Ridiculously priced clutch replacement?

[dancool08]

Hi guys!

Long time reader - first time poster.

So on the weekend I was unlucky enough to have a breakdown requiring a tow - turns out the clutch completely failed.

I got on the phone to a Land Rover specialist in Burwood (are we allowed to say the name of the place here?), who advised that it would be about $1.8k if it's just the clutch, or about $2.6k if the flywheel has gone, which was most likely the case. On that basis I got it towed there.

Lo and behold, I get a call today saying that the total job is looking at around $4-4.5k! Obviously I was shocked and confused so have asked for a full itemised list of what needs replacing etc and will let you guys know when it comes through. But off the top of my head, they said the clutch completely burnt out, which in turn affected the clutch bearings, the fork, the pistons of something else and on top of that the cost of flywheels has gone up by $400 in the last few weeks apparently. There's also a fuel regulator leak that's dripping onto the right side of the engine that they can fix for another $500 (including one hour labour) since they have everything out already.

Does this sound right? Am I just super unlucky or am I being taken for a ride here?

Thanks a lot!

Dan

[Roverlord off road spares]

Hi Dan, check your PMs.

[dancool08]

Hi guys, for those interested, here's the quote (details omitted):

[justinc]

Looks pretty right to me :( ,as if all that gets done at the same time the bill will be pretty high. A straightforward clutch replacement is going to be easily $2500. The slave cylinder, fork and pushrod aren't cheap, and the CPS may have logged a code due to the diesel leaking on top of it etc.


:( :(

JC

[rangieman]

No naming and shaming so id edit your quote or this thread will get booted real quick;)
You will always pay dearly for the parts from such people as they all put their mark up on top of the parts.
I see Mario sent you a pm and i think you will get a big surprise at the difference in the cost of parts if you sourced them your self.
Me i would not pay that sort of money as i can and do all that work my self but if people are not that way inclined or time poor you are stuck:cool:

[dancool08]

Thanks guys. Edited it.

Unfortunately I have no mechanical ability so I'd undoubtedly make things worse :o

[Roverlord off road spares]

I have referred him to a more user friendly Land Rover mechanic.

[laney]

Dam that's expensive I sourced a heavy duty clutch and single mass fly wheel myself and had an independent land rover specialist put it in was about $2k that was about 2years ago. I avoid land rover work shops like the plague rip you of every time.

[Roverlord off road spares]

The prices quoted are full list price.

[justinc]

SO.MUCH.HATE. Laney.

Not all places are out to do this. We've been down this rd before many times .

workshop overheads are high. Retaining good staff is $$.
Equipment costs $
Insurance costs more every year.
If you have nothing nice to say best say nothing at all.
Kind of over it really. We all have families and rent to pay. And any impact on profitability such as customers supplying their own ebay specials just brings us slowly but surely towards closing the doors. The costs go up and the profits go down just what in the heck do you think will eventually happen. THEN there will be all sorts of wailing and gnashing of teeth because there are no more specialist shops around to fit those parts that people have purchased for someone else to fit.

Yes i have had a bad day, and yes i am becoming more and more disenfranchised with the way the industry and the behaviour of the public is heading...

Not happy jan....

Jc

[justinc]

By the way i have totally no issue whatsoever with ebay sellers etc (Mario hope you didn't get the wrong idea😮) as the diy brigade depend 100% on your market position.

Just to clarify ☺

Jc

[weeds]

I'm hearing you JC.....

[Roverlord off road spares]

By the way i have totally no issue whatsoever with ebay sellers etc (Mario hope you didn't get the wrong idea😮) as the diy brigade depend 100% on your market position.

Just to clarify ☺

Jc
Justin no I didn't get the wrong idea, but those part prices are full list price, I wasn't disputing the labour costs . Some people can get away with charging customers full list price on parts.
Cheers, Mario

[timdo1]

I replaced all of mine and the fly wheel about 2 months ago. The whole thing was done for 3k. I sourced all the parts except for the flywheel and the new slave cylinder. The labour component was a bit over $1k. I bought the plate, clutch and bearing from a guy off ebay in tassie. He also has access to the flywheel and can get them to Vic fast. He only used original parts and the price was good. b4wdaust on eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/usr/b4wdaust?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754)

Shop around and see if you can get it cheaper, Roverlord has a guy in the hills. I didnt end up contacting or using him but he could be good.

Good luck.

[Roverlord off road spares]

Dam that's expensive I sourced a heavy duty clutch and single mass fly wheel myself and had an independent land rover specialist put it in was about $2k that was about 2years ago. I avoid land rover work shops like the plague rip you of every time.
That's a bit harsh, they all don't do that there are some good ones around.
Maybe JC will franchise ;)and expand

[justinc]

Justin no I didn't get the wrong idea, but those part prices are full list price, I wasn't disputing the labour costs . Some people can get away with charging customers full list price on parts.
Cheers, Mario

I know they are entitled to and yes it is just a guide however some of the margins as you know give a lot of movement to look after the customer. Had an unfortunate situation this week with a struggling customer who required a huge job on their d2 td5. A clutch incidentally was part of the job. I really had to balance profitability with their needs and if it meant less return then so be it. You must never forget that it isn't YOUR money you are spending. And like these people $$ are very very tight and they rely heavily on their vehicle.
This is why i get angry with these blanket statements about workshops. Not everybody behaves poorly.

