Right. After 20k miles of (mostly) disaster-free motoring in my lovely little '5, the clutch has started to slip. It started as a little judder so I bled the clutch for peace of mind and that seemingly rectified the issueā¦for about 1k miles. Now, itās juddering intermittently from standstill and sometimes when accelerating from cruising in lower gears (not noticed much in higher gears but sometimes, albeit rarely, prevalent).Ā
I digress, I have decided that after 78k, she should be treated to a new clutch rather than turning a blind eye towards the issue. Iām also aware that most companies sell as a 3-piece kit, with the release bearing included, for about Ā£200 posted.
Question is, do you think itāll be cheaper to source the clutch myself and pay labour at the garage only or source the clutch and labour at the garage? If the latter, would it be as reliable a part as, say, an Exedy clutch? Do I need anything else to have fitted - Iāve recall briefly reading about camshaft bearings or suchlike? Lastly, what sort of prices/no. hours shall I expect for a clutch change?
Thanks in advance you lovely ladies and gentlemen. :)Ā
If there is any issue with the clutch plate that you purchase, then the amount of time the car is on the lift waiting replacement parts if the supplied part is wrong it is to your acouant and if it fails or is juddery in use, you again pay for the labour to change it.
We got the local garage to replace our Suzuki Jeep clutch at around 75k miles and they had to replace it due to judder at no cost to us.
With regards to the cost of the job, your garage will give you a quote if requested
Iām not great at reading between the lines but are you saying that if the garage supply a faulty part (i.e. that doesnāt resolve the issue) then on their head be it? Whereas if I supply a part then thereās more chance for them to pass the buck as I would have had the wrong part/faulty part?
Iāll be sure to contact a garage for a quote but wasnāt certain whether there was a clear cut ābestā route before I contact them - if my assumptions are correct then clearly the garage supplying parts would be best. Same goes for labour charges - do I anticipate 2 hours or 4 hours or 8 hours? Not something Iām familiar with, hence my asking. Gives me more weight to get a respectable price when phoning them.
Just looking at your question from a different angle here. If you buy the parts and pay the garage to fit them what happens if the parts turn out to be faulty? You will have to pay the garage to remove the faulty parts and fit new ones. Supply and fit from one supplier puts the responsibility on them.
Definitely! I considered this in my reply to Drumtochty but not initially. Definitely adds weight to just taking the car to the garage and picking it up several hours later.
Very much deterring me from buying parts separately for sure. If it was something within my capabilities Iād give it a go, but itās not and the car is a daily driver so Iām far more inclined to have someone else do it.
You can always ask for a quote using quality branded parts. If you donāt specify this they will opt for the cheapest parts from their favoured motor factors. Many customers will get quotes from a number of garages and simply go for the cheapest quote regardless of quality and service levels. If you have a trusted garage they will know which brands arenāt worth touching and what wonāt let you and them down.
We can all understand the desire to save a few quid, but the risk you might be running could cost a lot more than you might be able to save.
OK, so a repair shop will obviously charge you full retail price for any parts they use, whereas if you know somebody who maybe works for your local motor factor, you might be able to get a discount - perhaps saving forty, or even fifty pounds on the cost of a clutch kit for an MX-5.Ā Ā And some garages might be happy for you to supply the parts, even though you will actually be doing them out of revenue, because they would naturally get parts at a trade discount.
However, as already stated in other posts on this thread, if something is wrong with the parts, the garage is not liable to do the job again for free, and you could eventually end up paying twice for the job.
I would always recommend going to a Mazda dealer for major jobs like this one - even though it might cost perhaps a hundred pounds more than going to an independent.Ā A Mazda dealerās workforce will be trained and experienced in the task required, and they will have to stick to a Mazda stipulated Standard Time for the repair.Ā They could logically also be expected to fit guaranteed and approved genuine Mazda parts.Ā With an independent repair shop, you would not necessarily get these safeguards.Ā
I suppose it all boils down to whether or not one is a natural gambler.Ā Perhaps four times out of five, you could save a hundred pounds or so by buying cheap independent parts, and getting your local garage to fit them.Ā Then the fifth time, the parts could be faulty, and you might have to pay the garage twice for doing the job, or perhaps the parts may be substandard and only last a few thousand miles before you have to shell out again.
Iāve checked two of the leading non dealer specialists, and neither quote a price for a Mk3 clutch, only earller ones (mk1 & Mk2/2.5) One gives a cost for these at Ā£300, the other - I suspect, will charge a similar amount.
Both normally use Mazda OEM replacements. Dealer cost, last time I checked for the same Mkās was Ā£380, but thatās probably gone up by now. For a genuine replacement, the cost is worth it, IMHO, you will get a guarantee for parts and labour. Fishing around for alternatives prices is not really the way to go, Exedy for instance had good and not so good reviews in the past. Going for more expensive alternatives does not always seem to satisfy end users, giving other problems. All in, it seems a minefield, but the choice remains yours. DIY is out of the question as far as Iām concerned, I would always go to a specialist, not a dealer.
Swansea is not well known for good aftermarket dealers, so further trips may be called for, but any good specialist will fit a new clutch within a day, even if they have a load of other work to do - provided the car was booked in for a definite time and day.
I suspect a 2L clutch will cost more than figures shown above, and the labour cost may be higher too, none of that is apparent at this time, so phone around for accurate quotes. Also - ask for a replacement thrust bearing, often overlooked. Past experience with worn clutches tell me that they slip, yes, judder? not normally, so it may cost more if any other parts need replacing. I would allow for that in your mind.
Raymond Harper - A very valid point. The garage I have taken my cars to for as long as I can remember are willing to accept parts brought in unless it constitutes āmodifyingā the car, in which case theyāll turn it down. I donāt believe an OEM spec aftermarket clutch would fall into the category of modifying.
Roadie - Iāll be sure to ask my garage what brand(s) they would intend on using. I donāt believe theyāre dullards though so likelihood is theyāll provide a decent service with decent parts.
Chris - Iāll be sure to compare dealer prices versus independent garage prices. Always worth bearing in mind - say the price difference is Ā£40 Iāll be happier going to grab a courtesy car from the dealer than I would having to work around the garage (mine doesnāt offer courtesy cars). If it was more like Ā£200 difference, I would have to then spend some time deliberating. I was half expecting you to cap off that last sentence with āpunkā?
Gerryn - I had heard only good things about Exedy clutches with respect to Mx5ās, hence my dropping of their name in particular. Going with the specialist would be fairly difficult for me given their proximity unless they offered a courtesy car service given work and home schedules currently (both of which are manic). Iāll be sure to ring around to see what I can do regarding visiting a specialist for the job and their prices (Iām thinking total MX5 in Barry off the top of my head). As for the 2L clutches, they come in two varieties, the 1.8/2.0 5-speed and the 2.0 6-speed. Mine is the former so is unequivocally cheaper. Thanks for the heads-up about the thrust bearing. I did recall there was something else worth changing while the car was on the ramp but couldnāt recall quite what it was. Iāve read a fair bit about judder off the lights when clutches are on their way out, so havenāt thought of it as anything unusual. In fact, it was the judder which prompted my initial internet search, returned the result of āclutch on way outā and lead me to where I am now. Iāll be sure to put something else aside as a precaution.
Good call about Mark in PenarthĀ Ā a very dedicated mx5 chap. Not heard from him for a while but he even ran a āSaturdayā club where folk could get jobs done using his ramp and equipment for free, etc Oh, apart from buying the salad ( which was actually fisn n chips ) well within a day trip for you mate to get it sorted.Ā
