Just asking for a friend!

[glencrannog]

Yes, it is true! An elderly lady friend of our family has a 2016 Yaris. Out in it a few days ago, it started smoking and losing power. When told I, who am not particularly mechanically minded, suspected the clutch had gone. She had it towed to a Toyota Main Dealer. Bottom line is she was charged £1200 all in of which they said it involved £500 labour charge. Would you say this was reasonable. Also, they stated that brake linings on the way out. Quoted, I think, a couple of hundred pounds. She said no to that and is going to her local garage which quoted £80. Any thoughts?

[donkeychomp]

Smoking and losing power isn't the clutch. Head gasket or worn rings spring to mind. However if they charged £1200 for a clutch then you need to have words with them. From a local garage that cost me £300.

Alex

[Stecha]

54 minutes ago, glencrannog said:

Yes, it is true! An elderly lady friend of our family has a 2016 Yaris. Out in it a few days ago, it started smoking and losing power. When told I, who am not particularly mechanically minded, suspected the clutch had gone. She had it towed to a Toyota Main Dealer. Bottom line is she was charged £1200 all in of which they said it involved £500 labour charge. Would you say this was reasonable. Also, they stated that brake linings on the way out. Quoted, I think, a couple of hundred pounds. She said no to that and is going to her local garage which quoted £80. Any thoughts?

Surely what was done is written on the invoice bill ?

Is it a diesel engine with, perhaps, a DPF fault ?

[Bper]

The invoice should give a breakdown of materials and labour and identify what work was carried out. If this is not the case and no breakdown was issued then ask for one . If this is a Toyota main dealer then they should have done this as normal practice. 

Without knowing the actual extent of what was done and what materials had been used it can only be speculation as to what was wrong with the car for this this to warrant such a high total.

[Primus1]

I think more details of what work was carried out, if you take the £500 labour out, then £700 is a very expensive clutch…

[DerekHa]

£1200 for a replacement clutch does sound excessive but then she's paying Main dealer prices and they're known for being very expensive on both parts and labour.

I've known a clutch thats slipping badly to produce lots of horrible stinky smoke and as the thing is slipping you'll notice the car losing power even though the engine rev's will rise and fall as you drive.

Like others have said check the invoice and has the problem been cured since the work was done?

[glencrannog]

Thanks for the replies. I will talk to her in the next couple of days for more details. I'm pretty sure it is invoiced for clutch replacement.

[Lawnmowerman]

Back in the day my mantra was - 'the bigger the invoice you give a customer the more narrative they get to explain it'.

[bathtub tom]

'Losing power' could mean 'it's not going anywhere no matter how much welly I give it'.

Alternatively, it could mean it's down on power. More information needed.

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, donkeychomp said:

Smoking and losing power isn't the clutch.

That rather depends on where the smoke is coming from.

As descriptions of symptoms go that op is pretty thin. Perhaps it's actually a hybrid, which would certainly explain the bill 😁

[Max_Headroom]

I think the OP needs to give more detail smoking and losing power could be several things. 

[Primus1]

My dad used to smoke and lose power when he came home from the pub….🤭

[TonyHSD]

£1200 for a new clutch kit fitted in the dealer is reasonably priced. 
Smoke and no power ? Already mentioned, where the smoke came from, the smell of what was presented and what exactly loss of power means? 
If the clutch was smoking and had no friction to move the car at all this car should smell burning like for months after the event. A lots of questions to be asked and answers to have before we made any assumptions. 
If the elderly lady still drives a manual, an automatic transmission car is a much better option. Aygo x auto or Yaris hybrid are way better cars and more suitable than any other manual transmission cars.
Manuals are gone in the history and people should stop buying those, unless the vehicles are specific use like tractors, pick ups, lorries or whatever else. 
Daily cars with automatic transmission are the way forward.
Look USA and Japan. 

[Cyker]

Yeah ~£1200 to do a standard clutch job is par for dealer rates, which is why most people don't use them  

The cost breakdown is sus tho - The OE clutches are usually around the mid 300-400 mark (Pressure plate, release bearing and friction disc) depending on the car, although if that included the flywheel it works out, as the flywheel can range from mid-hundred to near a grand depending on the car (Those dual-mass flywheels are insanely expensive yet far less reliable than a solid flywheel!). That said, they don't usually replace the flywheel, or the slave cylinder, unless instructed to, so they shouldn't factor into it.

Usually it's the labour that's the big cost as the dealers do it by the book which means it can take a day or two for them to do it depending on the car, so it is a bit odd the division being so parts heavy.

 

Edit: Actually, if it's a 1NR-FE, the parts cost makes sense as that uses a CSC, not a normal release bearing, and when I was asking about one for my Mk2, the quote I got was more than the clutch kit and a new solid flywheel combined!!  

I got one from Fensport instead for ~£80 IIRC  

 

Edit2: I have to say Tony, if it was an autobox the bill would be a lot higher! My brother's DSG-equipped Audi A3 had a quote for over £6000!  I still prefer manuals because they are more fun and much easier and cheaper to repair, and will defend them up until they get banned (Because an EV with a manual gearbox would just be stupid and nonsensical  )

 

[glencrannog]

Yes, definitely a replacement clutch. Glad I've still got warranty and a service contract on my Yaris Cross. She doesn't sound that bothered actually!

[Primus1]

At the main dealers, they use virgins to prepare the clutch kit which is made of gold and studded with precious jewels, it is brought to the chief mechanic carried aloft on a silk cushion transported on a golden sedan chair, all kept in time by a eunuch beating a drum, to a fanfare of platinum covered trumpets where it’s installed in the car…..well that’s how I’d want it done if I was paying £1200…

[Max_Headroom]

 

 

This is from checatrade so £835 (not sure about VAT) would the average price and obviously the dealers hourly rate will be a lot higher than a local garage, i would not pay £1200 to have a clutch changed. 

 

 

 

How Much Does Clutch Replacement Cost in 2023? | Checkatrade

[ColinB]

Not a Yaris, but I just paid just under £1k for a clutch on my wife's IQ in an independent garage but using Toyota parts, a main dealer would be a bit more expensive no doubt 

Colin 

[TonyHSD]

Hyundai - kia hybrids has dual clutch that goes bad after some miles and the replacement can be excess of £3000 . This is why I like Toyota hybrids. They purposely or not had removed a lot of these unnecessary clutter that wears off and cost fortune to replace. Ok, they might be rattling, noisy, bumpy, slow, whatever, but they are smooth, efficient and reliable. 👍