Verbal quote for automatic gearbox repair

bigjl

mbrijun wrote: »

Bigjl: thanks for a great post. It has put my mind more at ease and I will most likely go with your advise on replacing the bearing only.

As you used to run a garage - should I also ask for a written quote, or will that simply upset the owner without any real gain?

Do you happen to know what bad driving habits may have caused this premature (miles wise) problem? Also, what's the worst case scenario if the problem is not rectified promptly?

Thank you again for your post.

I never gave a written quote other than for Insurance repairs, any price i ever gave would be an estimate, as until you strip everything off you can never be really sure what is going to be wrong.

However on more than one occasion i have estimated a price and the actual job was slightly cheaper due to not everything needing done. Though that was a rare occurance and usually only happened on bodywork.repairs when some things could be reused after a bit of work.to.straighten them.

bigjl

As far as actual use causing the problem you have. All the cars i worked on where used in London so it could be something that wears out quicker in urban cut and thrust though i doubt it.

The bearing you have a problem with is just a part that can get noisy over time. Especially as your car is 10 yrs old. The older a car gets then the more issues like this you will get.

asbokid

Hammyman wrote: »

Its only less by 6 bolts. It is BARELY less than the labour involved in replacing a clutch by maybe 5 minutes.

While you're down there (as my wife often says).. might as well give the clutch an overhaul too then!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

my mates dads had an old orion and the bearings were noisy, that thing run for about 7 years before the bearing gave out completely. by then he had saved enough to buy a new car.

i'd tell him he needs to get a second hand box, and he'd tell me i'll put £10 a week by, for every week it keeps me going ill reward it with a tenner in a savings jar and petrol in the tank when it stops is when i'll stop doing it. when it stopped working he rewarded it with a destruction notice and an nice newer car.

mbrijun

Hammyman wrote: »

Don't forget that most automatic gearboxes also have an oil filter that needs changing too.

Just as an aside, when you used to check the gearbox fluid level once a week/month, did you do it with the engine running or not?

I wish it was all outlined in the manual... They say nothing there about checking/changing the oil filter of the gearbox...

As for the oil level check, I used to do it with the engine stopped until someone at a garage told me to have the engine running.

sujman

forgotmyname wrote: »

I thought £350.. HOW MUCH.... not a very good mate if he charged you that to swap a box.

Ford may have been cheaper... Normal garage would have been cheaper.

No offence guys, but I would trust "my mate" above anyone else.

Ford delaers I originally went would not touch the auto gear box swap, they refered me to a specalist would would only install a box that they refurbed - for £1500.

Other garages I contacted did not want to take on a job where I purchased the 2nd hand box and they installed. Said the possibilities of things going wrong were too high and I could end up blaming them for issues that were nothing to do with them.

I also considered the option of buying a refurb box from one place and getting installed elesewhere. Refurb box prices were coming in at £1000 or so - so the install price built into the total supply + fit was circa £500.

So,even though I wouldn't question the charges "my mate" charged me, I had already worked out beforehand the costs I was looking at.

property.advert

Yeah but a mate will do you a favour for nothing or a couple of pints and a curry, not take you for a few hundred.

asbokid

£350 is more than the hourly rate that an independent garage would charge for the work.

my point in comparing the job of swapping a gearbox to replacing the clutch is that it is essentially the same job, and so the labour cost should be the same. you remove the gearbox and all its appendages including driveshafts to change the clutch.

a benchmark for labour would be £100-£150. five hours labour (@£30/hr) should be ample time to change a gearbox on most cars.

swapping a gearbox is a heavy job for "a mate" to do on his own. Bu he probably didn't do the job on his own. He probably did it at work with the help of able hands. Gearboxes even on small cars are surprisingly heavy.

sujman

asbokid wrote: »

£350 is more than the hourly rate that an independent garage would charge for the work.

my point in comparing the job of swapping a gearbox to replacing the clutch is that it is essentially the same job, and so the labour cost should be the same. you remove the gearbox and all its appendages including driveshafts to change the clutch.

a benchmark for labour would be £100-£150. five hours labour (@£30/hr) should be ample time to change a gearbox on most cars.

swapping a gearbox is a heavy job for "a mate" to do on his own. Bu he probably didn't do the job on his own. He probably did it at work with the help of able hands. Gearboxes even on small cars are surprisingly heavy.

Its a bit like a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. My only other option was £1500 odd for a refurbed box so £700 (£675 to be exact) was a good deal in my eyes.

Also, in the end, my mechanic also sourced the box for me (the one I sourced turned out to be unsuitable), so he did another good half days work in going out 3 times to collect, then return and then re-buy a box from elsewhere.

Oh, and I had a free loan of a car while he kept mine in until the useable box was eventually found.

Can't understand the comments that people expected the job to be done for free. Its his livelyhood, I can afford to pay, why should I expect it for free?

A lift to the job centre (not applicable in my case), change a light bulb, fit some new tyres etc etc, yeah I would get that for free all the time but I would never in a million years expect a gearbox change to be done for a curry and a pack of fags (although he's stopped smoking now!!).