A4 flywheel & clutch replaced in Walsh's Belfast- Great job

DonalB

Hey all,
A few weeks back I asked a question here about replacing the flywheel on a 2005 A4.
I had detected a slight occasional knocking when idling with clutch depressed for a week or 2 previously and when the car was in for 60k timing belt change I asked the Garage about it, who guessed immediately, even before checking that might be the problem, as they confirmed during the timing belt job. So they know their stuff, though were not an Audi garage. They quoted €1100 for the job.
A subsequent double-check by Tom Murphy Motors in Waterford confirmed it. They quoted €1500 for the same job. BTW, I had been going there for 5 years while I had a company car, so they knew me.
When pricing the timing belt, following a discussion here also about that, I had contacted Walsh Motors in Belfast, VAG specialists for a quote, after seeing them recommended here on boards.ie.
http://www.walshmotors.co.uk/
While I hadn't followed up on the timing job with them, I did go back for a quote on the flywheel and clutch, which various people here said was ususally done at the same time, just in case.

Eugene in Walsh Motors quoted me £550 for the same job.
Being unemployed some time now, I decided to go with Walsh Motors.
I live outside Waterford and spent tonight in Dublin with family, getting to Belfast at 9am, a mere 2 1/2 hours from Bray. The garage is slightly difficult to find but it only a couple of minutes off the M1 coming into Belfast. (It's very easy to get to the right location, just finding the garage exactly, took me about 10 minutes).
I wasn't expecting the overpriced hotel like lobby of a VAG garage with the automatic rollup garage doors and "consultants". Luckily, as Eugene operates out of a smallish 2-car garage in a yard. But there were plenty of cars waiting repair, a good sign? Another chap from Dublin in a Passat arrived within a minute of me, having also read here about Walsh Motors.
Dropped the keys, quick word with the boss, Eugene and off to City Centre to spend the morning walking the feet off myself and drinking coffee.

Given my current precarious financial situation and lifetime experience with garages at home I was <very> nervous that Eugene would "find" some other problem which would drive up the cost, maybe requiring me to stay over (I went up on a friday). There was also the acknowledged possibility from Eugene that the flywheel required could cost me £200 more for a different model flywheel, but he also said that had never happened.
From description here & else the where the flywheel has potential to destroy the engine, almost eating it out from the centre. (However once I had discovered the problem I did no more than about 300 to 400 miles, including driving to Belfast.

Anyway, Eugene has said mid-afternoon, and true to his word he rang at precisely 3pm to say the car was ready. On collecting the car he showed me the flywheel & clutch, and the chunk missing from the flywheel. That's a small but very vital touch, showing the customer the tangible cause of their problem. No-one ever did that for me before. My expertise is in computers not cars.
The kicker came when he charged me. £530. Check the quote above. That's £20 LESS THAN the quote. Think about how often that's happened you in a garage in the south...
Me? Never. Only 2 weeks previously when getting the timing belt done the price was €50 OVER the quote for a defined job.
That might not seem much but was extraordinary to me, based on a lifetimes experience, and possibly because I was so worried about the financial impact of the whole job.

So, after all that ramble, the bottom line is I can't say enough good things about Eugene in Walsh Motor's, Belfast. Great, HONEST price. Great job (with a year's warranty btw).
I asked Eugene how much business he was getting from the South, he said 2 or 3 a week. I hope that increases and I hope this post does something to help drive that increase.

When I hear SIMI talking about losing 2000 to 3000 jobs soon from the Irish motor industry, speaking as someone unemployed for some time now, I sympathise with the workers, but find myself asking the question about the 100% price discrepancy here. I sat and asked Audi how they can justify this. They shrug their shoulders but I paid HALF what it would have cost me at the cheapest quote I could get here. It meant the difference between me having a car or not. And that's not a small thing.
Regards

Esel

That's great news, and a good recommendation for Walsh Motors.

Alan70

:)H:)i Donal from Dublin Passat guy. Great to hear good news. Eugene finetuned my car within 90 minutes. No messing around. Walsh motors gets my recommendation also

Ferris

Same job on an A6 TDi cost me da 1200euro from a dublin indy and took two days. Labour was 575 alone. Well done.

Only thing is my da couldn't take the day off to do it but still.

yop

Wow, thats class. Fair play lads on finding that gem (Feck it now, we all know about it )


I will have the timing belt to be done on my bus so I might get him to quote


edit: Had a quick look at his site, not sure what PD means but is he charging 145 squids to do the timing belt?
1.9 TDI not pd timing belt and tens supply and fit £145

Heroditas

I think I'll be bookmarking this for future reference.

devil-80

yop wrote: »

Wow, thats class. Fair play lads on finding that gem (Feck it now, we all know about it )


I will have the timing belt to be done on my bus so I might get him to quote


edit: Had a quick look at his site, not sure what PD means but is he charging 145 squids to do the timing belt?
1.9 TDI not pd timing belt and tens supply and fit £145

PD its type of the diesel: Pumpe-Duse
not PD older version cheaper parts etc.

Anan1

devil-80 wrote: »

PD its type of the diesel: Pumpe-Duse
not PD older version cheaper parts etc.

Please read the charter and don't resurrect old threads.