I'm a slave to my slave cylinder

I’m the 4th owner of my 11 year old car that I’ve owned for the past 6 years. It has 138K on the odometer, is a 5 speed with 2.5L DOHC engine and recently the clutch has no resistance when I press down on it. I took it to a local mechanic in Pensacola, FL and after a look-see he told me that my slave cylinder was giving out and leaking(the reservoir gets refilled daily). Normally, he says, its a $300 to $400 job but on this particular Ford model the slave cylinder is inside the transmission case. He suggested that while the transmission is cracked open to replace the slave cylinder that the clutch plate, throwout bearing, etc get replaced. He quoted me $1300 and 2 days work to fix it. That’s a huge chunk of change for a working class Joe. Is there an easier fix for this problem? Is this price fair and reasonable for this repair *(labor/work covered for 90days and parts for 1 year)? How long do you suppose my clutch will hold out if I don’t let the reservoir go dry and I keep my driving local and drive conservatively?

138K is a reasonable distance to get out of a clutch, especially from at least 4 drivers.
The price seems a little high. I would get a second estimate.
I would also have the master cylinder and crankshaft seal replaced.

This problem isn’t going to go away or get better with time, and pretty soon your clutch won’t release at all. I agree with circuitsmith - shop for a price.

You are 2,000 miles from my “disposal mileage for Escorts”. After that, I think it isn’t worth keeping. I recommend buying the newer car. The 1,300 dollars sounds reasonable. You will only save the 200 dollars for clutch parts.