Mr.Clutch?

I would be grateful if anybody would share their experiences of Mr. Clutch, good or bad. My stepson put his Audi A6 in for a replacement clutch, having been quoted £350 for the job. Unfortunately, once the gearbox was removed the price rose to £1000 as it supposedly needs an new flywheel as well. When he related this story to friends at the local rugby club, he was told by several people "Oh, that's normal- Mr.Clutch are always doing that - you never get the job done for the original quoted price", and that they wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. Does it seem likely that he is being shafted? After all, an extra £650 for supply and fit (6 bolts?) a new flywheel seems a little on the high side to me - I know original German parts are always ridiculously expensive but that seems to be ripping the arse out of it. Any replies, helpful, sarcastic or even downright abusive gratefully received!

Reply to
Partac
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I don't know the A6, but if the flywheel is a dual mass one, they are prone to failure, and the price quoted could well be realistic.

Perhaps you/he should 'phone a dealer for a flywheel price?

FWIW, I know several folk who have used the local Mr Clutch; none of them would do so a second time...

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Well, a dual-mass flywheel for a diesel one is listed at £235 at GSF. I don't know if other A6 models use a DMF, but they are a common failing- official reccomendation is to change with the clutch, and to be honest, even that price sounds a lot cheaper than I heard quite recently.

My sister used Mr Clutch a few years ago: true to form they said the flywheel needed a skim (maybe it did!) but she just told them to fit the clutch anyway.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

much the same as all quick fit places, they have to boost the job to earn money, they have to estimate a low price to get you in. they don't get repeat business or recommendations so they just take everything they can off each person that walks in the door on their first and only visit. One of my customers went to a mr clutch, then asked me to fix the oil leak and the reversing lights!! I told her to take it back to them and I refused to work on it when she next asked. I would have done the clutch cheaper than them and done it properly first time.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Seems a bit churlish. Would you treat a new customer with a similar experience with Mr Clutch in the same way? Having said that I can still understand how you might feel. Mike.

Reply to
Mike G

Had similar problems with them several years ago. They reckoned my gearbox was damaged , all the bastards did was spray the gearbox green and call it reconditioned .The only problem was a slipping clutch unfortunatly my wife dealt with the problem initially as i was away from home .

An inspection revealed that the gearbox had not been changed , the clutch was the original unit , the adjustment mechanism had been adjusted but all the nuts were loose

biggest bunch of wankers on this earth

Reply to
steve robinson

It is because of stories like these that I let my cars fall to bits, it's too hard to find a honest mechanic.

A guy opened up locally car sales & garage about 6 months ago. We bought a car from him and he did some work on our other car, he was helpful, reasonable and seemed genuinely honest, I really liked the bloke. He shut down last week damn it.

Reply to
R D S

"R D S" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...

I have NEVER found an honest mechanic either. Most either lie to get rich quick, or work for the likes of Kwik Fit or Lookers. They seem to work on a performance related pay or bonus system so items that are not faulty get changed. Kwik Fit love telling lies to women about brakes and the pound signs start appearing if they see a baby seat. Main dealers like Lookers will often pass a car through an MOT without carrying out repairs and for some odd reason only known to VOSA staff, no action is ever taken until a customer has an accident and the police are involved. My local Lookers were investigated by Trading Standards who sent in a few test cars after a number of customer complaints. People were being ripped off, unauthorised work was carried out and people were charged for parts never changed during services. KwikFit management seems to pressure workers into getting as much as they can out of each customer in order to meet sales targets. A local RapidFit were also investigated after carrying out shoddy work. They did a classic of removing a seal but not putting an oil seal back, so the new clutch had to be replaced a few days later. On another car they claimed a blocked heater matrix was not at fault and it was the thermostat causing a lack of heat! They were all puzzled for two whole days as they couldn't work out how the water travelled from the engine and through the matrix. I also watched idiots working for MSF Ford wheelspinning across the workshop and beeping the horns as people were under the bonnet. All very silly.

Half the mechanics about now haven't got a clue, the other half is split between main dealers ripping people off by only knowing how to use a fault reader and others working on a points or bonus system to ensure the customers is being charged for work not required. Lie to make as much out of each person as possible.

