General 'Mr Clutch' - anyone used them, any good?

[brooking147]

Time for a new clutch. Panda 1.1 ECO 2009 at 140k, owned since around 70k so no idea if original or second clutch. However for some time have noise like dry bearing when pedal depressed.

Has anyone used Mr Clutch? My local trusted mechanic said the local brnch had a good reputation and as clutch specialists I should consider using them.

This is not a job I would consider attempting myself so interested in others views on Mr Clutch or other similar nationwide specialists...

Thank you.

 

[bugsymike]

Time for a new clutch. Panda 1.1 ECO 2009 at 140k, owned since around 70k so no idea if original or second clutch. However for some time have noise like dry bearing when pedal depressed.

Has anyone used Mr Clutch? My local trusted mechanic said the local brnch had a good reputation and as clutch specialists I should consider using them.

This is not a job I would consider attempting myself so interested in others views on Mr Clutch or other similar nationwide specialists...

Thank you.

I have never heard of Mr Clutch, the only thing I would say is, if you totally trust your mechanic and his advice then that is all you can go by.
I ran my business from 1982 till retirement on recommendation.
If he has used them a lot and put work there way, then if you tell them he recommended them to you, in that case they would be foolish to do a poor job as it would adversely affect any future custom from him .
My only other thought is as a motor engineer, why can't he do it?

 

[portland_bill]

Mr Clutch is a nationwide chain, but without the consistency of some companies. How good they are will depend on the local expertise and pride in their work.
Like Halfords and Kwik-Fit, they are pressured to upsell, btu how hard they push will depend on the local manager. The one in Swindon used to have a good reputation, until they changed manager, and the good staff left, to be replaced by poorer quality ones.
Specialising in clutches, that's mostly all they do, so get quite slick at them. Allows them to do the job quicker than a local garage that only sees one a month. Some guys are older technicians, looking for a simpler life, but sadly, some are the ones that are not so good at general stuff.
Each branch has to stand on its local reputation.

 

[soc]

I used Mr Clutch in Cardiff. Gino (older guy), the Italian machanic who works there, fitted the clutch and new flywheel to my 2013 TA Panda 4X4 (on original Clutch from new, done 144k miles when I had to change it). He did a fantastic job and about £400 cheaper than other quotes.

 

[koalar]

As with any large organisation it’s only as good as it’s staff

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I've always felt ill at ease with these "Jonny all makes" outfits. I bet they're probably quite good at doing vehicles which are common in the area examples of which frequently roll through their doors but will not have the intimate knowledge of a one make specialist for any one particular model. So for a simple, well known, solid flywheel vehicle, probably Ok but for something less commonly encountered, maybe with a D/M flywheel, Who knows? Then again, the one make specialist is likely to top up your gearbox oil with the exact correct oil - many boxes lose a lot of their oil when you pull the driveshafts - whereas a generic workshop will find it much more tempting to top up with that "already opened" container of oil which was used to top up the one before, don't you think? Then again would they delay the job to ring you if they found a slightly leaking first motion shaft or other defect or would the temptation be too much to just slam it all back together, take your money and get it out the door? It's probably going to be months before the leak causes a symptom the customer will notice and it can always be denied?

As is said in posts above, it boils down to the chap doing the job and the management policies. My opinions are probably coloured by a dreadful experience we had years ago with my youngest boy's old Escort. He handed it over to a so called specialist with terrible results and Dad was called in to sort it all out after the garage dumped the undriveable vehicle at the curbside outside his workshop and refused to have anything more to do with it - They broke the driver's door lock too!

Now that I'm physically getting a bit past these sort of activities our Fiats would go to the local Fiat indy (Harrisons). The SEAT/Skodas would go to a VAG specialist indy (AVW but I'm lucky, there are two others to choose from). The Vauxhall would go to a GM specialist (Clan Garage). I've not mentioned this one on the forum before and can highly recommend them so here's a link to them: https://www.clangarage.co.uk/ By now I'm sure you've got the way my thinking leans. Automatics? well what do you think? That's right, not a chance! you need a specialist and a good one with a track record at that. especially if it's one of these new Direct shift automated boxes which are now "all the rage" Not something I'd buy so will never have to face that one.

Nothing in this life is 100% certain but I think the specialist is considerably more likely to produce a satisfactory result, so what if it costs a few quid more? If it goes wrong it'll cost more in the long run - So, in a corrupted version of that famous utterance of Dirty Harry "Do you feel lucky?"

 

[varesecrazy]

This has been asked before..

