[tompoole]

I'm totally amazed a the price of repAiring newer vans and cars,
It's totally unbelievable what people are being asks to pay for
Servicing and repairing parts, it was mentioned on her about an
Alternator for £800 , a friend had four injectors for £1700
My own honda accord ctdi needs new clutch and have been quoted
£800 for clutch and may be £1500 if it needs new dual mass!  Less than 70k
And 5years on these cars/vans too
£800 for an alternator !!!!! Ffs is it gold plated?
Car and van dealers really are taking the p now .!!
Over £1k for a clutch ! £800 for alternator £200plus fitting per injector!!
p take if you ask me ...... Rant over

[CLEANCARE WC]

My dispatch is holding out well needs a service soon.
Thanks for the tank Tom hope your well.

Dan.

[tompoole]

Hi Dan, you're ok with that van mate, it's all mechanical.
Good to hear from you..... How's the heater??

[CLEANCARE WC]

In the shed at the minute! If/when i buy a new one i will send you my old one 

[jarvy]

Friend of mine just had the clutch done on his c max, £840! Thought most newer cars had dual mass these days. Could be bad news...

[dazmond]

you need to find a good local cheap garage by the sounds of it mate.ive been using the same garage for over 15 years for all my vans and cars.they are worth their weight in gold!!

[Mike #1]

IMHO a lot of people dont have a clue how to drive, And ride around with their foot resting on the clutch pedal thus damaging the the clutch plate and causing the thrust bearing to go hence new clutch . Mike

[robert mitchell]

This is why I have a 1999 t4 transporter , very reliable, simple to fix most things and parts are cheap.

[tompoole]

Maybe mike , but my point is it should never cost £1000 to
Replace a clutch or £800 for an alternator.. It's robbery!

[Spruce]

I'm totally amazed a the price of repAiring newer vans and cars,
It's totally unbelievable what people are being asks to pay for
Servicing and repairing parts, it was mentioned on her about an
Alternator for £800 , a friend had four injectors for £1700
My own honda accord ctdi needs new clutch and have been quoted
£800 for clutch and may be £1500 if it needs new dual mass!  Less than 70k
And 5years on these cars/vans too
£800 for an alternator !!!!! Ffs is it gold plated?
Car and van dealers really are taking the p now .!!
Over £1k for a clutch ! £800 for alternator £200plus fitting per injector!!
p take if you ask me ...... Rant over

Hi Tompoole.

Probably why the dealerships loose vehicles over 3 years old to the 'back street' garages who buy non OE parts from the local motor factors.

The motor trade will try to justify those parts prices by saying that we are paying a highly discounted price for the new vehicle in the first place which doesn't give a true reflection of parts pricing. They will point to their vehicle retail price as the basis for that.

A parts pricing exercise was once done on a Ford Escort (Mk1 I think) and the total cost of spares needed to build the car was 5 times the price of the car in the showroom. The labour to assemble all those parts was not included.

I recently purchased a temperature probe for the Citroen Xsara we own. It was faulty and causing all sorts of knock-on issues. I replaced it with the identical part (and part number) from our local Peugeot garage in the next town. Not only did I not have to travel 10 miles to the nearest Citroen garage and be messed around, but the part was also £5 cheaper from Peugeot than from Citroen.

So even pricing in house is not on a % markup on cost, but trying to get the most for a part that they can to maximise profits.

[Mike #1]

Maybe mike , but my point is it should never cost £1000 to
Replace a clutch or £800 for an alternator.. It's robbery!

True it is a rip off we had a suzuki grand vitara it was only a few years old and the thrust bearing was going it was a dual mass flywheel  and thank fully to a point  we were covered by a 1 year warranty .

But they would not pay for fly wheel so we had to stump up about £300 . Mike

[[GQC] Tim]

£1200 for my 2007 Citroen Dispatch clutch and dual mass flywheel, and that's not even at Citroen, it would be interesting to see how much they'd charge.

Done 108000 miles, so it was to be expected.

Reason why it was so expensive? 10 hour job, whole subframe had to be taken out.

[dd]

£1200 for my 2007 Citroen Dispatch clutch and dual mass flywheel, and that's not even at Citroen, it would be interesting to see how much they'd charge.

Done 108000 miles, so it was to be expected.

Reason why it was so expensive? 10 hour job, whole subframe had to be taken out.

Sounds like poor design. I bet the old shape dispatch is a lot cheaper to replace the clutch on.

Unfortunately manufacturers seem obsessed with making vehicles more and more complicated, which is why I plan to keep my old shape dispatch as long as possible.

[robertphil]

most town have an auto electric specialist who repairs/recons alternators at reasonable prices . that specialist usually also knows others who can repair other components such as reconditioned clutches etc  at reasonable cost ,you can pick their brains as a rule

[Bill.upnw]

don't forget though parts for new cars are a lot more expensive.

a guy I no from the local bodyshop bought a new shape Ferrari, f40 or f50 or something like that, engine in the boot, was beautiful, but then hes complaining because when it came to service time, the oil filter was £1000 for genuine Ferrari oil filter, or £500 for an aftermarket oil filter.

ppl forget cost of maintenance. deerer the vehicle deerer maintenance is.

