How much should a new clutch cost?

[surfstar]

Man, clutch replacement is scary high! I've yet to have to replace one, so I'll be sure to continue my normal driving style.
Glad I grew up before I bought a turbo stick shift.


Used cars, bought by me or family:

'93 Mazda MX6 345k on original clutch
'93 Nissan NX1600 320k+ original
'05 Acura TL 235k bought new, still driving
'00 Civic HX 200k+ still driving daily
'04 Elantra 186k+ still driving daily
'05 Vue 146k still fine (going to sell)

I will be PO'd at me or VW if my new clutch doesn't last at least 150k. Its obvious we know how to drive them, and with a good majority of highway miles, they seem to last as long as the vehicles.

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Olas
Holy Moly!! Jeepers Creepers!!

You lazy guys get ripped off real bad!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPEC-SC173-Stage-3-Clutch-Kit-fit-Chevrolet-Cruze-10-11-1-4T-/310760761678?hash=item485ac8e94e:g:KigAAOSw~OVWxg5m&vxp=mtr

An 'overkill' competition clutch is $400. Would you pay yourself $1600 for one days labour on the drive?
People need to buy tools and save thousands in repair costs.
Is that a "competition" clutch you need both feet to move?


That depends on the pedal pivot point, and the slave:master size ratio.

 

[supton]

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


My wife hates automatics with a passion unlike most guys.


Mine has no love for them either. She just tolerates the one in the truck. I need to take her out and show her how she can lock out upper gears, and explain how to listen for the torque convertor--but I know I'll get an earful about how much work that is, and how it'd be easier if they just provided a clutch and no TCM to mess things up.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Olas
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: Olas
Holy Moly!! Jeepers Creepers!!

You lazy guys get ripped off real bad!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SPEC-SC173-Stage-3-Clutch-Kit-fit-Chevrolet-Cruze-10-11-1-4T-/310760761678?hash=item485ac8e94e:g:KigAAOSw~OVWxg5m&vxp=mtr

An 'overkill' competition clutch is $400. Would you pay yourself $1600 for one days labour on the drive?
People need to buy tools and save thousands in repair costs.
Is that a "competition" clutch you need both feet to move?


That depends on the pedal pivot point, and the slave:master size ratio.


What was crazy on my VW was when I upgraded the clutch to something rated for 2x the original torque value. No change to master cylinder, throwout. Yet pedal effort was cut in half! No joke. I had the mechanic drive it to test it, I was so weirded out by the change.

Boy was that a nice clutch though. Light, strong, good feel.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
Man, clutch replacement is scary high! I've yet to have to replace one, so I'll be sure to continue my normal driving style.
Glad I grew up before I bought a turbo stick shift.


Used cars, bought by me or family:

'93 Mazda MX6 345k on original clutch
'93 Nissan NX1600 320k+ original
'05 Acura TL 235k bought new, still driving
'00 Civic HX 200k+ still driving daily
'04 Elantra 186k+ still driving daily
'05 Vue 146k still fine (going to sell)

I will be PO'd at me or VW if my new clutch doesn't last at least 150k. Its obvious we know how to drive them, and with a good majority of highway miles, they seem to last as long as the vehicles.


Good luck with that. My VW clutch made it to 249k. You know what failed? Not the clutch. The flywheel instead. Perfect disc, pressure plate. But the flywheel, which VW decided just had to be made better, was falling apart.

No idea if VW has made strides in better DMF's, maybe I'm just being bitter about their old design; but their DMF's across the board ten plus years ago were not known for longevity.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Nate1979
So is this the only possible issue a manual transmission could have in its life or are there other components that will wear out in time?


Bearings and syncrhos. A bad driver can be heck on all of them, of course; never changing the oil isn't going to help either. But high miles will get to these parts.

Throwout bearing (used on the clutch to push on the pressure plate so as to disengage the clutch) can get noisy; used to be, one was recommended to never leave in neutral for long periods of time, due to wear on that bearing. However I've since read that many of these bearings are always engaged; but I suspect it's still good advice, as one still puts pressure onto the crankshaft, driving it into the thrust bearing.

I want to say Matrix's and Corollas of the same vintage shared the same input shaft bearing issue. Something substandard, causing "early" replacement.

Then there is the shift cable(s) and any bushings in the shifter mechanism. And the mechanism that operates the clutch, be it cable or hydraulic. Of course these bits are outside of the trans (mostly) so wear and tear is not so catastrophic to the wallet.

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: pbm
I had assumed (apparently incorrectly)
PS: I know 90K isn't great clutch life but his entire family drives the car.....I've been told that clutches do better with only one driver.....


Stop gobbling up everything that you hear. Does the clutch 'learn' that one drivers habits? Clutches do better with one driver if that driver knows how to drive a clutch. Speaking of Clutch... Best band ever.

 

[TiredTrucker]

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?


I would say it is considerably too high. I can have a new clutch put in my semi truck, along with flywheel resurfaced, for that kind of money.

 

[sxg6]

And I thought Subarus were expensive coming in at around $1450 from the dealer.. 2k is crazy.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: 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.





That is a stupid statement. No shop is going to be buying stuff off of Rock Auto. They will use OE, or quality locally sourced aftermarket, then mark it up accordingly to make the correct amount of profit. Tack on labor, shop supplies and tax and I can see it being an expensive prospect- especially with today's high labor rates.

Too many people get all uptight about a shop charging for a repair. Either learn to do it yourself or find a reputable shop who treats you like a valued customer and respect the fact this isn't 20 or 30 years ago- it costs big money to operate a shop. Our shop is small time and we run it lean and mean with very little overhead and still it's an expensive proposition. I couldn't fathom what some big time 10 bay shop in the middle of town (prime real estate) with a full staff would take to run.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: 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.


There are some 4th gen LS1/LT1 owners who do this job with the car up on jack stands, on their backs, in their own driveways.

When Cartek did my last LS7 clutch change, I believe the labor charge was ~$550.00 or so.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: 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.


There are some 4th gen LS1/LT1 owners who do this job with the car up on jack stands, on their backs, in their own driveways.

When Cartek did my last LS7 clutch change, I believe the labor charge was ~$550.00 or so.


One of my friends was a tech at a Chevrolet dealer. He got to do a few clutches on C6 Z06s. Now that is a job.