Hello All,

I dropped my 2009 Audi A4 to a local independant garage the other day for a service, usual oil change, filters etc.

Before I dropped the car in, I had noticed a little vibration in the clutch (nothing huge), and the fact that it was quite noticable (there is a slight noise) when changing from 1st to second gear. I wasn't overly worried, but I did ask the garage to have a quick look at it.

The garage called me just now and have advised that among other things, the A4 needs the following and will cost so many euros (I'm in Ireland, also bearing in mind I had this car serviced last year).

Front Suspension Drivers side bottom balljoint worn €190
Passenger side steering inner tie rod link worn €240
Noise from clutch plate / Bearing €740 to remove gear box to replace clutch

My questions are

1) Should I be worried about the clutch issue? Am I better off getting this resolved before it gets worse and breaks, costing me more than it might if I fixed this now
2) How likely is it that the balljoint and inner tie road links are worn, given that the car was serviced last year, and nothing was noticed. A little bit of me is wondering if the garage are trying to make me fix unnecessary things so they can get more business
3) How realistic are the prices I'm being quoted?


Thanks in advance for any feedback/insight you might be able to provide.