sampson100

2004 Accord EX Manual 154,000 miles

I'm pissed.

I've noticed no slippage in my clutch at all. Petal pressure was fine, etc. Pulling up to my house this weekend I push in the clutch and hear and feel a slight pop. After that I can't put car into any gear while car is running, but goes into gear when engine is off. My regular mechanic doesn't work on trannies so I tow it to a place he recommends.

Transmission place tells me all the hydraulics look good, so they say that I need a new clutch which would run around $1500 all said and done. Today was the 4th day they had my car, when I call to see if it is done guy tells me it is, but they had to do more work.

Long story short (sort of) they dropped the transmission, didn't find any popped springs as he thought he would. Put in a new clutch assembly, machined the fly wheel, etc. Car still wouldn't run. They take apart the clutch assembly and find trans fluid all over. So they replace the slave cylinder. Still doesn't work. Replace the master cylinder and it worked perfectly. The guy admitted that the master cylinder must have been the problem all along. He said the clutch was worn and I'd need a new clutch before 50k more miles anyhow.

He didn't charge me for labor on the slave or master cylinder work. He knocked off one hour of labor for a grand total of around $1400. Would I need a new clutch in a year or two? sure, but he misdiagnosed the problem, started with the most expensive thing (which was fine for now).

Did I get Fleeced?

(Sorry for the long post, as I said...I'm pissed)

grampswrx

Probably depends on what you mean by fleeced. The price is way high, but probably what he would have charged for the job if it really needed to be done. So he isn't necessarily taking advantage of you just on price because he probably spent lots of time on it.

If you mean fleeced like he is taking advantage of you because of his mis-diagnosis, then yeah, you got fleeced. Most good mechanics start with the easy (and cheap) and work toward the harder stuff. He did the opposite and went for the big money.

As far as needing a new clutch soon, that all depends on how you drive. I have had original clutches go 150,000 miles.

Before you pay, I would try to negotiate with him. But if you already paid, it was an expensive lesson.

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

Price is super high for a simple trans R&R and clutch change. What did the intake agreement say? If you agreed to all charges then there is nothing to do. $1,400 isn't worth going to court over. In the future, be very specific with what you are okay with and what needs additional approval before being done.