Short answer – between £415 and £535 depending on the year of your car and the brand of clutch kit fitted.
The Citroen C1 is a hugely popular city car that was manufactured in numerous iterations between June 2005 – January 2022. The Citroen C1 shares most of it’s running gear with the Peugeot 108 and the Toyota Aygo, meaning these cars are exceptionally common and therefore most garages should be very familiar performing clutch replacements on them.
Occasionally, you are going to need a new clutch. There are numerous signs that point to the fact that your clutch needs replacing, but as soon as you’re aware that your clutch is worn, you should book the car into the garage to get it done. If a clutch fails, you will lose your drive, meaning you could be put in a dangerous situation, especially if it happens on a fast-moving road.
We’re going to go through exactly how much you might expect to pay at a local garage for a clutch replacement. Of course – if you take your car into a Citroen dealer, you can expect to pay more, as labour costs are far greater than at independent garages. We’ve also listed a few important tips and tricks so that you can better identify when your Citroen C1 clutch might need to be replaced.
How much is a new clutch for a Citroen C1?
In order to work this out, we’ve done a bit of research into the cost of parts if you went and bought them from Euro Car Parts, as well as the average labour cost to fit the new clutch. A clutch replacement is a very labour intensive job – the whole gearbox has to come out, which means the driveshafts have to be removed and the gearbox drained of oil.
Parts Needed:
Clutch kit (clutch plate, release bearing and pressure plate)
Gearbox oil (75W-80 or 75W-90 for the Citroen C1)
Labour required – roughly 5-6 hours
The cheapest clutch kit I could find was this a Transmech kit at £85. Your garage may also prefer to fit the LUK Clutch at £145 – generally given that a clutch replacement is such an expensive job you’re advised to fit the best clutch you can afford to the vehicle.
Gearbox oil isn’t expensive but you will need some – you’ll likely pay around £15 per litre, so budget £30 for new gearbox oil.
5-6 hours labour at £50 per hour + VAT is £250 – £300 of labour.
Therefore, to figure out how much a clutch is for a Citroen C1, let’s do the maths for each version of the clutch kit:
Transmech
| Clutch kit | £85 |
| Gearbox Oil | £30 |
| Labour | £360 (£300 + VAT) |
| Total Cost | £475 |
LUK
| Clutch kit | £145 |
| Gearbox Oil | £30 |
| Labour | £360 (£300 + VAT) |
| Total Cost | £535 |
Total cost = between £415 and £535
However, the above costs are entirely dependent on whether anything else has gone wrong with the car – which any good garage should point out to you when the job is being done and ask for your approval before going ahead with any work. Additionally be aware that you could be knocking off £50 of labour if the garage can do the job more quickly.
Any decent garage probably sees at least one of these cars every week if not more often, given that they’re also around in Peugeot and Toyota iterations. I’d be very surprised if a garage can’t get through a Citroen C1 clutch replacement in six hours – so you shouldn’t be paying any more.
What does a clutch actually do?
A clutch is an integral part of your vehicle’s drivetrain. When the clutch is engaged (when the pedal is up) the engine is connected directly to the wheels through the gearbox. This allows engine power to be applied to the wheels, and the car moves. When you disengage the clutch (push the pedal down) you disconnect the engine and gearbox from the wheels. This means you have no power going to the wheels – and you’ll see this if you push the clutch in and rev the engine, the car doesn’t go anywhere.
When you bring the clutch up, the clutch plate, pressure plate and flywheel are brought together by springs on the clutch plate. While you’re slipping the clutch, the engine and transmission speeds are being matched. You’ll feel when they have matched, because you can lift your clutch pedal all the way up. This process is called “slipping the clutch” – not to be confused with your “clutch slipping” which is a sign of wear which we’ll discuss in a moment.
When you push your foot down on the clutch pedal, the pressure plate is pulled away from the clutch plate, meaning that when you change gear (and the transmission rotates at a different speed) you can do this without jerking forward or causing damage to the clutch mechanism or engine.
What does a worn clutch feel like?
A worn clutch can manifest itself in many ways – but some of the most common are as follows:
Spongy, sticky or noisy pedal
A clutch pedal should feel quite hard when you push it down – not as hard as the brake, but a lot harder than the accelerator pedal. If your clutch pedal is very easy to push down, and you don’t feel that there’s much of a spring in the pedal, this can be the sign of a worn clutch. Additionally if you push the pedal down and it doesn’t immediately return when you take your foot off, this is also a sign of a worn clutch. If there’s noticeable vibration, squeaking or grumbling when you use the clutch, this is the sign that you need to get it checked out in your local garage.
Poor acceleration
One other issue you an experience with a worn clutch is that if the clutch is engaged, and you push the pedal and the engine revs but the car doesn’t pick up speed, this is an indication that your clutch is close to failure. This is described as your clutch “slipping” and it means that power from the engine isn’t being effectively applied to the wheels.
