwite Fast outfit. Just wants a couple of cheap rear tyres for the ZX that she intends to sell in a few weeks. They fit a couple of remoulds for about £42. But in fitting the rear tyres they spot that the front shock absorbers urgently need changing! Just look at all that rust on the casing they tell her, they could fail at any time. So another £165 is paid out to change those.
Odd thing I serviced/test drove the car a week or two earlier so I know the struts were fine, and of course they all have surface rust after a couple of years. And even the original tyre fit was bodged. Next time I saw the car I noticed about half a pound of balance weights on one of the new remoulds rims. On driving the car it vibrated like the devil, the remould was out of round and would never have balanced out in a million years.
Oh dear.
David
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Negotiation failed even when it was pointed out that Subaru would change the seal for half the price, they have the upper hand as the car is in pieces and I can't put it back together and for me to go elsewhere will still cost me £200 just to have the original clutch put back in. But seems that there is little to do other than just recommend that nobody go any where near Mr Clutch. There are thousands of small garages who are much more professional and reasonable. I've got one who specialises in VW at home who charges £22 per hour labour have yet to persuade him that branching out into Subaru would be asute!!
Cheers Tom
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David W relates a tale about a fast fit outfit where the add on jobs can cost more than the original. The worst firm I saw for this was in Rotherham and they are now bust so there is some justice.
I can verify an almost identical tale to David's with, I suspect, the same firm except that in this case the shockers were not purchased. I avoid these places like the plague, but when I have no option, I have found that the way you are treated varies significantly according to whether you see you as being in your own or a company car.
If the company car its just what is needed and sometimes not even that, see other threads on tyres and leasing companies. If you are obviously a private punter the hard sell comes out.
I rememer HJ ran an article on this in the Tele some years ago (re exhausts?) there was one guy where they fitted new discs and in the end had to refund his money as it was proven not needed.
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I thought the favourite with 'Fast-Fit' clutch places was 'the flywheel is scored and needs skimming'
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Dave N,
Yes then the only skimming that goes on is that the gearbox is skimmed back into the car before you have a chance to see the "extra" problem and the cash skimmed from your wallet.
Any Mr.Clutch guys who might want to respond here I wonder. We wont tell anyone who you are.
David
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Maybe I better ring Mr Clutch and insist on inspecting the newly sealed gearbox on its return to make sure that it has been sealed I had been expecting to be told that the fly wheel was scored but they couldn't get away with it this time!!! there was still plenty of wear on the old plate and it was just slipping from oil contamination.
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