another tranny question

**Frunzman** · 10-23-2008 11:19 AM

ok so i mentioned before my car needed some tranny work, i took it to Cottmann transmissions where a friend of the family works. he will have had the car for 8 weeks tomorrow. he took out my tranny to figure out what was wrong with it, took it apart and found many a problem. so i figured it would be easier and cheaper to just buy a new one so i bought a new tranny for one hell of a deal ($900.00) so now my car is finished and they are charging me (down from 3200 for the deal) $2100.00 for labor! i bought the tranny on my own, so it was 2100.00 to do the swap and he did rear brakes as well. am i getting screwed? anyone know prices of these things at all!?!?

**kbjy11** · 10-23-2008 11:45 AM

from what I read, pulling the tranny out involves pulling the engine out.. so it's much more involved than just dropping the tranny...

$1800 is in that ballpark i think...

i'm a bit confused why you are shocked now? didn't you ask for a quote/estimate before the work started?

**RedRocketS4** · 10-23-2008 02:10 PM

no... you can drop the tranny without pullng the engine... but supposedly, pulling the engine and tranny together is a much easier task. The first time I pulled my tranny, it took 18hrs just to get it out... the second time, it took me 5.5 hrs just to pull it out and about the same to put it back in... not sure what the shop did though.

**Scotty@Advanced** · 10-23-2008 02:35 PM

They are likley trying to recoupe the money that they lost by you supplying the parts. Many shops do this. was this a tip or a 6 speed?

**Frunzman** · 10-23-2008 10:17 PM

was a 6-speed, shocked because my estimate was 1500, then he told me 3200, but hed go down to 2100 as a favor. he told me the tranny was a pain and i believe it, audis are known for that haha. just sucks, but the more im hearing about it, it probably would have cost more to go anywhere else so...
i think he may be charging me for a bearing removal tool that he bought that supposidly cost 500. oh well, you live you learn...i heard a real funny quote yesterday...

"Audi's are like strippers, they only work if you throw money at them"

**S4 in_lowplaces** · 10-24-2008 04:40 AM

you should have had the jhm rebuild kit put in. Now your back into a stock tranny thats going to break sooner or later

**RolledMySTi** · 10-24-2008 09:28 AM

It depends on what he is charging you for labor. The high end shops around here charge $150 an hour so it can get pricey quick. I know when I had my clutch done it was $1400 for labor and that was at $100 an hour.

**jaybquick@JHM** · 10-24-2008 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by scottmandu

Or even better purchase a reman unit from us. It's got the same parts as the JHM kit and the work is already done to put them in.

Does it come with the brand new updated 1-2 shift collar that retails for over $600 alone?? There is a reason why Audi makes an updated part for these collars that is REQUIRED to replace. All 2000 to 2002 transmission have this 1-2 collar lock up problem at one time or another. If it is not replaced it will eventually fail. I have had calls form people who got their rebuilds done by a really popular trans rebuilder for $$$ who had their collars lock up (after about 20k) because their collar was only "refurbished" and heat treated the stock 1-2 collar that ALWAYS locks up at some point. I have over 40k miles on my trans with the contents of my kit and 130k total on the trans with no other modifications. I abuse the crap out of it (check out our videos section) and you MUST change the 1-2 collar. The only reason to not change the collar is to MAXIMIZE profit.

6 month warranty seems kind of short as well. Most shops do 12 month 12,000.

**Scotty@Advanced** · 10-25-2008 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by jaybquick@JHM

Does it come with the brand new updated 1-2 shift collar that retails for over $600 alone?? There is a reason why Audi makes an updated part for these collars that is REQUIRED to replace. All 2000 to 2002 transmission have this 1-2 collar lock up problem at one time or another. If it is not replaced it will eventually fail. I have had calls form people who got their rebuilds done by a really popular trans rebuilder for $$$ who had their collars lock up (after about 20k) because their collar was only "refurbished" and heat treated the stock 1-2 collar that ALWAYS locks up at some point. I have over 40k miles on my trans with the contents of my kit and 130k total on the trans with no other modifications. I abuse the crap out of it (check out our videos section) and you MUST change the 1-2 collar. The only reason to not change the collar is to MAXIMIZE profit.

6 month warranty seems kind of short as well. Most shops do 12 month 12,000.

Yup new collar, new syncros, cryo-treated and mikronited 1-2 gears and mainshaft new seals, output shaft backlash is set as well as pinion pattern checked. All gearboxes are dyno-tested prior to shipment. In addtion our OEM shift collars are cryo treated and mikronite treated as well.

All companies that I know of which offer these on an exchange basis have a 6 month warranty, it's pretty much an industry standard. If we install the unit, you get 12 month coverage plus labor.

I've had units in the field being hammered on and abused for over two years and no complaints to this date.

Your correct in that the collar needs to be replaced, however I've seen the collar failure in all poorly driven 01E transmissions, from 92 to 2003, and not all units fail, I've pulled apart 01E's with 200,000 miles and they looked like new inside.

Also make sure that with the updated shift collar you get the updated syncros as well.

**MissingPixels** · 10-25-2008 11:41 PM

Originally Posted by Frunzman

was a 6-speed, shocked because my estimate was 1500, then he told me 3200, but hed go down to 2100 as a favor. he told me the tranny was a pain and i believe it, audis are known for that haha. just sucks, but the more im hearing about it, it probably would have cost more to go anywhere else so...

i think he may be charging me for a bearing removal tool that he bought that supposidly cost 500.

Sounds like bullshit to me. Taking out a transmission isn't rocket science. Anyone with some common sense and a few tools can do it. Save yourself some money next time and do it yourself. This way you won't have to deal with these opportunistic shops that charge rediculous labor rates and inflate work times on invoices.

And as for charging you for a tool - there is no reason why you should be charged for their tools. None. It isn't your problem if they don't have the proper tools (which I doubt anyway). I'd wager this shop didn't need this tool at all. They either used it as an opportunity to buy some new, expensive tool they wanted for their shop or just saw an opportunity to pocket some extra money.
...And trying to charge a customer ANYTHING for a shop tool is just wrong, even if they did have your consent first. Remember, the reason people use these shops is because the shop is supposed to have all the necessary tools and experience.

No matter how you cut it, this shop took advantage of you. I wouldn't take it too personally though. They probably do it to everyone other person around your age who brings a nice car to them for some work.

Replacing a transmission on these cars is not as difficult at everyone claims. Like I said, some common sense and tools go a long way. A little experience helps too. Regardless though, you were taken advantage of and there is probably little you can do about it since these shops know that if you had enough experience and knew the costs of doing the job yourself you wouldn't be coming to them in the first place.