[Simon Mess]

don't forget though parts for new cars are a lot more expensive.

a guy I no from the local bodyshop bought a new shape Ferrari, f40 or f50 or something like that, engine in the boot, was beautiful, but then hes complaining because when it came to service time, the oil filter was £1000 for genuine Ferrari oil filter, or £500 for an aftermarket oil filter.

ppl forget cost of maintenance. deerer the vehicle deerer maintenance is.

Cheapest new ferrari is over £150k, and he is moaning about a £1k oil filter, hmmmm...........

[Small but perfectley formed]

Had clutch replaced on my Peugeot expert parts where £80 labour   Including VAT was £400 this was because the bolts on sub frame where seized in and it took 2 hours longer to do

[SeanK]

£1200 for my 2007 Citroen Dispatch clutch and dual mass flywheel, and that's not even at Citroen, it would be interesting to see how much they'd charge.

Done 108000 miles, so it was to be expected.

Reason why it was so expensive? 10 hour job, whole subframe had to be taken out.

Sounds like poor design. I bet the old shape dispatch is a lot cheaper to replace the clutch on.

Unfortunately manufacturers seem obsessed with making vehicles more and more complicated, which is why I plan to keep my old shape dispatch as long as possible.


You want to try and change an air filter on the new shape Dispatch, nightmare.
I wonder is it bad design or a clever way of stopping people doing their own.

[steven ainger]

Had clutch replaced on my Peugeot expert parts where £80 labour   Including VAT was £400 this was because the bolts on sub frame where seized in and it took 2 hours longer to do

My 04 Dispatch 2.0 Hdi had a new clutch 2-3 months ago, it had the same problem, the captive nuts inside the subframe were siezed. They had to cut the subframe, tack the nut and weld it back shut after.
All parts & labour £320.
Luckily the dual mass was ok, so only a new clutch

[Perfect Windows]

If you have your van/car repaired when it goes wrong, expect big bills.  If you have it serviced on a regular basis they will be few and far between.

Vin

[Bill.upnw]

don't forget though parts for new cars are a lot more expensive.

a guy I no from the local bodyshop bought a new shape Ferrari, f40 or f50 or something like that, engine in the boot, was beautiful, but then hes complaining because when it came to service time, the oil filter was £1000 for genuine Ferrari oil filter, or £500 for an aftermarket oil filter.

ppl forget cost of maintenance. deerer the vehicle deerer maintenance is.

this guy runs a bodyshop, and hes a really dodgey guy, so he wont have payed a third of that! but yea, its like if u can afford to drive one of them around, that prob use 50 quid a day in petrol, what do you expect!!!!! ffs
Cheapest new ferrari is over £150k, and he is moaning about a £1k oil filter, hmmmm...........

[dd]

If you have your van/car repaired when it goes wrong, expect big bills.  If you have it serviced on a regular basis they will be few and far between.

Vin

How does having it serviced regularly stop the clutch, started motor, alternator etc from wearing?

[Paul T]

Yeah must remember to get my clutch serviced

[Michael Peterson]

there is no cheap way to replace a duel mass flywheel im afraid, i helped change one on a ford mondeo yesterday, everything under the gearbox has to be moved and the radiator has to hang down etc, its a long process to get the gear box out, the subframe has to come down first and disconnect the exhaust, on this car it took two hours to get to even get to the clutch then a (good) three hours to change the thing more likely 4 to be honest, the clutch and fly wheel was 500 to buy and thats with our discount, and then after labour came to about £800, a really horrible job on the fords im not sure about other makes, pretty much everyone hates duel mass flywheels and a lot are replacing them with old

[Perfect Windows]

If you have your van/car repaired when it goes wrong, expect big bills.  If you have it serviced on a regular basis they will be few and far between.

Vin

How does having it serviced regularly stop the clutch, started motor, alternator etc from wearing?

If you have a wet clutch in a gearbox that shares oil with the engine, regular servicing means that it'll always be immersed in oil within spec and uncontaminated by swarf.

If your vehicle is properly serviced, it'll start promptly, so your starter motor will wear less.

Regular servicing means belts, etc will be tight and in good condition so you won't be knackering your alternator's bearings.

Vin

[Michael Peterson]

very true :-)

[PoleKing]

there is no cheap way to replace a duel mass flywheel im afraid, i helped change one on a ford mondeo yesterday, everything under the gearbox has to be moved and the radiator has to hang down etc, its a long process to get the gear box out, the subframe has to come down first and disconnect the exhaust, on this car it took two hours to get to even get to the clutch then a (good) three hours to change the thing more likely 4 to be honest, the clutch and fly wheel was 500 to buy and thats with our discount, and then after labour came to about £800, a really horrible job on the fords im not sure about other makes, pretty much everyone hates duel mass flywheels and a lot are replacing them with old

What do mean 'replacing them with old'?
Surely if the old one is out, putting a brand new one in is the best course of action?

