Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - Residesinsurrey

Hi I have just recently acquired a 2005 Toyota Avensis . It has done 140,000. I have noticed that he will need a clutch change in the next 3 months . Do you think its worth fixing ?

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - SLO76
Is it slipping?
Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - Residesinsurrey

Sorry I dont know what slipping means

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - Residesinsurrey

Yes it is a little .

Based on my past experience I think it will have maybe 2 or 3 months before it will need changing .

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - RobJP

All depends on the rest of the car, really. If it's in good condition and reliable, then it's probably worth throwing the money at it.

It's also a case of what your finances are like, whether you got the car cheaply because the clutch was on the way out, how long you intend keeping the car for if otherwise reliable.

Get a couple of quotes, and then decide. Without an accurate price for the job, it's all wild speculation.

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - gordonbennet

Only you know the condition of the rest of the car, but if its running well then its a no brainer to me, fix asap.

And i say asap for good reason, if its slipping now, the longer you leave it slipping the more chance of the flywheel getting scored badly, or overheating if its a DMF doubly ruining it, which will be additional cost.

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - SLO76
If it's slipping then you need to replace it now or you could damage the flywheel. Is it a petrol or a diesel? Clutches are a bit weak on D4 diesels but at this mileage it's done ok if original. It's wise to replace the DMF (Dual mass flywheel) at the same time if it's a diesel but that will lift the cost beyond £1,000. A petrol will be much cheaper but the car will have less value in it. At the end of the day all you can do is call round for quotes and assess how much the car is worth to you and how much you'd have to spend to buy a reliable replacement. Any cheap car you buy could be on its last legs clutch wise too so as is often the case you may be better with the devil you know.
Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - gordonbennet

Back in the day when cars were simple to work on, soon as the clutch started to slip i'd whip the thing out, take the driven plate down to a back street in Northampton where two decent sticks would rivet new facings on the thing for a tenner...if you had rare brake shoes they'd replace the friction material on those too.

So two hours graft and a tenner and you had a clutch with a full second life, compared with umpteen hours of dismantling half the car and a bill of up to £1000...and they call this progress :-)

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - SLO76

Back in the day when cars were simple to work on, soon as the clutch started to slip i'd whip the thing out, take the driven plate down to a back street in Northampton where two decent sticks would rivet new facings on the thing for a tenner...if you had rare brake shoes they'd replace the friction material on those too.

So two hours graft and a tenner and you had a clutch with a full second life, compared with umpteen hours of dismantling half the car and a bill of up to £1000...and they call this progress :-)

Agree. Cars are far too complex and little attention is paid to lonterm running costs via ease of repair. Last clutch I put in a motor was a Pug 306 I bought knowing it was slipping and it cost me £185 to get my wee local garage tsupply and fit. Today my gaffer had a quote to replace the DMF, clutch and slave cylinder on his wife's 50,000 mile Mk VI Golf GTi which was the guts of £2k!!!! Utter madness. In the 80's and 90's the big leasing and company fleets demanded cars were simple robust and easy to repair. The Mk III Cavalier was the best example of this. Simple non-interference engines, easy to work on, good on fuel and no complex electronics. Only rust eventually killed them. Today even relatively simple faults are costing five figure sums to put right but company fleets are avoiding it as three year warranties are the minimum today instead of 12mths back then.

Edited by SLO76 on 31/05/2017 at 23:40

Toyota Avensis - Is worth fixing ? - Residesinsurrey

Yet again a huge thank you to you all for your help and advice ! I will replace the clutch in the next week or two . I do LOVe the car and so I definitely think its worth me spending on it .I plan on keeping it for at least a year .

Many thanks !