@typecastboy had a friend use them




I remember responding before

Not the most positive experience.. but thats 'Sales' for you


But if a local branch has a good reputation..

And cheaper than a FIAT.ALFA specialist why not

 

[bugsymike]

This has been asked before..

@typecastboy had a friend use them




I remember responding before

Not the most positive experience.. but thats 'Sales' for you


But if a local branch has a good reputation..

And cheaper than a FIAT.ALFA specialist why not

Personal recommendation only.
Stuff National advertising. Fast Fit "Specialists" work on up selling. So it is not unusual to be given an estimate which on collecting the vehicle has snowballed, "oh we found this was wrong when we took it apart, and no we haven't saved the faulty bit to show you".
I had a customer some years ago take her car to National Tyres for a puncture, they replaced both front shock absorbers as they were "leaking" strange as it had just had an Mot and full service, stranger still that the "leak" smelt of WD40!!!
I share Jock's views re auto boxes and specialists.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Personal recommendation only.
Stuff National advertising. Fast Fit "Specialists" work on up selling. So it is not unusual to be given an estimate which on collecting the vehicle has snowballed, "oh we found this was wrong when we took it apart, and no we haven't saved the faulty bit to show you".
I had a customer some years ago take her car to National Tyres for a puncture, they replaced both front shock absorbers as they were "leaking" strange as it had just had an Mot and full service, stranger still that the "leak" smelt of WD40!!!
I share Jock's views re auto boxes and specialists.

Inappropriate upselling, One of the main reasons the garage trade has such a dodgy image in my opinion Mike. As many on here will know, as a youngster I went from my college studies straight into the tyre industry working with saloon, sports and prototype cars. It was a working environment where excellence was taken for granted and everything had to be done "just right". I remember watching a man welding up fabricated rear uprights in John Surtees F1 workshop with oxyacetylene - would be done with TIG today - I'd learned oxy acetylene welding in college and thought I was quite good at it. This chap just took the whole thing to a new level, was so beautiful to watch it almost brought tears to my eyes.

So, when that division closed down and went back to the other side of the pond, I went into the everyday hurly burly of the motor trade, found employment on the shop floor and got my eyes opened wide as to how different a college approach is to the "real world". Luckily my training served me well and I didn't have any very big problems although I quickly learned some short cuts, like separating ball joint tapers with a hammer (always used a splitter in college) Our senior management was seriously into maximizing profit and upselling was a big part of it. The temptation was very great to sell something either not needed at all or that could safely wait for a few months as you got a few "bob" on your wages for everything sold that wasn't on the job sheet. It was a big shock anyway because the engineering involved, compared to the racing stuff, was positively agricultural. It wasn't too long before I was foreman (working) and my job hung on making profit in the shop. I had a very simple approach. Check the vehicle over before starting on the ticketed job. If you find something you feel genuinely needs done now then show me and I'll sign it off for submission to the reception engineer who then rang the customer. With a bit of luck a reply will be received before work on the vehicle is completed so the additional work can just carry on (unless it's something I can't schedule into the day). My shop made good money and I totally stamped out the oil can applied to the damper rod, pads and discs being changed far too early, replacing a steering rack when all that's needed is a rod end, etc, etc, and I'm not even going to mention oily rag oil filters and the like! It paid off too because I built up a solid core of customers who came back time after time. Had a lot of "moments" with head office management though!

I don't like big glitzy showrooms and workshops with clean overalled workers and floors you can eat your dinner off and reception people you can't get past to speak to someone who actually knows about what's been done to your motor. A small family business with a few mechanics, not too young any of them - except the apprentice - a middle aged or older foreman, grubby overalls and a shop floor you have to be careful not to slip on (wipe the soles before you get back into your car) and when you hand the car in it's to one of them not a clean handed reception type who hasn't usually a clue how to answer any of the questions you ask.