Jc

[Roverlord off road spares]

I know they are entitled to and yes it is just a guide however some of the margins as you know give a lot of movement to look after the customer. Had an unfortunate situation this week with a struggling customer who required a huge job on their d2 td5. A clutch incidentally was part of the job. I really had to balance profitability with their needs and if it meant less return then so be it. You must never forget that it isn't YOUR money you are spending. And like these people $$ are very very tight and they rely heavily on their vehicle.
This is why i get angry with these blanket statements about workshops. Not everybody behaves poorly.

Jc
I hear you brother and totally agree where your coming from.

[landy]

SO.MUCH.HATE. Laney.

Not all places are out to do this. We've been down this rd before many times .

workshop overheads are high. Retaining good staff is $$.
Equipment costs $
Insurance costs more every year.
If you have nothing nice to say best say nothing at all.
Kind of over it really. We all have families and rent to pay. And any impact on profitability such as customers supplying their own ebay specials just brings us slowly but surely towards closing the doors. The costs go up and the profits go down just what in the heck do you think will eventually happen. THEN there will be all sorts of wailing and gnashing of teeth because there are no more specialist shops around to fit those parts that people have purchased for someone else to fit.

Yes i have had a bad day, and yes i am becoming more and more disenfranchised with the way the industry and the behaviour of the public is heading...

Not happy jan....

Jc

JC,

Totally on your side. I was in the trade 17 years, from a day one apprentice in the mid eighties.
I got sick and tired of EVERYONE thinking we just wanted to rip them off. I found, as you said that it just didn't pay enough that I could give my family the things I wanted to give them and got out.
And I'm ashamed to say, I haven't regretted that decision. I'm lucky though. If I couldn't fix my car myself I probably couldn't afford to run it.
I don't know what the answer is mate. But I feel for you and all the other independents. You have more guts than I do.

[Bohica]

$1800 for just the clutch and flywheel is I think a good price. My car, in 2013, before I bought it had the same for $2600.

Bo

[strangy]

I know they are entitled to and yes it is just a guide however some of the margins as you know give a lot of movement to look after the customer. Had an unfortunate situation this week with a struggling customer who required a huge job on their d2 td5. A clutch incidentally was part of the job. I really had to balance profitability with their needs and if it meant less return then so be it. You must never forget that it isn't YOUR money you are spending. And like these people $$ are very very tight and they rely heavily on their vehicle. This is why i get angry with these blanket statements about workshops. Not everybody behaves poorly. Jc
..and people appreciate and thank you for it.
Your effort and integrity is noted here and word spreads outside of the forum.
I've made some changes to the way I do business.
For some time now I've made an effort to write a good review or email to businesses that have delivered good service. It's easy to pan the duds but many of us forget to praise the good.

On a side note I'm over hearing about how repairing aging vehicles is breaking someone's budget. There are way too many people thinking they can afford a 4wd when they should really just settle for a decent car, then carry on as though it's expected to run without fault until the owner is ready to part with it.

So without taking thins way of topic...

[DazzaTD5]

Dam that's expensive I sourced a heavy duty clutch and single mass fly wheel myself and had an independent land rover specialist put it in was about $2k that was about 2years ago. I avoid land rover work shops like the plague rip you of every time.

When I read comments like that, I realise there are people out there that simply have no bloody clue.... I'd suggest if you are so clever, you should have done the clutch yourself or better yet start your own small business repairing Land Rovers.

You are one of the reasons why I dont install customer supplied parts, you are clever enough to buy the part, you might as well fit it right...

Regards
Daz

P.S oh and as for the single mass flywheel, thats always been a complete dic of a repair for a TD5 Land Rover and anyone with any experience with Land Rovers wouldnt fit one.

[incisor]

There are way too many people thinking they can afford a 4wd when they should really just settle for a descent car.

AMEN!

[vnx205]

There are way too many people thinking they can afford a 4wd when they should really just settle for a descent car.


Is that a car that only goes down hill? :D

(With Ron having a bit of a break, someone else has to make sure that standards don't slip.) :p:p

[strangy]

Is that a car that only goes down hill? :D

(With Ron having a bit of a break, someone else has to make sure that standards don't slip.) :p:p

Ha, Iphone autotext strike again:p

[Pedro_The_Swift]

sure,, sure.
:angel::p

[laney]

Firstly the parts I brought were from a shop here in Australia at no time did I ever say they came off eBay. Secondly my experience with brand name work shops has NEVER been good it not hate it's my experience the truth is rarely nice and I have always and always will call it as I see it.

