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Having detected a vibrating shudder in my car at certain speeds a little bit of auto diagnosis by me led to my CV joint, confirmed by the garages.

I also knew I needed the brake pads looking at and of course they confirm this too


So, experienced car people out there..I've got two quotes for the work (car is out of warranty)

what should I be looking to pay?

..parts and labour included for

- Repairing a split CV joint
- Front and back pads and discs

am I best going to a main dealer (from which I purchased the car) or to an independent?

thank you

Constant velocity joints can be a doddle or a swine to replace depending on the model of car. (brake pads 15 minutes)

If you know a good trustworthy independent, go with them. (but get them to use original parts)

Get a quote and a time for the labour estimate from the agent and use that to judge how fair the independent quote is.

£30ph is a fair wage for an independent mechanic

Does the CV gaiter just need replacing or the whole joint ? Gaiter will cost about a fiver but a new CV joint could be anything upto about £300 depending on make.

2/3 hours labour plus parts,

Pattern parts could be as much as 70% cheaper than original so if it's out of warranty I'd go with them.

Total bill could be anything between £300 and £1000

Make of car? 

Audi A6 52 Reg


Whole CV Joint

for the whole lot have been quoted £900 by the dealer, £650 by one independent.

Shopping around tomorrow

CV joint thread:
http://www.audifans.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=18634

Brakes I'd do myself. I get Mintex ones off ebay for convenience. Prob slightly better performance and price than OEM ones.

The only reason to use a main dealer is for warranty purposes or if you want a full service history from Audi garages (for when you sell the car).

Otherwise, you're just paying extra for not much.  The mechanics are supposed to be specialists in Audis, but for the work you want doing it doesn't require an Audi specialist.

Parts come to around £200 depending on model at eurocarparts.com get them yourself and get a quote for labour only.

Great place for parts, best to ring them and give them the reg# of the car or go to one of thier stores instead of ordering online to make sure you get the right bits. If they havent got something in stock they can normally get it the next day.

There is a huge mark up on car parts and people in the trade will get the parts cheaper than you can so even your £650 quote seems somewhat excessive.