autoclutch in auckland, experiences?

[cogent]

ok im not out to run these guys into the ground or anything, i just want to see if this is typical.

ive got a 96 RX7 which is stock engine wise (bar exhaust) and i use it for track days and it gets street driven most days. The stock clutch is slipping pretty bad so it needs a new one.

About 2 months back I called up auto clutch on recommendation by someone on here and after chatting with the guy for 5-10 minutes we came up with a package of

Single disc, carbon-kevlar material clutch
Stock flywheel
Stock pressure plate, modified by autoclutch to increase clamping pressure

this would retain driveability and give me room for supporting more power in the future (without having to buy two clutches). There was a over-the-phone price supplied that didnt seem too bad.

Fast foward to today.
I've got some spare cash and figured it was time to buy a new clutch, cause the worn one is slipping too bad now.

I called up autoclutch again and spoke to neil, it started out ok, i recalled what was discussed last time off the top of my head and he agreed it was something that could be supplied.

When I mentioned that I would get the pressure plate modified by MP autoparts in wellington to save on time and shipping, he immediately disputed that and claimed that only autoclutch could modify pressure plates, even going on to say that MP would only paint my pressure plate and rip me off. Erm ok, im fairly certain that increasing the clamping force is common amongst workshops that are capable.

Anyway, I went on to eventually get a price of $250 for the disk, $180 for the pressure plate and flywheel mods, plus shipping and GST.

Then he started telling me that what I really need is a stock clutch kit, which would be $450 inc gst because im running a stock engine now, and i could buy another clutch later on when i make more power.

I explained that I thought the best option discussed was an uprated kit that was still driveable and would work with the existing engine setup?

Then he said "well you need to buy this kit so that its ready for when you make more power". Ok so we are back at the first option again.

The worst part, was when I tried to get a quote, invoice, even a bank account. He refused to give me such information stating "we dont do quotes or that big business stuff, we are just a small operation here!' and 'i can only invoice you if you're going to buy it!' (no $&#$% shit, why else am i calling you? to have a chat about the weather?).

When i realized I was going to have to write pricing down on a peice of paper here, I asked again for the pricing (to confirm) and he said "you know what, you can go somewhere else" and hung up on me. wtf? is it so hard to make sure information is provided right first time, to prevent followup phone calls "ohh so what was it gonn cost again? ohh nah i thought it was $x??".

Basically despite trying to make the most informed purchase, the guy was very hard to deal with and only got angrier and angrier with me to the point of not even wanting my money. And whats with not doing quotes or invoices without being 100% certain someones going to buy your product? How is your customer supposed to compare offerings between retailers? Its a $&#$% recession, people notice shit like that.

has anyone else had an experience like this? two months ago i had a really good impression of the outfit, now i wont be recommending them to anyone. I wont be telling people not to go there, i just wont be recommending them.

[iOnic]

I've never had a problem with them. They gave me a good deal on a custom clutch for the MR2 and saved me quite a bit too.

[Mr Revhead]

go some where local
why deal with a place in auckland when you can deal with a place you can walk into?
any decent clutch place should be able to make a clutch
to to ABC

[~SlideWays~]

Can't comment on those autoclutch guys but MP Auto in Upper Hutt are excellent, can't they supply you the friction plate too?

Also I've had 2 pressure plates modified by MPA and he showed me how they do it plus gave me a print out of the pressure difference. You can tell with the abruptness of the clutch bite as well. Greg is a really good guy, he even gave me his home address so I could come pick up after hours

My dad has had an MX5 clutch modified by MPA to take 140rwkw's which is twice the factory (now at 155kw).

None of these have ever had an issue.

[flygt4]

+1 for MP autoparts. use them for the whole kit

I visited them on a monday, we had a discussion regarding my particular vehicle and requirements, they came up with a solution, then next day i bought my parts in, they modified the existing parts and supplied the new parts required, and i picked it up on the thursday from memory.
I too got test results for clamp pressure before and after etc and they were pretty close to thew original expectations. the price was very good too. the flywheel was skimmed nicely as well.

always try use a local business when you can.

