Expensive quote from Honda

DD2AN

Hi,
I've just got my Honda Jazz back from servicing. The clutch needs changed and the guys at the Honda garage are asking for £650 to do the job!?!
Do you know any reliable chain / local garage in SE London that you would recommend - and cheaper than the Honda garage?!!
Best,
Denis

m0bov

Avoid fast fit places, ask friends and work mates for ideas? google for local Honda indies?

DD2AN

Fast fit places? Like: Choice Mobile Mechanics, Halfords , or Mr Clutch ?

EdGasket

Yes, avoid chains. Some branches can be OK but a lot have 'issues'; like they do a bad job or try to bump up the price with work that doesn't need doing.

Best bet is a local garage that someone you know can recommend. If you don't know anyone see if any are recommended in checkatrades or just google the garage name and reviews.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Might be worth a poke nose on the Good Garage guide, certainly linked to on Honestjohn unless thats their own list.

For a guide the family Aygo clutch was quoted at £750 at the main dealer, and that's the last they'll ever see of it thanks to that bad joke quote.

We got a local garage we use regularly to do the job, they fitted a LUK kit @ £285 all in, plus service with a smile.

jase1

The Honda Jazz is a run of the mill car, and by no means complex (Honda, and more generally Japanese, cars tend to be very conventionally engineered unless you're looking at a performance model)/

I would not expect any decent garage to have trouble doing the work. £300 would actually be slightly on the high side depending on where you are.

I must admit I'm surprised at some of the quotes. Admittedly this was around 6-7 years ago now, but Hyundai only quoted me £325 for a clutch replacement on an Accent. Local garage got that down to £200. I refuse to believe that prices have doubled in that time!

macman

Try these guys, not far from SE London: mainly a Mazda independent but also do Honda.
http://www.freelancehonda.com/services

jase1

Why do people always recommend 'specialists' for mundane cars?

Bizarre. A Jazz doesn't need a specialist any more than a Corsa does.

Strider590

Honda won't do this job at a dealership, they outsource to a local transmission specialist, who'd do the job for £300 and then the dealership slap their profit on top.

The key is to find out the place locally where all the local car dealerships send cars for clutch and transmission repairs. It's also usually where the local taxi firms and the emergency services go.

ChumLee

Strider590 wrote: »

Honda won't do this job at a dealership, they outsource to a local transmission specialist, who'd do the job for £300 and then the dealership slap their profit on top.

The key is to find out the place locally where all the local car dealerships send cars for clutch and transmission repairs. It's also usually where the local taxi firms and the emergency services go.

Since when have main dealers stopped doing clutches?

Strider590

ChumLee wrote: »

Since when have main dealers stopped doing clutches?

Most of them don't do BIG jobs, they don't have the skills, the staff or the time.

Any job that requires the engine and transmission to be lifted out or dropped underneath, is a BIG job. In most FWD cars, you can't separate the engine/clutch/gearbox without doing one of these... It means electrics disconnecting, parts removing, draining the coolant, disconnecting fuel lines, etc.

Your not going to get a dealership technician doing that, they basically only know how to plug in a diagnostics machine, perform an oil change and swap out failed bulbs.