I know of one branch of Lookers that passed a car through an MOT with a broken track rod end and wheel bearing. A full 12month certificate was given and the advisory note "lost". Another allowed a car out with defective brakes after the rear drums were put together incorrectly. There was no need to ever remove them. What about a bald tyre on a car that must have either not been inspected or had the bald one put back after the MOT.

VOSA will not get involved and no one will take reports of this kind seriously unfortunately. Even Trading Standards will only prosecute smaller garages and not big dealership names. There is an arrangement in place obviously.

We should all name and shame garages that rip us off. Next time you go to a main dealer, put a mark on your air filter and oil filter. You will be amazed how many charge for the parts and never change them. Vauxhall and Honda dealers are also well known for deliberately overfilling the engine oil so it goes above maximum. This could be to generate repeat business. So check the oil levels before you leave the garage. In both garages they have done this on three cars I sent in over a 6month period.

I took one car back to a Vauxhall garage and 5.2litres of oil was drained off after the mechanic had written on their healthcheck form "oil very slightly over maximum".

Garages are ripping customers off each day, so beware and refuse to pay for work that is NOT required and for parts NOT changed.

Reply to
Ian

"Ian" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I know plenty.

No, you don't. If the TRE was actually "broken", the car would be literally undrivable.

Strange how many people in the motor trade could probably name and shame plenty of customers who are trying to get something for nothing.

Reply to
Adrian
[...]

Welcome to the world of the motor trade! I also know of vehicles that are "paper legal", yet never went near the MOT bay.

(Sincere apologies to the likes of Mr Cheerful, reg, et al; if only there were more like you.)

Conor said it was his new Capri, so I'm guessing he bought it like that, rather than submitted it himself.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

What are you suggesting?!

Reply to
R D S

More than likely as he doen't live anywhere near Northampton either. He knows his Capris and wouldn't MOT a faulty car.

I have to say some bits of Holly's Mini should never have passed the MOT

- there is a fail sheet with it as well as the pass certificate, but at least one of the items on there was never done - exhaust mounting bracket - because there wasn't one and I had to fit it myself. Apparently it needed welding to the sill - there was a badly done patch on there (MOT legal but still badly done!) but I can also still see daylight through one part of the sill!

Reply to
asahartz

Copying and pasting your standard bullshit is really pathetic. I assume you must keep a folder full of notepad files, each with a different bollocks response to peoples questions?

Reply to
DanB

I suspect the indians are outnumbered by the cowboys...

Reply to
Colin Wilson

"R D S" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Quite. I wonder if Conor would have felt it necessary to mention if the tester had, say, an Irish sounding name?

Reply to
Adrian

Yeah, that's right. The previous keeper MOT'd it mid-June. I bought it the beginning of August.

Too chuffing right. I have one MOT station I use because I get a strict MOT. My old Capper never failed a test. One of the things on the new Capper is a fuelpump bracket next to the tank that's quite rotten. I was horrified to find it's not even testable.

The holes in the sill are obvious and have been there a while - they're not something that's just appeared - and one of them has been blatantly bodged with silicone.

I've got a couple more jobs I want to do on it before I deem it driveable to my satisfaction and if I were to sell it, I'd do them before I sold it, even though they're not testable items.

Reply to
Conor

My experience of MOT testers and garages run by ethnic minorities is that there's a higher percentage of them which are dodgy.

Reply to
Conor

Conor gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

formatting link
Method of inspection...

  1. Check the following for leaks or insecurity: c. all visible fuel system components.

Reasons for rejection... b. a fuel system component insecure.

Reply to
Adrian

Sadly a rotten bracket doesn't make it insecure. They're surrounded by a great big block of rubber and the pipes are so short, they hold it in place.

I'm still changing it though.

Reply to
Conor

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing but out of the last 5 garages I've used, 3 have been run by whitey and 2 by ethnic minorities. On satisfaction rating, the Ethnics are currently ahead. They both did top jobs, as did the garage in Missenden that Adrian used to use. The other two white run garages up North were *shit*. Dangerously so, to the point of putting a brake pad in the wrong way round. I still have the pad with the piston mark on the friction surface. I'm so glad I foudn out about that on the M65 at night..

MIke P

Reply to
Mike P

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