What's the going rate for a clutch replacement?

This morning our 2010 C3 Picasso wouldn't change gear. The local garage has it at the moment and are quoting just under £900 to do a full replacement.

I'm a bit in the dark as I didn't take the call when they phoned back, but according to the message it's expensive because it needs the entire unit replacing (sorry to be vague). I have faith in these guys, we've been with them for years and they've always helped us out on pricing / fitted recon'd parts when asked and so on. I don't doubt their word - but potentially does £900 sound realistic to replace the complete clutch?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

hi i had a full clutch and spiggot arm replaced for £530 from my garage.thanks

As your vehicle is a Diesel, this cost will most likely include the replacement flywheel, most Diesels have the Dual Mass type, on single mass wheels the clutch springs are contained in the drive plate between the both side of the friction facings on the plate, on the dual mass flywheels these springs contained between the two parts of assembly to absorb the torque of the engine due to the higher firing pulse generated from the higher injection pressures. To put it simply, the fuel in injected into the cylinder at a higher pressure resulting in a larger controlled rapid burn, not an explosion as this is an uncontrolled rapid burn, of the fuel. The shock pulse is then transmitted through the various components to the flywheel which is absorbed by the spring in the dual mass flywheel.

I would check the price of the clutch pack, flywheel, driven and pressure plate assemblies as well as the slave cylinder/release bearing on Europarts, should be around £400 from memory

So I think the price of £900 could be about right, sorry

The ‘clutch’ is (typically) made up of 5 parts. The flywheel, the clutch disc, the pressure plate, the spring (or diaphragm) and the throw-out bearing.
If you “get the clutch done” there are a number of ways to go and a number of parts that could be replaced or serviced.

The cheapest and simplest is to just replace the clutch disc. This would be done if the car is not that old and the other parts are not worn. If it’s a young commercial vehicle or you do a lot of towing you could probably get away with this. In a private car you could probably just change the clutch disc the first time it needed it BUT that depends.

Installing a clutch kit usually replaces the clutch disc, the spring, pressure plate, and throw out bearing. This is typically what gets done when a mechanic “replaces the clutch” and is done on middle aged cars. This does not take much longer than replacing the disc alone but will cost more for the extra parts.

The final step is if the flywheel needs refacing or replacing. If the car is old or the clutch disc was not replaced before it wore out completely and damaged the flywheel, the flywheel may need servicing. To get the flywheel refaced requires removal and it’s typically sent out to a machine shop. This can nearly double the cost of your clutch replacement.

So my advice would be to ask what you are getting for your money. Ask them what the mechanic will physically be doing, how long it will take and what parts will be used. The longer it takes, the more they do and the more parts they use, the more expensive it gets. If the flywheel is sent out for machining you should be entitled to see the invoice from the machine shop (if the mechanic doesn’t give it to you).