[AuRavelling79]

there is no cheap way to replace a duel mass flywheel im afraid, i helped change one on a ford mondeo yesterday, everything under the gearbox has to be moved and the radiator has to hang down etc, its a long process to get the gear box out, the subframe has to come down first and disconnect the exhaust, on this car it took two hours to get to even get to the clutch then a (good) three hours to change the thing more likely 4 to be honest, the clutch and fly wheel was 500 to buy and thats with our discount, and then after labour came to about £800, a really horrible job on the fords im not sure about other makes, pretty much everyone hates duel mass flywheels and a lot are replacing them with old

What do mean 'replacing them with old'?
Surely if the old one is out, putting a brand new one in is the best course of action?

You can often replace a dual mass with a standard single clutch - but don't drive it like a loon or it'll break.

[Don Kee]

there is no cheap way to replace a duel mass flywheel im afraid, i helped change one on a ford mondeo yesterday, everything under the gearbox has to be moved and the radiator has to hang down etc, its a long process to get the gear box out, the subframe has to come down first and disconnect the exhaust, on this car it took two hours to get to even get to the clutch then a (good) three hours to change the thing more likely 4 to be honest, the clutch and fly wheel was 500 to buy and thats with our discount, and then after labour came to about £800, a really horrible job on the fords im not sure about other makes, pretty much everyone hates duel mass flywheels and a lot are replacing them with old

What do mean 'replacing them with old'?
Surely if the old one is out, putting a brand new one in is the best course of action?

You can get smf (solid) conversions
A bit more vibration in gear change but bullet proof

[Don Kee]

Sorry gold sort of stepped on toes!!!
Although dont think you can just replace with a solid, pretty sure you need a conversion kit?

>poleking

In theory new should be better.
The dmfs are two plates with springs and are meant to give smoother gear changes, less vibration through gear box amongst other things.... (I think) but can go after a 'small amount of milage'
Alot of it is, as been stated, how you drive
Smfs are solid flywheels though and so should pretty much last forever...

[Lee GLS]

Sorry gold sort of stepped on toes!!!
Although dont think you can just replace with a solid, pretty sure you need a conversion kit?

You just replace the DMF with a SMF, the conversion kit is the SMF, unbolt one and bolt on the new one.

Some say that SMF are fine others say you should keep the DMF because the SMF can put strain on the crankshaft because of the extra vibration they cause

[PoleKing]

Sorry gold sort of stepped on toes!!!
Although dont think you can just replace with a solid, pretty sure you need a conversion kit?

>poleking

In theory new should be better.
The dmfs are two plates with springs and are meant to give smoother gear changes, less vibration through gear box amongst other things.... (I think) but can go after a 'small amount of milage'
Alot of it is, as been stated, how you drive
Smfs are solid flywheels though and so should pretty much last forever...

What about DSG, Tiptronic or Auto boxes?
Assume this only applies to manuals?

[Simon Mess]

Sorry gold sort of stepped on toes!!!
Although dont think you can just replace with a solid, pretty sure you need a conversion kit?

>poleking

In theory new should be better.
The dmfs are two plates with springs and are meant to give smoother gear changes, less vibration through gear box amongst other things.... (I think) but can go after a 'small amount of milage'
Alot of it is, as been stated, how you drive
Smfs are solid flywheels though and so should pretty much last forever...

What about DSG, Tiptronic or Auto boxes?
Assume this only applies to manuals?

DSG IS a manual gearbox, with 2 clutches, only your left leg is replaced by electrical gubbins, so wouldnt think they would be exempt from the problem!.

[oldman]

Cheapest new ferrari is over £150k, and he is moaning about a £1k oil filter, hmmmm...........

These people don't moan.....it's their way of 'bragging' about how much they spend on servicing/parts.
They have an aura of smugness and a perverted sense of humour in waiting for our shriek of.....  HOW MUCH .

[Perfect Windows]

Plus they lie: http://www.eurospares.co.uk/searchResult_one.asp?S=151515&TM=1&TMo=388&TA=1&TB=20858

£38.65

[EandM]

I'm totally amazed a the price of repAiring newer vans and cars,
It's totally unbelievable what people are being asks to pay for
Servicing and repairing parts, it was mentioned on her about an
Alternator for £800 , a friend had four injectors for £1700
My own honda accord ctdi needs new clutch and have been quoted
£800 for clutch and may be £1500 if it needs new dual mass!  Less than 70k
And 5years on these cars/vans too
£800 for an alternator !!!!! Ffs is it gold plated?
Car and van dealers really are taking the p now .!!
Over £1k for a clutch ! £800 for alternator £200plus fitting per injector!!
p take if you ask me ...... Rant over

£800 would completely rebuild the six cylinder engine in my Capri !
It's all gone mad -  DMFs are a solution to a problem nobody knew existed - front wheel drive makes working on it an absolute pain and many dealer prices are on the ludicrous side.
Common rail injectors are expensive because they're made to incredibly high tolerances but even BMW ones aren't much more than £200.
Shop around, they're are cheaper independents.
Last cambelt change on my Ranger only cost me £20 in labour.

[Michael Peterson]

I replaced the two fuel filters on a Ferrari testa rosa an easy job and cost no more than about 30 quid, it was worn around 40k but I wonldnt have it lol I would want something different for that money