OK guys, trying to narrow it down to the car I am gonna buy.
Was lusting for a 1.8T or 2.0T Audi Quattro Manual 5 or 6 speed.

Then I saw a posting that this guy had to pay $3500 for a clutch/flywheel job! WTF?!? Are you kidding dude? Is that about normal?
What is it normally for a regular clutch job?

Now I am thinking an Auto is the way to go. I know to stay the hell away from the CVT--so tiptronic auto it might be.

Are these autos less reliable vehicles than the manual--I had a guy online from an independent Audi shop tell me so.

Opinion???

 

I did that repair to the wife's '02 3.0 Quattro last year. If I remember correctly, my independent mechanic charged about $1200. $3500 sounds like a dealer price. I have no experience with the tips / automatics, so no opinion as to reliability.

Edit:
Correction - the clutch / flywheel was $2300!

 

Labor is usually 600-00.
You can buy a stg 3 clutch with a lightweight flywheel for $1100.
Or you can just resurface your oem flywheel (if it hasn't been done yet).

 

Hmm, that's the charge you get from shops that are not familiar with Audi (or the dealer price), so they put in a buffer for "research" time . The other guys are correct on the labor price, so look for a different shop, and get the quote in writing.

Auto vs. Tip is debated. There are 300+ BHP Tip cars out there and same with manual cars. The stock Tip can hold quite a bit of power, and if it's not abused and is maintaned can last a long time - same thing applies to manual cars. So it comes down to personal choice and what is available. My advice would be to drive both, and decide what you prefer.

 

Dont be scared off just because 1 person posted that he had to bend over to get his fixed.

I offer discounted prices on South Bend and have very discounted prices on Clutch Masters kits to help people save money. I actually offer stock flywheel resurfacing thru both SB and CM when buying one of their kits.

No one should pay more then $1000 for labor on a A4 1.8t/2.0t clutch install since book time is 10 hrs but takes about 5-6. I offer a CM clutch/flywheel package for the A4 1.8t at $934 and that includes ground shipping in the 48 states. http://www.ringer-racing.com/product...5&categoryId=4

Not going to find a better price on a CM clutch kit. Plus if anyone has a friend that needs a clutch for any other type of model car that CM sells a clutch I can get them a great deal on one too.

 

Any good shops in buffalo area to replace clutch? Would you recommend buying the clutch kit and finding someone to do the work or just handing the car over and having them do everything?

 

Most of the shops get the parts themselves and give you warranty for the work and the parts in that way, unless you are getting clutch kit like the ones MIkePTZero sells then you buy the clutch first and install it yourself or pay someone to do it. But if is OEM I'd just ask the shops around to see if they'll get it themselves to warranty the work and parts.

 

If the car is 100% stock or only chipped and only used as a daily driver a Valeo clutch/flywheel setup for $525 shipped is something I can offer. But I would only suggest this to people that dont plan on doing any more mods and dont plan on upgrading the clutch later on because the flywheel in that kit can not be used with other aftermarket clutch kits. The Valeo kit is bascially a OEM replacement with a single mass flywheel, but it is designed so that only that exact clutch kit can be used on that flywheel.

I would also even be able to do a GB on that setup for a slight discount depending on how many people are in.

 

Installed an AWE stage2 clutch and lightweight flywheel in Jan2007: $1500 for parts and $675 labor at my indie shop. Still running great 60k miles later at 149k.