Just had my old, worn clutch replaced, after needing doing for an age and, what a difference it makes to the car!

The whole car feels lighter, somehow and more drivable. I have had them done before but this seemed a bigger change then usual. The pedal feels lighter, the bite, (Naturally) Lower down and smoother to use. I also had an annoying rattle coming from the area and was worried it was not the clutch but the camshaft or something else as it rattled in neutral, unless the clutch as depressed or the revs raised slightly. Some info suggested it to be the clutch if it settled when pressed, not when raised and that it may be the shaft, my way round.

 

I am very pleased to say the rattle has now been eliminated , so assume it would have been the release bearing or something that comes with a thee part clutch kit!

 

It set me back £308,with a ten quid voucher, from my local Mr.Clutch and has a two year guarantee, which is great as some only provide a one year one. I had my last one there too but this time, the guy gave me paperwork and this had certain mileage dates, to pop back in and have a free check, to make sure all is well. he first being 500 miles and then, I think, 3,000, 6,000 and finally, 12,000 mile intervals. Apparently, they are a drive-in, no booing needed, five minute check but they specify them so as to comply with the warranty. The warranty is available from amy Mr.Clutch outlet and can be used by any potential new owner, so a nice selling point!

Just out of curiosity which Mr Clutch did you use?

Nice to hear the comprehensive warranty that it came with, just wonder if they'd genuinely honour it or try and put it down to wear and tear, especially as if I remember right you're a driving instructor?

The clutch on my Fabia rattles in neutral intermittently too, it was changed when I purchased it by the dealer. Presumably he saved on cost of release bearing.

I used the Leyton branch, in East London. They were very helpful, polite and done the job to the time they quoted. The guy then went through the mileage intervals with me, saying around a hundred miles under/over was acceptable. As it's a part of the cost, its NOT worth missing! They will almost certainly spot any potential issue and then, have no choice but to repair the repair, if needed!

 

I am indeed an instructor although I have been stopped from working for most of the last year, due to the Covid restrictions.

You mention your clutch rattling... Does it do it when in neutral, clutch up? If so, does it stop if you press the clutch or if you raise the revs a little? If so, I think you may be right and they flimped on the job. It was a nuisance so I am glad the new clutch stopped it. Perhaps you should go back to the dealer and ask them to sort it as it was new and should be covered. 

Yes, normally more noticeable after a 60 mile journey. 

The dealer had the clutch fitted before I bought the car although he advertised it as a plus point.

I've had the car nearly 2 years now so I'll not bother the gentleman, especially as I had to point out to him that the law had changed on adding a percentage when paying with card.......

Our previous car rattled like this for ages with no disasters so I'll live with it for the mo.

I hated the rattle and got used to depressing the clutch, prior to starting up which is now needed on many new cars anyway as they won't start without you doing so! I am now getting used to being able to pop the handbrake on, slip in to neutral and release the clutch, during prolonged stops. (So every junction here in the Smoke)!

Enjoy it while you can , Mr Sadiq will relieve you of that pleasure come October! 

Any idea what you're planning on replacing the Fabia with?

18 minutes ago, Cheapas said:

Enjoy it while you can , Mr Sadiq will relieve you of that pleasure come October! 

Any idea what you're planning on replacing the Fabia with?

 

Dude, seriously?

 

Even my ancient 2.0 MPI Mark 1 Furby is ULEZ compliant, only smokey old diseasals are really affected.

Think you maybe wrong , certainly both our 06 Megane and 08 Fabia diesels are non compliant from October for travel within the North and South Circular Roads. 

Both our cars benefit from low tax £30 and £ 20 respectively yet are still non compliant. 

26 minutes ago, Cheapas said:

Think you maybe wrong , certainly both our 06 Megane and 08 Fabia diesels are non compliant from October for travel within the North and South Circular Roads. 

Both our cars benefit from low tax £30 and £ 20 respectively yet are still non compliant. 

 

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicle/

 

I checked mine, it's fine.

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

 

Dude, seriously?

 

Even my ancient 2.0 MPI Mark 1 Furby is ULEZ compliant, only smokey old diseasals are really affected.

Your ancient  Furby must be a petrol then? 

And that's the irony. Our low tax Fabia is not compliant purely because it's a diesel. From October it's £ 12 a day for me and presumably plenty of others if we stray the wrong side of the A406 / A205 . 

Defy does NOT comply... Even the later mk2 Facelift Greenies, with smaller, upgraded (?) Engines won't comply. As mentioned, The Mayer, bless him, stopped all but the most recent diesels from complying, by setting the limit soon low, as to undercut 90% of all the diesels that were supposed to be saving our lungs, to start with!

