My 04 5-spd CE Clutch Has Started Slipping

#1
It has 185K miles on it now. It only slips for a second (jumps up to maybe 3300 RPM)--- and only when I am cruising on hwy, and I push the accel a bit too hard. If I accel very slow and smooth from 65-70 mph, it doesn't slip at all. I think teaching my son recently to drive it glazed or burned it! Anyway, I can do a lot of repairs myself, (like I just changed the CV half-shafts), but replacing clutch is just too involved. So I have to pay a transmission shop to get it done. But how to know if I am being ripped off? I found out that the shop hours estimate for this job is 5.8. I see that some garages are charging 65.00 to 85.00 per hour. Is that the usual range of hourly rates? I think the parts will be a small part of total...in fact, I see I can get a clutch kit for 143.00, which would be all it needs probably, unless the flywheel is damaged.
Probably any garage will double that...so that's 300.00 for the parts. How much farther might the car go, provided I can minimize my sons' driving it?
 
#4
At 185,000 miles I would say the clutch held up well. How many more miles would you have expected if your son had learned to drive an automatic instead? It is probably better you were able to change the clutch now, than to have it fail 500 miles away from home. It would not surprise me if you got another 125,000 miles out of your Corolla.
 
#6
You couldn't get an AT rebuilt for $900.
Quite true. What I meant to say is, if your son had not learned to drive on this Corolla, then you might have had a bigger problem later on down the road. At least you were able to have the car fixed locally and were not stranded far away from home.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each (Automatics and Manuals).

The learning curve on an automatic is usually less stressful.
 
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