tnj100

My clutch gave up the ghost over the weekend at 34,000 miles (not a complete shock - it has never seemed quite right), and the car is currently sitting at the dealer awaiting replacement.

First, a little more background: usually, I travel about 1 hour to a dealer which I really like, and does a great job for reasonable cost. However, there is a dealer less than a mile from my house who has a spotty reputation (some people love them, more people hate them). The clutch was (is) in no condition to travel to my preferred dealer, so it sits at the nearby one that I have avoided.

The dealer calls me today to report that I will, in fact, need a new clutch and flywheel (no surprise) plus an RMS replacement (under CPO warranty, but a surprise, b/c it got a clean bill of health at its 30K service a few months ago).

All this is going to cost $3,200, which seems like full boat for a clutch + flywheel replacement. Shouldn't the labor of the clutch job be massively reduced by the labor of the RMS job (which is covered under warranty)?

I guess that was the long way to ask a short question...

Malakas

Where are you located. That seems high. I got quoted 2500 for clutch and flywheel from dealer...

deckman

The RMS could have been leaking slightly and not show any outward signs at the 30k. Why do they think the flywheel is shot? Have they opened it up yet? 30K miles seems pretty young. I'd have the car towed to my preferred mechanic.

iJeremy

If you happen to be near KC I'd take care of you for much less. If you aren't in the area I'd be happy to point you in the direction of a quality indy that will do good work and save you some $$. Good luck.

eric523

If the service adviser was on your side he would get all the labor except about .5hr covered by the CPO and then just charge you for clutch parts(approx. $2K).

Instead, he's charging you for a full clutch job and giving you a $20 seal. So you're doing THEM a favor by replacing your clutch right now. It should really be the other way around.

Unfortunately, with a CPO, you can't get the warranty repair for RMS done at an indy.

Dharn55

$3,200 for a clutch and RMS is highway robbery. A good mechanic can drop and reinstall a trans in 3+ hours. Another hours for the flywheel and RMS, maybe two. Parts can be bought for about $1,000, but the dealer will charge twice that. Take the car somewhere else for the Clutch, then let the dealer and Porsche eat the charge for another removal for the RMS. If they were fair the CPO wold cover the removal of the trans and the flywheel for the RMS and the additional costs should be parts only as the whole clutch/flywheel has to be removed to do the RMS.

blinkwatt

Eww. You can get it done for half that at an indy shop. Shouldn't be more then 6-8 hours ANYWHERE you go for labor. For that price they are charging you I got;flywheel,clutch,4 c.v. boots.,i.m.s. flange kit, r.m.s. replaced and an oil change at an indy shop....

Marks951

they are probably charging you for the clutch job and porsche for the RMS job like thet are 2 different jobs/work orders and making money off of each. It may not be the right thing to do, but it's proably not legally wrong. I wouldn't accept it though, a tow to a dealer an hour away would be cheaper than having to pay for something they should atleast offer to split with you.

tnj100

Given their reputation, this would be my guess. I assume they get paid a flat rate by PCNA for an RMS repair under warranty, and then will charge me the labor for the same job. Not cool.

I'm in downtown Boston, and I accept that the price is going to be higher here than in a lot of places. I really don't mind the $$$, just trying to figure out if I like this dealer or not. It's looking like not.

C4CRNA

Tnj100. Would you let me know who this dealer is so I can avoid them in the future.

tnj100

It's the Herb Chambers in Boston.

Car should be done today, and if I'm charged as quoted, I fully intend to call the service advisor out on it. I'll post the resolution later tonight.

Chaos

Vasiline.

Barn996

I 've seen Herb Chambers on the new show Chasing Classic Cars...he's busy buying exotic cars,flying in his private jet. Now I know how he can afford his habit.

tnj100

Total was just over $3,300 with tax. I asked the service manager why they had charged full freight on the labor, considering the RMS was covered under warranty, and he claimed that there was no duplicative labor. RMS and clutch are completely different repairs, no relationship whatsoever between the two. It was so absurd that I went to the general manager.

His perspective was fair, but not entirely logical (in my opinion). From my perspective, a dealer in this position has three possible perspectives:

(1) Be a hero for the customer - declare that the RMS needs to be done (with parts + labor billed to PCNA), and the clutch can be done for just the cost of parts.

(2) Plead ignorance. Declare that the RMS and clutch are two entirely separate repairs with no overlapping labor, charge owner for the clutch, charge PCNA for the RMS. Actually do the same labor twice (stupid, but possible).

(3) Be unethical. Charge PCNA for the RMS repair, charge owner for the clutch. Do the job once, double-dip on the labor.

I think that either (1) or (2) (or somewhere in between) are legit business practices. If they wanted to be perfectly fair, I think we should split the labor bill - I'd think that was 100% on the up-and-up, even if not the best possible outcome for me.

Long story short, the General Manager is going to talk to PCNA about it and let me know...

I hope there's a good outcome, because there's a Ferrari F430 on the floor there that has my name all over it...

C4CRNA

Other on this forum upon getting the RMS replaced under a CPO have been given the option to get a new clutch if they needed it and just pay a little labor and parts.
I think they are double dipping at Chambers.

Herb also has a 200+ft yacht he keeps in Nantucket most of the summer, so he needs to maximize income wherever.

Thanks for your update.