 

I think Cheapas hit the right button when he said you must have a petrol as we are talking diesels, here. My 19 year old Yaris passes, no sweat, although I have looked at slightly older ones and for some reason, they do not, despite being exactly the same both in engine and emmisions, etc. I this k it is as they pre-date the regs and so you might JUST be able to prove they comply, pay a fee and get them registered as compliant. I know there was a motorcycle place that had the testing equipment in East London and they charge around £170 to test and certify. (Their reckoning is most can pass, with a little tweak, so its worth it to try).

Not sure how you would or could prove a car to be ok-knowing Sad-eek, he will then just remove compliance from the ones that do or change the rules again, come 2025. (I think there are plans to toughen up the regs, hence I will now only buy petrol, not a diesel that will pass at present).

 

Cheapas, I am seriously thinking of the Dacia Sandero Stepway, in Laureate trim. That level has a few niceties that lower ones do not have and the engines are supposedly very reliable, having the same unit as a Renault Clio. (Dacia is owned by Renault, the same as Skoda being owned by VW, so get the back-up from the main dealer).

 

Dacia, by the way, are apparently the only car brand made in Romania, according to one of my old Romanian students. They are doing what Skoda did some years ago and are slowly being recognised as a sturdy, reliable brand, where they were once considered a Hyena Gravy! (Laughing stock).

 

The Sandero Stepway benefits from a little extra styling over the standard model, making it look a little like a 4X4, despite being a small car. The dimensions are quite similar to the Fabia so may be a nice transition for learners. The laureate has 'leccies all round, manual a/c, touch screen sat nav/multi media screen and steering wheel controls for audio, etc. The biggest drawback is they only come in manual (I want that anyway) And they still have those locks, that are separate from the handles, which used to be a lot simpler to break in to so security might be worth checking! (Alarm, perhaps some shielding behind the locks, deadlocks, if not already accounted for). That said, who nicks a Dacia? Or fabia, for that matter!

 

The completely new version, just released this year, BTW, also does have auto as an option but I am expecting the older model to price-drop soon and will most likely pick up a 2107/28 model, which benefitted from a facelift, like the Fabia did in 2010, prior to the MK 3.

Of course it's a petrol, I wouldn't bother with a diseasal unless I were doing high mileages and you can't do high mileages around town.

I've never owned a diseasal car, they've always been dirty, smelly, slow and heavy compared to petrol.

They're more expensive to run with higher servicing costs than petrol, the only saving is on fuel economy but you pay much more for the car in the first place so it's money wasted unless you do enough miles to claw it back in fuel savings.

Doesn't need to be higher servicing costs if you DIY, in fact for me over the last 20 years I have saved loads over a petrol engned car aside from the fuel savings, I have never replaced a glowplug and dont change the diesel filters if they have a drain tap.

 

During that time and probably 200000 + miles I would have replaced a lot of spark plugs, plug leads and latterly coil packs, no more points & condensors though

 

The oils & filters cost no more than for a petrol engine, I have never understood why the main stealers charge more for servicing a diesel vehicle, you are correct though, it does cost more but for a DIY person I believe it costs less.

 

I also agree that they are dirty (very) smelly (not so bad these days) slow and heavy and the younger me would never have imagined that I would drive a diesel let alone for 20 years and probably for another decade.

 

I did actually replace 4 glowplugs on my Octavia 2 PD engine when I bought the car because of fault codes, they cost about £25 for the 4 and made no difference whatsoever, that engine would always start on 1/4 turn whatever the temperature with or without glowplugs.

Edited 18 April, 20215 yr by J.R.

23 hours ago, mrgf said:

Defy does NOT comply... Even the later mk2 Facelift Greenies, with smaller, upgraded (?) Engines won't comply. As mentioned, The Mayer, bless him, stopped all but the most recent diesels from complying, by setting the limit soon low, as to undercut 90% of all the diesels that were supposed to be saving our lungs, to start with!

 

I think Cheapas hit the right button when he said you must have a petrol as we are talking diesels, here. My 19 year old Yaris passes, no sweat, although I have looked at slightly older ones and for some reason, they do not, despite being exactly the same both in engine and emmisions, etc. I this k it is as they pre-date the regs and so you might JUST be able to prove they comply, pay a fee and get them registered as compliant. I know there was a motorcycle place that had the testing equipment in East London and they charge around £170 to test and certify. (Their reckoning is most can pass, with a little tweak, so its worth it to try).

Not sure how you would or could prove a car to be ok-knowing Sad-eek, he will then just remove compliance from the ones that do or change the rules again, come 2025. (I think there are plans to toughen up the regs, hence I will now only buy petrol, not a diesel that will pass at present).

