How much should a new clutch cost?

[pbm]

A friend of mine has a 2012 Chevy Cruze with about 90K that needs a new clutch. He tells me that it is almost a $2000 dollar job. This seems very high to me.
He is very knowledgeable about cars and claims the labor (on most newer cars...not just the Cruze) is very high because so much has to be disassembled to access the clutch.

Is this correct?

 

[GMFan]

$2k seems on the high side for sure. I paid about $1k about 6 years ago to replace a clutch on my Saturn SL and that was from a reputable mom and pop transmission shop. Is this the price from a dealer or transmission shop?

 

[beanoil]

A clutch kit on RockAuto is less than 200. Pressure plate, disk and slave cylinder. Resurface the flywheel, maybe 50. 1750 for labor? Find another repair facility.

 

[KingCake]

Don't buy a cheap aftermarket clutch kit. At least by an oem throwout/slave. Unless you want to pay twice.

 

[69GTX]

Some clutches required the transmission to be dropped, such as on my T56. At $100-$125/hr, I could envision a shop spending the entire day, and maybe part of the next day to do the job. That's around a $1,000 right there without including any parts.

 

[fdcg27]

Some?
What clutch disc can be replaced without removing the transmission?
The Cruise probably does have a cradle, which will have to be removed with the engine otherwise supported to remove the transaxle to get at the clutch.

 

[Skid]

http://repairpal.com/estimator/results

$999-1473 in zip code 10001.

 

[skyactiv]

I have only replaced one clutch in the 7 stick cars I've owned.

Unfortunately the dual mass flywheel took a dump in my VW. I'm a semi mechanic by trade so it wasn't difficult.
I spent $1235.00 on the South Bend clutch kit and about another $250.00 on the odd triple square sockets, clutch pilot tool, engine support bar and Fords German made XT-M5-QS full synthetic manual transmission fluid which BTW is a fantastic product.

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: pbm
A friend of mine has a 2012 Chevy Cruze with about 90K that needs a new clutch. He tells me that it is almost a $2000 dollar job. This seems very high to me.
He is very knowledgeable about cars and claims the labor (on most newer cars...not just the Cruze) is very high because so much has to be disassembled to access the clutch.

Is this correct?
Heh heh. Your pal may know a lot about cars , but he doesn't know much about using a clutch. 90K out of a clutch is not very good. Mechanics want to live the dream too. Consider what is involved in a clutch on an FWD car. Also consider that the car' is the marriage of the drive unit and front end with the rest of the car. You basically have to remove the car from the drive so it can be taken apart to replace the bad stuff.

 

[supton]

$1,235 on a clutch? DMF? When my DMF quit I went SMF, and had no regrets (at least not for the 65k I had it); $350 or so for the clutch and same amount for install.

No regrets on that clutch--great feel, and handled the new turbo with ease. But I digress.

 

[simple_gifts]

Tom and Ray nailed it.... Boat payment.

 

[The Critic]

Our shop does a lot of clutches on Infinitis. On those, the part costs is quite high ($1k+) if you include the cost of the DMF. We use various OEM parts and our cost is just under $2k; and we are the cheapest place in town.

The labor time to replace the clutch on the Cruze is around 8 hours. Labor rates are between $100-$180/hr out here, so you are probably over $1k on the labor alone. $2k does not sound unrealistic once you consider the cost of quality (OEM or OE/Genuine, not aftermarket).

 

[RooflessVW]

$2k for factory parts and labor seems about right to me. Needing a clutch at only 90k miles he probably nuked the flywheel and that is some additional cost.

I'm not familiar with the Cruze, but ~$1k parts and ~$1k labor isn't outside the realm of possibility for a dealer job. Should have a pretty good parts/labor warranty as well. Good luck getting that with a parts store clutch or "on-the-side" mechanic.

And as a side note to all the people that don't like paying a mechanic - learn do it yourself or learn to pay those who do it for you.

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Some?
What clutch disc can be replaced without removing the transmission?

On some of the Opel (GM) transaxles you could remove (pull it back far enough) the input shaft from the rear cover, drop the inspection cover and replace the entire clutch assy inc throw out and pilot in about 45 min.
Unfortunately GM didn't carry this design over to US models.

 

[Nick1994]

Makes owning an automatic sound much better.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Makes owning an automatic sound much better.


Check the automatic replacement costs.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Makes owning an automatic sound much better.


Check the automatic replacement costs.


We seem to get a decent number of clutch replacements before 120k, at least on the vehicle line we see.

I can't remember the last time we did an automatic, or if it at all. But even then, as long as you avoid the trouble prone ones, 150k is easily do-able even with the original fluid. At least with an auto, you can get a junkyard unit with low mileage and the job becomes about the same price as a manual...or even less.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Makes owning an automatic sound much better.


Depends on the vehicle. On a Toyota - which usually have extremely reliable automatic transmissions - I'd go for an automatic. But on a Chrysler product known for failing automatic transmissions ... I'd probably skip

 

[69GTX]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Makes owning an automatic sound much better.


Check the automatic replacement costs.



I've always figured the automatic transmission if properly cared for will last about 30-50% longer than a well operated clutch/manual transmission. I would think 100K-125K is good for most clutch users. And 150K-200K for most automatic transmissions. And maybe only half those amounts for poor drivers. In either case, unless you can do the work yourself, sell the car before you get to that stage. Those special drivers than can get 200K-300K out of a manual trans and clutch aren't part of the what's "typical" discussion. Dailydriver is around that level.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Makes owning an automatic sound much better.


Check the automatic replacement costs.


Depends on the car, I can get a junkyard auto transmission for about $300 on a Taurus and labor can be in the $700 range to remove and replace. So probably a bit over $1000 once you include a few other parts like maybe the torque converter and fluid. I'm sure if he called a bunch of indy's, he'd get a much better price, maybe in the 1k range.