VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner

Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel....

1K views 19 replies 13 participants last post by  Digitalcandy 
#1 ·
Is that a good estimate?
I can start to feel my clutch slipping due to my various mods. I am going to get the Autotech package and have a local shop do the install.
 
#2 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Digitalcandy)

quote:[HR][/HR]Is that a good estimate?
I can start to feel my clutch slipping due to my various mods. I am going to get the Autotech package and have a local shop do the install.[HR][/HR]​
6 hours sounds right - but is the $460 just labor? that's $75 an hour labor - kind of a lot...........
 
#3 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (JettaManDan)

Yeah, the price is for labor only. I don't have experience working with mechanics so I don't know what a good labor rate is. The shop is in Irvine on the border of Newport beach. So $50K - $100K cars are not uncommon in this shop. I suppose the demographics support $75 / hour.

What is a good labor rate per hour?
 
#4 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Digitalcandy)

well lowest I've seen here in the boonies is about $60 an hour - though $70 is pretty standard now - if they do good work - will get you in and out fast - and give you some sort of guarantee - then the $75 an hour is worth the less hassle - 6 hours is a good estimate for the work - make them stick to that and have them do it - you might save $50-100 somewhere else - but the quality may not be as good.........
 
#6 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Digitalcandy)

Yeah, try 4-5 hrs. A friend of mine works for VW and did mine in 4 for $130 (friend price I guess. A friend of his can do a clutch in 3 hrs. at the dealership. This is how he makes all his money because they get paid by the job and that job is dialed in at 5-6hrs. Shop around for prices.
 
#7 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Digitalcandy)

Digital Candy,
I noticed you are "right down the street" from us here in San Juan. As an alternative source, you may want to give Ron Wood at VW Specialities in Huntington Beach a ring. We refer all of our customer installs to him as he is the VW service/performance install guru in all of SoCal. Their number is 714.848.3766. His rates are very reasonable and you know he will do it right the first time. I am sure that many Vortexers can/will chime in and confirm this.
Kind Regards,
Ralph Hollack
Director of Operations
Autotech Sport Tuning Corp.
 
#9 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Ralph @ Autotech)

6 hours is a regular shop rate for a clutch install, and 75 is not a bad rate, its 70 at AWE right now. IT all depends on the area. I know when I was at the dealer hour VW rate was what the porshce rate was at a vw/audi/porsche dealer and the local porsche dealer to me was close to or over 100 an hour.
Personally I have knocked out a MK4 1.8T clutch in under 1.5 hours. I average a little under 3 though probably takign my time.
chris
chris86vw@aol
 
#11 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (bedes)

up here, we pay 300cdn$ (186 USD) for a professional install (I mean a racing shop)
Cheap mecanics will charge 25-40CDN$ /hour, but good ones are 50-60CDN$


[Modified by sebz1.8t, 9:26 PM 2-7-2002]
 
#12 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (Ralph @ Autotech)

quote:[HR][/HR]Digital Candy,
I noticed you are "right down the street" from us here in San Juan. As an alternative source, you may want to give Ron Wood at VW Specialities in Huntington Beach a ring. We refer all of our customer installs to him as he is the VW service/performance install guru in all of SoCal. Their number is 714.848.3766. His rates are very reasonable and you know he will do it right the first time. I am sure that many Vortexers can/will chime in and confirm this.
Kind Regards,
Ralph Hollack
Director of Operations
Autotech Sport Tuning Corp.
[HR][/HR]​
Ralph- You took the words out of my mouth. I was going to recommend VW Specialties(Ron) or Velocity.
 
#15 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (megadome)

Bring chris86vw with you to canada,
"Personally I have knocked out a MK4 1.8T clutch in under 1.5 hours" + "Cheap mecanics will charge 25-40CDN$ /hour", 1.5hrs x $25CDN x .62= 23.25 USD Thats a heck of of an install price! JK, LOL
No offense chris, couldn't pass it up, sounds like you should charge about $300/hr ($450/1.5hrs=$300hr)
 
#16 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (r6supafly)

well it would still be 6 hours labor even if it took me 1.5 or 10 hours, thats why there it book time. Thats the motivation to work fast. The 1.5hours was on my car, and my battery is in teh trunk, which saves a few minutes, but I still could have done it around 1.5 hours if I wnted too. I have a real good system down, I know all the bolt sizes and where theya re and how to get to them, I mena I have done my trans about 5 times already.

chris
chris86vw@aol
 
#19 ·
Re: Quoted 6 hours for a total of $460 to put in a clutch and flywheel.... (chris86vw)

quote:[HR][/HR]gonna take a little more then 1.5 hours on the ground though.
chris
chris86vw@aol[HR][/HR]​
So it's possible to remove the trans from underneath the car w/o a lift? Is there enough clearance with just regular jack stands or ramps? I'd just like some info for future reference. Thanks.
Also 6 hours was what I was quoted by EIP down here in Maryland for a clutch install. The actual labor charge was only $350 though because the plan was to buy the clutch/flywheel package from them. For anyone that doesn't know, the rates at EIP are freaking expensive so $350 for a clutch install is very good. Anyway might want to check out that option- buying the clutch/flywheel through the shop doing the install and see if they'll give you a break on labor.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top