[cancerfour69]

:what:

Any how's what a ripoff..I live in Fort William Scotland,and yes me and my partner are lucky as my works place has a mechanic who's ex landy + his brother down road also landy mechanic..their old school and could share a story or two about landy ripoff baskets..I personally DIY my D2 but I'm lucky if I'm not sure I've got 2 old schoolers to help me out..when we first moved here didn't know anyone we put are 90 Defender all the bells and whisles this one..in to local ripoff **** for clutch replacement, two and a half weeks later,yes 2and half weeks and low and behold a ****ing clutch ?750 frigging pounds...the scamming slag,should have taken no more than a morning to do... Xxarrrrrghhhhhhh..if you can,take your time ask around and find those that want to help you..

[Roverlord off road spares]

for clutch replacement, two and a half weeks later,yes 2and half weeks and low and behold a ****ing clutch

Impatient! One of our forum members has been waiting 2 years for a workshop to repair his D2 under warranty. Now that's patience!:confused:

[DiscoKym]

SO.MUCH.HATE. Laney.

Not all places are out to do this. We've been down this rd before many times .

workshop overheads are high. Retaining good staff is $$.
Equipment costs $
Insurance costs more every year.
If you have nothing nice to say best say nothing at all.
Kind of over it really. We all have families and rent to pay. And any impact on profitability such as customers supplying their own ebay specials just brings us slowly but surely towards closing the doors. The costs go up and the profits go down just what in the heck do you think will eventually happen. THEN there will be all sorts of wailing and gnashing of teeth because there are no more specialist shops around to fit those parts that people have purchased for someone else to fit.

Yes i have had a bad day, and yes i am becoming more and more disenfranchised with the way the industry and the behaviour of the public is heading...

Not happy jan....

Jc

Same here at boat workshops.

Yesterday guys rings up to say his water pump is broken, asked if we can fix it, yes I says and then asks does he have to pay for the repairs - YES????? He's not happy so he hangs up.

A guy rings up this morning and asks about a service on his boat, quoted $310 for standard service (same as last year) he goes off his head and says what a rip off. Then asks when we can fit him in and advise booked out for two weeks. He says stick it, I'll get a better deal elsewhere and hangs up. About 30 Mins later he rings up again to suck up to the service manager for a service???

Sorry for hijack but not only land rover problem....

[Homestar]

Same here at boat workshops.

Yesterday guys rings up to say his water pump is broken, asked if we can fix it, yes I says and then asks does he have to pay for the repairs - YES????? He's not happy so he hangs up.

A guy rings up this morning and asks about a service on his boat, quoted $310 for standard service (same as last year) he goes off his head and says what a rip off. Then asks when we can fit him in and advise booked out for two weeks. He says stick it, I'll get a better deal elsewhere and hangs up. About 30 Mins later he rings up again to suck up to the service manager for a service???

Sorry for hijack but not only land rover problem....

Happens in our industry too (Hire) - you get someone calling you a rip off merchant on the phone, only to have the same person ring the branch back booking the gear 1/2 hour later when they find out that's what life costs these days.

I feel your pain.

[Fast Freddie]

Here's what I reckon is at the bottom of this feeling of dissatisfaction that so many customers feel when faced with a big bill:
Repair shops are in business to make money. Now some people are going to squeal like a stuck pig, as soon as the bill goes above the amount of loose change that they have in their pocket at the time (and the boat service customer above comes to mind here). There's not much that can be done about these characters and every business will have met them - you just have to get over it.
The ones that I think we are discussing in this thread are a bit better informed and know (or can find out with a bit of effort) what the going price of some of the bits being used in their repair are likely to cost. These guys (and I'm one of them) are a bit ****ed off at paying the full retail price to a business which (if my experience is anything to go by) do not actually carry the parts in stock. You know the drill - "we'll be able to get the parts in by xxx, so I'll have it done by yyy".
These businesses will then order the parts with a substantial discount from the retail price and simply slam the customer for top dollar.
I think that to expect to earn the mark-up without having to bear the cost of buying and holding the stock, is the problem. Businesses not carrying parts in stock are really selling their service only and are picking up a windfall profit by marking up things that they can buy cheaper than the man in the street and not really adding any value to those parts.
Good luck to them I guess but, if their whole business model is based upon exploiting this windfall, then they are going to have to get used to people accusing them of exploitation.
Our good pal Mario (among others, I'm sure) invests in stock and bears the cost of holding it - and he seems to be able to provide quality parts at a reasonable price.
PS: I've got nothing against charging some kind of mark-up and I'm sure that AULRO members who are in the business are all very fair, but I thing we are all aware of the sort of percentages that are being applied by some operators.

[CraigE]

Well a good example of that. I went to buy an additional uni joint today and thought for one I will buy local and thought try local so i dont got to drive 80kms. Well got quoted a little over $120 for 1 unit when $41 from Hardie Spicer, so needles to say not buying from them. Now I get they are a retailer and Hardie Spicer are a manufacturer / wholesaler but 300% mark up?? Now at most they would be paying the same if not slightly less. I would get $60-$80.
:(