96WS6,SA,TX.

I took my car to ***-CO Transmission shop on San Antonio to have my car checked. I already knew that the clutch was bad and the tranny might need a facelift. I had been getting quotes from a few different shops and these guys seemed the most reasonable cause they would let me make payments on the work. Anyhow, I get a call today saying that it will cost 3600.00 to replace my bad clutch with a Luk Gold and fully rebuild my tranny. I dont need my tranny completely rebuilt. What the hell do I do now? Im already in the hole 400.00 for them to just drop it and open it up. If I tell them forget it then I still have to pay the 400 and get nothing done. For what they are charging me, I could buy a fully rebuilt one for half. There is nothing I can do Im assuming other than pay the 400 and get my car back. I should have taken it to Lethal just like I was told but I couldnt afford to dish out the whole amount at once which is why I went to these guys. BAD MISTAKE. So for what its worth, Leathal gave me a damn good price compared to these other A-HOLES! Sorry for the long rant but I just hate to have to py for something and get nothing.

calhoon

iTrader: (6)

Gather up your stuff and move on to a place that isn't bending you over that trans.

Mike44138

iTrader: (3)

+1. They're even a little steep on the trans removal fee. Pay them the $400, have the car towed with the trans out to a reputable shop that will give you a written estimate on installing a new clutch and reinstalling the trans. A lot of shops are hesitant to quote labor because it's hard to tell what you're getting into until you dig into it. If you're specific that you understand you're just getting a quote for those items they should be up front if they're worth doing business with.

3.4camaro

iTrader: (1)

blow up the shop
move to houston
go to t56 rebuilds

96WS6,SA,TX.

The car ran ok before I took it to them if I babied it on 2nd and 3rd. I told them I was going to take my own clutch for them to install so that I at least get something done for my 400 bucks and they said it wouldnt work cause the input shaft is bad. Can that be right if it was working before they took it apart? My only concern is that they arent going to put it back together as it was before they got their hands on it and I will have no choice but to end up paying what they want. The new clutch should work if the old one was working before right? Im willing to cut my losses and move on but I want them to justify their 400 dollar charge by putting in my new clutch, then I'll take it somewhere else for the tranny rebuild. What do you guys think?

calhoon

iTrader: (6)

You might say that the 400 was an out and in. If they stop now that only half the work so a dicount is in order...it might work. I would not let them do any more if you've told them they won't get the rebuild work.

Mike44138

iTrader: (3)

Agreed. Take a few pics of the input shaft when you get the trans so we can see the condition of the splines, mic the pilot bearing diameter, and if possible check it for endplay. For the endplay you really should use a dial indicator, but the spec is 0 endplay so giving it a push in and out for noticeable excess movement is a seat of the pants check.

I think the last time I paid a shop to remove and reinstall it was around $400 or $500. Maybe $250 each way, don't have my reciepts. Either way something like that most shops go by book time and just charge that amount. Don't recall what the book time was though.

96WS6,SA,TX.

Well I just left the shop and saw the tanny apart. It didnt look like the gears were at all bad! He showed me the input shaft and the gear at the end looked fine. There were no broken teeth on any of my gears. The bearings looked like they should after 114xxx miles, a little blue color on them. To make a long story short, they are going to install my new clutch if the manager ok's it. Now they are saying that it might be an additional charge because the 400 dollar fee is to just remove and install. If they are going to have to install my old one back, why not install the new one. It should be the same labor to do it right? I think they are just wanting to get more out of me. Either way the car is getting put back together and I'll move on. Thanks for all the advice and I definitely have learned my lesson.

Mike44138

iTrader: (3)

That sucks. It's stuff like this that made me stop taking my car to a shop unless I knew what the problem was and just was too lazy to fix it myself. Even with that said I always ask for an estimate in writing and tell them not to perform any labor unless they clear it with me first. When I was about 18 I took a car in for a bad injector, shope replaced the injector, 2 ignition coils, a plenum cover, and spark plugs. On top of it, they didn't keep any of the old parts. What should have been a $350 fix turned out to be $750.00. Being young and a little naive I didn't have the ***** to tell them to put everything they took off the car back on except for the bad injector. Still regret that one to this day.

jinusow

Never go by honor system with a shop and I mean never. Always get printed quotes learned that with a body repair by mouth that became 3x because it didn't mean paint and because it took more hours or they messed up and had to start over? I let them know they were trying to bend me over and after 2 hours of back and forth I settled for $200 more than the what I was told. I do my own paint now, too. If the shop can't tell you then they don't know what the hell their about to be doing. I got a friend that does serious 1/4 mile racing has a backyard garage and if I want him to rebuild my trans he'd say ok that'll cost this much and take me this long and I got an opening this day.

Mike44138

iTrader: (3)

If they're not willing to tell you what they're going to do and how much it'll cost in writing, then walk.