 

Cheapas, I am seriously thinking of the Dacia Sandero Stepway, in Laureate trim. That level has a few niceties that lower ones do not have and the engines are supposedly very reliable, having the same unit as a Renault Clio. (Dacia is owned by Renault, the same as Skoda being owned by VW, so get the back-up from the main dealer).

 

Dacia, by the way, are apparently the only car brand made in Romania, according to one of my old Romanian students. They are doing what Skoda did some years ago and are slowly being recognised as a sturdy, reliable brand, where they were once considered a Hyena Gravy! (Laughing stock).

 

The Sandero Stepway benefits from a little extra styling over the standard model, making it look a little like a 4X4, despite being a small car. The dimensions are quite similar to the Fabia so may be a nice transition for learners. The laureate has 'leccies all round, manual a/c, touch screen sat nav/multi media screen and steering wheel controls for audio, etc. The biggest drawback is they only come in manual (I want that anyway) And they still have those locks, that are separate from the handles, which used to be a lot simpler to break in to so security might be worth checking! (Alarm, perhaps some shielding behind the locks, deadlocks, if not already accounted for). That said, who nicks a Dacia? Or fabia, for that matter!

 

The completely new version, just released this year, BTW, also does have auto as an option but I am expecting the older model to price-drop soon and will most likely pick up a 2107/28 model, which benefitted from a facelift, like the Fabia did in 2010, prior to the MK 3.

I have a little experience with a sandero and a duster. Both pretty nice cars. The metal felt a little light compared to the heavy thunk I get closing the doors on my fabia.

Yes,  seriously looked at Dacia myself before buying the Fabia . Wanted the Logan with 1.5dci engine unfortunately very few second hand ones about at the time. 

I've had diesel cars now for 23 years and never found them expensive to service . Aside from the odd set of glow plugs at £30 ish for four it's just been oil and filters. 

Our Megane diesel is used on local trips  ( no dpf) still get 55mpg with £30 road tax.

Even used to run an older Peugeot on cooking oil; can't get cheaper than that!

Wouldn't have thought  with the more stringent MOT emissions test diesels were particularly dirty nowadays .

1 hour ago, Cheapas said:

Yes,  seriously looked at Dacia myself before buying the Fabia . Wanted the Logan with 1.5dci engine unfortunately very few second hand ones about at the time. 

I've had diesel cars now for 23 years and never found them expensive to service . Aside from the odd set of glow plugs at £30 ish for four it's just been oil and filters. 

Our Megane diesel is used on local trips  ( no dpf) still get 55mpg with £30 road tax.

Even used to run an older Peugeot on cooking oil; can't get cheaper than that!

Wouldn't have thought  with the more stringent MOT emissions test diesels were particularly dirty nowadays .

Bit more nox, bit less co2.

I service mine myself and its fairly economical.I use CP4L or ECP usually, depending on codes, etc and usually swap out the oil, air and pollen filter every year or 10,000 miles, along with oil. Did the coolant change a while back as I had a leak and the coolant set me back around £15, for the long life, ready mixed stuff. I occasionally change the fuel filter and pay around £12 for one and it takes just a few mins, no bleeding needed. i change the brake pads and discs as and when, again, quite cheap but paid my local MOT guy to bleed the brakes as I didn't feel competent in doing it and it was when he changed the faulty master cylinder so had to be done anyway!

 

Other basic safety checks, lubing of hinges, etc are better done at home, for free then be charged half the service cost for, in my opinion. 

On 19/04/2021 at 23:00, mrgf said:

Bit more nox, bit less co2.

I service mine myself and its fairly economical.I use CP4L or ECP usually, depending on codes, etc and usually swap out the oil, air and pollen filter every year or 10,000 miles, along with oil. Did the coolant change a while back as I had a leak and the coolant set me back around £15, for the long life, ready mixed stuff. I occasionally change the fuel filter and pay around £12 for one and it takes just a few mins, no bleeding needed. i change the brake pads and discs as and when, again, quite cheap but paid my local MOT guy to bleed the brakes as I didn't feel competent in doing it and it was when he changed the faulty master cylinder so had to be done anyway!

 

Other basic safety checks, lubing of hinges, etc are better done at home, for free then be charged half the service cost for, in my opinion. 

Yes and yes especially the last part. Doing it yourself at least you know it's been done.

Never had much luck with brake bleeders etc, but tried the gravity method when changing brake fluid on our Megane. Ok, so it took way longer but no mess , no trying to juggle one man bleeders/air pressure pumping foot peddle etc and no reversing seal on master cylinder , all events I've 'enjoyed' in the past .