£96 to change clutch cable, seriously?

JDMYOFAN

Am I being ripped off here?

Broke down last night and needed to be towed within 10miles, of which I knew no garages..

RAC man dropped the car off at one in the local town, who've just quoted me £96 to replace the cable and fit it..

Supposedly this normally costs £90 tops (unless you go to somewhere like Peugeot). Can I ask to see their labour costs etc? If it takes them 2 hours to do something which 'should' take 40mins tops, do I have a case against this rip-off?

I'll have to chekc invoice because parts will be £20 TOPS. Is there a legal limit as to what hourly rate they can charge?

Conor_3

You can ask them for a breakdown of their costs but there's no legal limit to what they can charge for their labour nor what profit they add onto the trade cost of the part.

If you think the part is only £20 and only takes an hour, do it yourself.

anewman

Only limit is whether you choose to accept their quote or not. If you wanted you could get your car towed home, buy the part and a haynes manual and attempt the job yourself - but it's probably easier to pay the £96.

JDMYOFAN

Aye, I was aware they were taking advantage, just expected £60 TOPS!

Looks like im working a few more hours this month to compensate!

iolanthe07

Sorry, but I don't think £96 to supply and fit a clutch cable is that far off these days.

vikingaero

NJ,

Seems like you should increase your level of cover under your breakdown policy to get recovery home or to a garage of your choice.

£96 seems reasonable for a new clutch cable to be fitted.

steveo3002

have you actualy priced the cable...some are stupid money

flang

Id say thats the going rate
we had a cable replaced on a fiat scentio and tht cost £65 to supply and fit 2 years ago.
turns out the part was around £20

jeannieblue

Agree with the others - sounds reasonable to me.

Ginger_Nuts_2

Have you ever tried to replace a clutch cable:rolleyes: The easy part is removing it from the clutch actuating arm in the engine bay, then the fun starts, you have to remove trim under the steering column and dashboard, then you have to put your head on upside down, work in the footwell backwards to try and get a cable to either hook onto something if you're lucky or remove a pin and then replace the pin all whilst being upside down and backto front in if you're not. And it's been a while from clutch cables have been that price.:rolleyes: And I dont see what type of car it is either, you seem to have missed that out. Tell ya what, tell them to take the car from the garage, tell them to drop it off at a local motor factors, you can buy the part and fit it yourself in your tea break, oops, thats right you cant do that 'cos you dont know how to. :rolleyes:

big_gay_kirk

96 quid.. I could buy a car for that.. buy the cable and do it yourself.... its fun, educational, and cheaper.. lets be honest, in the time it takes you'd miss Corrie and eastenders, but is that a hardship.....??