Technical damaged gearbox and clutch

[AnthonyH]

Hi, below is a quote I got in Bristol for my 2011 Fiat 500 1.2 Manual 5-speed transmission. The car has done 86k miles, the clutch was at its end of life and the gearbox bearings had propagated the damage to gears 1, 2 and 3. A local garage here in Bristol said that is best to fit a reconditioned gearbox and replace the clutch.
The total quote is £1460 (incl. VAT) and it includes:

• Fitting of a reconditioned gearbox
• Clutch replacement
• Flywheel Resurfacing
• Gearbox fluids
• Labour
• Warranty for 6000 miles

I have already agreed to it as I intent to keep using it, but just wanted to leave this here for everyone’s information.

The car is probably worth about £2,100 in good working order. So you're paying out two thirds of the value of the car in repairs.

If you could sell it for anything more than £700, then you'd be better off doing that and using the saved money £1460 + sell price = £2,160 to buy another car.

 

[John202020]

You won't get anything for £2200 these day's only someone else's problems sold for that very reason ?

 

[Ak0987]

You won't get anything for £2200 these day's only someone else's problems sold for that very reason ?

So true. To be fair, nowadays a new car on credit will cost you the same as a used one yearly, but without the garage emergencies.

 

[jrkitching]

If you could sell it for anything more than £700, then you'd be better off doing that and using the saved money £1460 + sell price = £2,160 to buy another car.

The problem with this argument is that there's a world of difference between a 12 yr old car that you've run for the past few years, and an unknown 12 yr old car bought off a forecourt.

Providing you're reasonably sure the rest of the car is sound, a known quantity beats an unknown quantity every time.

 

[jrkitching]

To be fair, nowadays a new car on credit will cost you the same as a used one yearly

In the current climate, the interest payments on a new car bought on credit will be substantial. Money isn't free anymore.

IMO a new car is only worth considering today if you can buy it for cash.

The annual interest alone on a current new car pcp will likely be more than the cost of this repair, and that's before we talk about the depreciation element.

Unfortunately for all of us, however you choose to do it, the overall cost of running a car today is at least twice what it was pre-COVID.

 

[AnthonyH]

A big part of me thinking I would't get this job done myself is that the garage may not do the job properly.

There's a small chance they'll botch it completely, but a bigger chance it'll be not quite right. My experience of warranties is that they aren't worth much. If the job isn't done right, the garage will make up excuses to avoid having to do it all over again. This is of course understandable, because changing the clutch and gearbox is a lot of labour.

 

[AnthonyH]

You won't get anything for £2200 these day's only someone else's problems sold for that very reason ?

This is true but the poster would need to swap like with like for it to be a fair comparison.

If he's swapping a 2011 car for another 2011 car, then £2200 goes a reasonable distance.

Swapping a 2011 car for a 2016 one wouldn't get you far no.

 

[jrkitching]

A big part of me thinking I would't get this job done myself is that the garage may not do the job properly.

I'd certainly be concerned if they were fitting a secondhand 'box of dubious provenance, but if they're fitting a properly reconditioned unit, the job is no harder than changing a clutch, and most garages seem to manage to get that right.

If you buy a used 'box yourself, then pay a garage to fit it, the risk is that neither the garage nor the gearbox seller will take responsibility if it doesn't work - each will likely say it's the fault of the other. But if you're paying one all inclusive price to a garage to supply and fit a reconditioned gearbox, it's clearly their responsibility if anything goes wrong.

then £2200 goes a reasonable distance

Not in the current market.

There's another active thread running about one which was bought for £3000 last week; it's not a happy story.

 

[Ak0987]

In the current climate, the interest payments on a new car bought on credit will be substantial. Money isn't free anymore.

IMO a new car is only worth considering today if you can buy it for cash.

The annual interest alone on a current new car pcp will likely be more than the cost of this repair, and that's before we talk about the depreciation element.

Unfortunately for all of us, however you choose to do it, the overall cost of running a car today is at least twice what it was pre-COVID.

I agree. Opting for a new one is ok only if the new car is smaller. If you look at same categories, it will cost more yearly to pay for a new car using credit.