[jb92563]

For the DIY mechanics you could do all the work for just the price of parts which would be more like $2K from internet sources and might take 2 days of your time, which would be worth $3k of savings.

Is your time worth $1500 a day, ~200/hr?

You could take a nice Porsche engine building course with those savings

When a clutch starts to go you will know it. It feels funky and the revs go up with no immediate acceleration if you punch the gas (Slipping clutch)

Symptoms started occurring rather suddenly over one week of daily driving, as I think the throw out bearing was binding occasionally as well due to wear (Funky clutch engagement).

I think between myself and the former owners the previous clutch lasted about 35K miles.

I did the work myself, first time ever doing a clutch job, and it took about 6 hours, though I was working really slow. Next time will likely be a 2-3 hour job, now that I have that stupid security bit for the 1 transmission bolt and know how and where everything attaches.