High biting point
This is something that can catch people out on a French car like the Citroen C1 as generally French cars have a high biting point – you see this across the range of Peugeot, Renault, Citroen and DS gearboxes. However, an extremely high biting point (to the point where just the slightest movement means the difference between moving off correctly and stalling) suggests a failing clutch. If you feel like clutch control has become more difficult on your car, or your biting point has got higher, you should get your car checked out.
There are other signs, but these are the main ones. Experiencing any of these means your clutch is likely to fail soon and you should immediately get it checked by a garage you trust.
How long can you drive with a worn clutch?
This depends on how close your clutch is to failing. If you’ve just noticed it slipping, it’s probably OK for a few days or even maybe a few weeks if you do mainly motorway driving, which doesn’t really cause much wear on the clutch as you don’t change gear as often. However if you can notice any kind of distinct smell when changing gear, or the pedal sticks to the floor and you have to pull it up manually with your foot, I wouldn’t advise you drive anywhere other than your local garage to get the clutch changed. If you are going to drive with a worn clutch, make sure you’ve got breakdown insurance.
How many miles should a clutch last?
The answer to this is “it depends” – and it depends mainly on the type of driving you do and the way you drive your car. If you mainly do motorway miles (which means you don’t use the clutch, as the car is left in gear for many hours at a time) and you’re careful, don’t slip the clutch unnecessarily, don’t hold the clutch in when stopped at lights and don’t hold the clutch at the bite when stopped on a hill, there’s no reason you can’t expect 100,000 miles or more out of a clutch.
However, if you have a lot of bad habits and you do all these things, you could wear out a clutch in less than 30,000 miles. If you drive like you’re on the Fast and Furious it might be even less than that. If you drive sensibly and with mechanical sympathy in mind, you’ll find your clutch lasts a lot longer – so here are some tips to prolong the life of your clutch.
- Don’t hold the clutch in when stopped at traffic lights. Shift to neutral and use the handbrake.
- Don’t use the clutch to hold you still on a hill. This is fine if you’re at a give way and you’re waiting for a few seconds but if you’re stopped for an extended period of time, such as in traffic, shift to neutral and use the handbrake.
- Don’t move off without gas – this is something that a lot of learners are taught and it’s not good. A clutch needs gas when you move off – not much, as that can also cause wear, but at least 1500 – 2000 rpm.
- Don’t use too high a gear – as you’ll spend more time slipping the clutch to engage it and this can cause wear.
Ultimately a clutch doesn’t really wear unless it becomes hot. There’s a certain amount of heat generated when the clutch is used properly and this is unavoidable, but don’t make a habit of doing anything that gets the clutch unnecessarily hot.
Is it worth replacing a clutch?
Again the answer to this is that it depends. If you have an older C1, you might think that it’s not worth doing as the cost of a new clutch is going to be a significant proportion of the cost of the car itself. However, even if you look at the lower end of the market it’s highly unlikely you’re going to be able to get a new C1 with a brand new clutch for the money it would cost you just to do your own clutch, plus the value of your car.
Any old used car is likely to need a new clutch in the near future unless it’s been done recently – and the old saying goes that the cheapest car you can get is the one you already have, so if you plan to keep the car for at least the next twelve months, it’s worth doing.
Why do I need a clutch “kit” and not just a clutch?
A clutch kit consists of the release bearing, which goes on the input shaft of the gearbox, and then the pressure plate and clutch plate itself. You should never do a clutch job without replacing all three, as it isn’t only the clutch plate that wears. If any one of these parts fails, you will lose your drive and your car will have to be towed – so you must replace all the parts at the same time.
Can a clutch fail suddenly?
It can, but this is usually not as a result of the clutch itself failing – it’s usually as a result of either the clutch cable itself failing or snapping. If your clutch has failed without any of the above signs of gradual failure, you should get this checked first as it may just be a cause of replacing the clutch cable. The Citroen C1 has a clutch cable – many other cars have hydraulic clutches where fluid can leak out and contaminate the clutch, which can also cause failure.
Can you change a clutch yourself?
You can, but you’ll need to be very competent mechanically and either have a lift or not mind getting under a car supported by axle stands. You’ll also need a transmission jack and you’ll need a significant array of tools including many different sockets, a torque wrench and a clutch alignment tool. I wouldn’t advise you to attempt this unless you’ve got significant experience doing other jobs on your car.
Should you bed in a new clutch?
Bedding in a new clutch isn’t required to the level a new set of brake discs or pads is – however you should avoid spirited driving for the first 500 miles or so to ensure that the clutch beds in properly. However, it isn’t something you really need to think about in the same way you might with a set of brakes, and as long as you’re driving normally, you shouldn’t really worry about it.
Check out some more of our transmission/gearbox related articles!
About the author
Marcus Brown is editor-in-chief of The FatMech and is a mechanic with ten years' experience based in London, UK. Having worked for major dealerships for many years, Marcus now works for a local independent garage and has experience working on nearly every make and model of car. Marcus also has a passion for writing and teaching, which is where the idea for The FatMech came from. In his spare time, Marcus enjoys playing golf, doing home renovations and gardening. He lives just outside London with his wife and son.