 

[koalar]

I find it’s a AP clutch is the original fitted

“Some” other brands don’t drive as nice (transmech been fine heavy use the travel from disengaged to engaged is shorter it’s more like a racing cluch)

I have also taken a gearbox off a 69hp car to find the smaller 60hp read cheaper clutch fitted

I guess as long as it lasts out of warranty someone didn’t care or perhaps were unaware were different

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I meant to say, in my post above, that if you watch some of Rainman Ray's videos on you tube it'll give you quite a good idea of what my early life in the motor trade was like - after my excursion into the racing world. Our shop had roller shutter doors with bays just like that. Four hydraulic pillar lifts and one four poster - for MOT mainly - and floor space at the end for about 3 cars which didn't need a lift to work on. Our core business was supplying, fitting and balancing tyres. The spin off from that was a lot of steering and suspension work but we also did basic service work and repairs. About the heaviest thing we tackled was clutches, but we didn't do many of them. Thinking back on it they were generally happy days although there were always problems over bonus and head office's interpretation of it - bonus was quite a large factor in my salary. This was back in the mid to late 70's so not much electronics back then. By the 80's I was working for a BL dealer, after a couple of years with a DAF (cars) dealer (happy place to work) and into the 90's I moved into training so not so much actually "on the tools" daily but still deeply into all the mucky bits at home. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, as I turned 50, my employer invited me to take early retirement. I quickly found out it had been offered to all us older chaps. We think the idea was to clear out all us "dead wood" and get in some "fresh blood", the cynic in me notes that their salary bill would also have been considerably reduced! The package wasn't as good as some I've heard of but it wasn't bad either, and well worth taking if I was getting another job. After a short "rest" I got really bored and let a few people know I was "available". within a very short time a chap I knew who worked with learning disabled people invited me to run his gardening squad and maintain the machines. It was a lovely way to see out the last 15 years of my working life and I'd always had - still have - an interest in horticultural machinery so pretty much I was as happy as a pig in "Doo doo" out every day with my squad of six chaps, sometimes a girl too, mowing grass, cultivating and planting borders, pruning bushes, sweeping leaves, etc, etc. Have to say though that if you'd said to me back in the mid 60's that I'd finish my working life working with disabled people, and loving it, I'd have questioned your sanity for even thinking of suggesting it!

 

[brooking147]

This has been asked before..

@typecastboy had a friend use them




I remember responding before

Not the most positive experience.. but thats 'Sales' for you


But if a local branch has a good reputation..

And cheaper than a FIAT.ALFA specialist why not

Finally took the plunge on this one and went with Mr Clutch Tunbridge Wells. Car dropped off the evening before and got the call that job was complete by about 1:30PM. All seems OK - massive difference in pedal pressure, so light now plus really quiet again now at tickover both with pedal depressed and released. Staff at the branch were very approachable.

Fingers crossed all will be well long term but so far I would trust and recommend them...

 

[Yolanda]

Dare I ask how much.

 

[varesecrazy]

Dare I ask how much.

@brooking147

 

[brooking147]

Dare I ask how much.

£350 not including gearbox oil which was going to be an extra £25 but I supplied my own as already had this in hand.

What was interesting was that I had asked for quotes from other branches of the chain/ franchise and these varied wildly (the highest being apprx £480) and the lowest around £275). I went with local branch anyway on the recommendation and convenience as walkable from home.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

£350 not including gearbox oil which was going to be an extra £25 but I supplied my own as already had this in hand.

What was interesting was that I had asked for quotes from other branches of the chain/ franchise and these varied wildly (the highest being apprx £480) and the lowest around £275). I went with local branch anyway on the recommendation and convenience as walkable from home.

Franchised operation? So each branch effectively a separate business but benefiting from the national advertising etc.

 

[Yolanda]

At the end of the day I don't think you've been ripped off. Hopefully they have fitted a good brand of clutch which should last many years. I have owned cars that have done 70/80 plus miles and never needed a clutch replacement, it's all down to how you drive. A couple of points to be aware of (forgive me if you already know this) Don't slip the clutch when changing gears and don't hold the car on a gradient using the clutch I see a lot of drivers doing this instead of applying the handbrake. My dad bought a new Mk one Escort 1300 GL many years ago and did about 80k in it over many years and sold it with the original clutch. He taught me how to drive by the way.

 

[varesecrazy]

Technique..

My grandad drove Autos most of his life... when in his 70's he got a FIAT124/LADA
( a 4 speed manual )

Clutch failed.. the replacement lasted 400 miles
It was swapped under warranty

That lasted similar distance

 

[A3jeroen]

Sounds a lot like my, almost 90, father in law. He doesn't cover much Km's per year, but... his clutch does even less

gr J

 

[DaveMcT]

I learned to drive on motorbikes, so I naturally match the revs and throttle blip on downshifts. You get a fast and very smooth shift with almost no clutch. People who shift gears very slowly (oh look at how carefully I drive) are actually stressing the gearbox as it has to match going at road speed with the engine at tickover revs and of course the clutch has to match the revs when he eventually does get around to lifting his foot off the pedal.