[cogent]

cheers for the recommendations on MP. Ill give them a call on monday

[IH8TEC]

Weird, they were bloody good when i got my clutch for the levin sorted. so i wouldn't say thats normal of them.

Every business will have their bad times though i guess.

[no_8wire]

When I dealt with them it was all over the phone, discussed options and best solutions. Rang a few other places before ringing back later in the day, paid over the phone and parts arrived next day at work.

Pretty sweet service tbh

[samlloyd]

I was happy with autoclutch

[DexGT]

+1 MP autoparts , they did the upgrade for the starlet , included increasing the TRD pressure plate clamping force .
I also got test results

[matt dunn]

When I dealt with Autoclutch in Auckland,

I told them what i was up to and the use etc etc, and the power the car was making (1600cc at that time)
At that stage I hade been through other locally made clutches here and ripped centres out and buttons off the plate etc etc.
They wanted me to send my flywheel up so they could surface, assemble the whole lot and make sure it was all correct.

I did as for the price of freighting it up it was worth them getting it right.

It came back and I fitted it two years and two engine ago,
and the clutch thay sold me to hold 300hp is now on my 450hp engine and still holding strong.

I would have expected that once you say your going to get part of the job done somewhere else
they would have spat the dummy.
Dont know what price your setup was, but for the $650 my clutch cost me,
a little extra in freight was no difference.

I will be using them agsin when I have to for anything that is not a std clutch.

[strx7]

certainly sounds odd to me. But i know they wont gurantee anything if they dont do all the work themselves which is fair enough. never had a problem with them. Both the Noel's i've dealt with have been great, you tell them what you're trying to achieve and they work out a few options for it.

[Akane]

The Metallic clutch and the flywheel resurfacing they did for me back in 2002 was fan-fuking-tastic.

Recently they did some work on my "other car". Which didn't flare too well, not too happy with them.

[evil_si]

ive never dealt with autoclutch

but i have dealt with MP autoparts. and they were great,
we basically gave them an old gtir twin plate and told them we wanted to run it with a W58, they uprated the pressure plate, supplied new friction plate centres and did a great job.

[peas]

I used to deal with them (including Neil) at least twice a week through work and would have to say that they were never anything short of helpful and in my opinion knew what they were on about. When it came to sorting out a clutch for my GT-Z they were really good about it, sharp deal and great kit.

I'm not going to defend the attitude that he showed to you because each person should be taken on their own merits but timewasters are a huge part of the aftermarket/modified car scene... It would have only taken a couple of calls prior to throw someone into a zero tolerance mood. If you have ever worked in trade or retail oriented jobs I'm sure that you could relate.

[Akane]

If you have ever worked in trade or retail oriented jobs I'm sure that you could relate.

You don't even need to, just try to sell something on trademe and you'll know. People who ask questiosn = never will be the buyer, people who buy = usually ask 1 or no questions.

[QikStarlie]

talked to this dude today. seem all good and pretty helpful. maybe you got him on a bad day as others said.

[snwtoy]

Have had nothing but a good experience with Autoclutch. They made me a solid centre kevlar/ceramic 3-puck clutch for my GTti, and then replaced it for FREE no questions asked when I ripped the centre out of it.

Also had a custom kevlar puck clutch made for my evo, at a very reasonable price which I had no problems with after many many hard launches.

Autoclutch are the business imo.

[cogent]

Im gonna assume i got him on a bad day, or pissed him off by suggesting I would get the pressure plate done down here at another company. Having said that, I don't really understand what is required (ie i didn't realize the group that do the clutch have to modify the entire assembly together at the same time) and he didn't take the time to explain that to me. Also pretty off the way he treated me, even if it was a bad day.

Every business, in my opinion, should keep in mind that a customer may not necessarily recommend a business based on a good experience, but a customer that gets a bad experience is almost 100% going to tell everyone they know.

I had a chat with Alan at MP today and can say nothing but good about the service I received over the phone. A stark contrast to what I received on Friday.

[snwtoy]

Every business, in my opinion, should keep in mind that a customer may not necessarily recommend a business based on a good experience, but a customer that gets a bad experience is almost 100% going to tell everyone they know.

This is very true, and probably the reason they're still a small business. What he did would be a sackable offence in many companies.