How much to replace the master and slave cylinders.

[MG-FIDO]

Hi guys,

I was having a lot of trouble getting the 5 into gear last week from cold. It would go in fine before the engine was started and worked perfectly after a few miles driving so new the clutch/gearbox was ok. From a similar experience with my MGBGT I thought it was probably the slave cylinder going.

Anyway, I dropped the car off at a well recommended local garage I'd used for the MOT this year. They said the clutch fluid looked very old and the slave seemed to be leaking. They suggested a new slave and doing the master at the same time, telling me it would take at most 2 hours labour plus parts. They quoted around £80 each for motor factor cylinders which I felt was steap, but were happy enough for me to get genuine Mazda parts from MX5parts.

Anyway, they've told me the parts arrived today and it's ready to collect tomorrow, telling me the damage came to £150!

I thought this would be a job I could do myself in a couple of hours given the chance, does £150 for labour and fluid seem steep to anyone else?

Cheers for your thoughts,

Steve

[one eyed mick]

OEM slave on ebay 20£ ish ,seal kit for master ,ebay again £17 brake fluid , 2 hrs labour well under your quoted price, RESEARCH is your friend!!!

[MG-FIDO]

one eyed mick said:

OEM slave on ebay 20£ ish ,seal kit for master ,ebay again £17 brake fluid , 2 hrs labour well under your quoted price, RESEARCH is your friend!!!

Thanks Mick, I had done my research and given the feedback about the "OEM quality" parts often only lasting a 1-3 years compared to the 20 that the original has I thought it was worth paying for the Mazda parts. It's the 2 hours labour costing £150 (minus fluid) or it taking more than 2 hours that I was questioning.

This is why I prefer to tackle things myself given the chance but then I guess you have to pay for convenience when that's not an option.

Edited by MG-FIDO on Tuesday 17th January 20:10

[VladD]

Ask them for an itemised bill including the hourly rate and number of hours worked.

[TooMany2cvs]

£150 = £125 + VAT.
Call it a tenner for fluid = £115 + VAT.
Two hours labour = £57.50/hr + VAT.

How much were you expecting their hourly rate to be?

[fatjon]

sounds not unreasonable to me. Master cylinder is a ball ache job and 2hrs at £57.00 an hour not excessive.

[one eyed mick]

I did both [not at the same time] plus s/s braided line on my own and agree the master is a bh but I am retired and have plenty of time but approaching 70! but any one who is more flexible should stroll it in a couple of hrs the £ 60 an hr rate sounds a bit high for an indy but as I do most of my own I may be out of touch,the bit about oem and manufacturer parts I find hard to swallow and if you think you will have an mx in 20 you are whistling dixie

[MG-FIDO]

Thanks guys, it wasn't so much the hourly rate I was questioning, just that it should take 2 1/2 hours to replace them when I'd read people suggesting they'd done the job in an hour and I'd had a similar experience with my MG.

The invoice suggests they've charged an hour for "diagnostics" which I guess explains how the total came to 2 1/2 hours, even so it seems a bit much to suggest it took an hour to diagnose a leaking slave cylinder, particularly as I'd told them that was the likely problem.

Oh well, at least the car's on the road.