Member
$400 for rotors looks a little high. Curious as to what brand of rotors he wants to install.
$185 for pads is close to full retail. Looks like he's charging less than three hours labor.
I assume the brake fluid service is a complete flush.
Quick and fast is highly over rated in my opinion. Stopping on command is a much more desirable attribute.
Measure twice, cut three times, start over. Repeat as necessary.
Contributor
Depending on the state, it's to comply with laws. Honest, I'm not pulling your leg.Originally Posted by David Weaver
Some states require a minimum pad to rotor/drum contact, as in 100% contact. Compound this with the fact that a lot of new OEM spec'd rotors really don't have the thickness to allow being turned down and still meet minimum thickness. Add in an impact wrench to rotate tires and it's pretty easy to distort a set of rotors.
It's easier to replace the whole thing as a package.
"The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)
Contributor
A lot of places don't recommend turning brake drums or rotors any more. I know the drums on my motorhome can't be turned and they were not cheap for new drums. I want to a school on air brakes in June and the recommendation was to always replace drums instead of turning them. A big part of it is liability and part of it is that brake drums for most large vehicles just aren't all that expensive.
Yea, disc brakes are easy, drums not so much, I refuse to do them anymore after putting one together wrong. Most rotors can be turned once, take them in and your local auto parts shop can tell you if they can be turned at about $10-15 each.
My local GM dealership, complete with salon, cafe, and a shop for the ladies only charges $10 for a lube/oil and filter, hoping to nick you for found problems. But everyone I know uses them just for oil changes and it works if you know how to say no. But recently my van (at 160k miles) was pulling hard to the left, so I changed the front calipers for under $20 each and less than an hour per wheel. My NAPA auto supply suggested a number of items it could be, including a bad brake hose. New calipers didn't help. Well I didn't want to just start changing parts, so I took it in to the fancy GM dealership, telling them I just put on rebuilt NAPA calipers, which NAPA stocked. After about an hour, sipping on the free soda they gave me and surfing the web on their free wireless hot spot, the service advisor came in and said it must still be a bad right caliper, and she suggested changing it out at a cost of something like $280. But they didn't have one in stock. I passed and asked if they could change the right front brake hose. She looked up the price and said, yes they could at a cost of about $220, but they didn't stock the part. So I stopped on the way home and picked up a brake hose NAPA had in stock and changed it myself. That fixed the problem at a cost of $17 and about an hour. I was happy to pay GM $58 for the diagnostics and test drive to eliminate other front end problems. Hooda thunk a brake hose would cause a hard pulling left problem? My boys at the friendly NAPA parts shop did.
Last edited by Ole Anderson; 10-01-2012 at 1:31 AM.
Moderator
Shop around next time if you don't want to do it yourself. I recently had a vehicle (Jeep) with metal-on-metal in the fronts, and was quoted $429 with new rotors at a big chain tire shop, then $224 at another. That's a big difference. Went with the second and was happy with the work. Normally I do them myself too, but that would have cost me almost $200 for the parts so I was happy to pay a little more to have it done. Plus, I got a free tire rotation since I'd bought those from them.
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher
"The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green
Contributor
This is a common ploy by repair shops & dealers. Do some loss-leader oil changes and "find" problems with the car that will result in high-$$$ repairs.
Contributor
Trade you the bill for my Harley.
$1600 for brakes, rotors, new tires, and an oil change.
Drive the bike about 12K a year. Every year, go in with bald tires and chewed up brakes.
The Barefoot Woodworker.
Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.
Member
$500? I was considering doing the brakes on my '05 330Ci and I found OEM (Mintex) pads and some performance cross drilled rotors for under $250. What else did you replace? Either way, that's one helluva labor charge.
Contributor
I replaced (myself) the drum brakes (4 wheels) with disc kits on my 69 Charger for only $3,500.00. Everything is new, remember, it's not how fast the car goes, it's how well it stops.
"Dear God, my prayer for 2018 is a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don't mix these up like you did the last four years."
Contributor
I got the oil changed for the first time on a brand new car. They wanted to check the alignment because they claimed even a brand new car could be out of alignment from the factory. I declined.
Guest
I think I'd use the cheapest rotors I could find if I lived in a state like that....if they had to be changed out with the pads every time. I know others wouldn't, but I would! One of those cases where it's easier to save a dollar than make a dollar (i would, like anything else, read a forum quick to find out which of the cheapest rotors were OK, though).
Guest
Side story, when I was in sears a few years ago getting a tire (my wife had gone through the sidewall on one of our car's tires, at 5k miles on the car, and sears was the only place local carrying a matching tire), I sat in the sears waiting room. Their price on the tire wasn't great, but it actually wasn't too bad.
As I'm sitting there, some tech comes out to every single person with a tray that has a color coded chart on it. Every single person, he did the same spiel to "we checked your oil, and it is dirty, and that could cause trouble. We'd recommend that we change it".
I had changed the oil that day or the day before with full synthetic and it was still pretty clean looking - if you'd have flattened a drop out it still would've been very clean. This guy comes walking back out to me with a piece of paper with "my" oil on it, it's black as night (i have no idea where he got it) and tells me I need to change my oil.
I suggested he figure out what car the oil came from, because my oil had just been changed and it wasn't that dark yet. He apologized real quick and ran out of the room, and didn't come back with mine.
You're not safe from it anywhere you go. I'll bet the oil sample that he was bringing out to most of the people wasn't even their oil, it sure wasn't mine. How hard would it be to pull the dipstick and get a drop of oil off of it? I guess harder than having a go-to source of dark oil and just dipping a drop out of it.
I know they're in a competitive business, and nobody working there is really getting paid too much, but that kind of thing ruined my whole experience there and it guarantees I'll never go back.
Member
Rear brakes shouldn't need to be done at 41,000 miles. I've done them for the first time on several vehicles at well over 100,000 miles (I even had factory front brakes go to 105,000 miles before they got replaced for the first time).
In recent years, I've spent up to $200 for new pads and rotors for just one pair of wheels--without getting the most expensive available. Since asbestos was banned from brake pads a number of years ago, the compounds to get good, quiet stops have gone up quite a bit in price.
As for rotors, if they are not replaced, they should be turned every time--and even sometimes when they're new! Calipers should go well over 100,000 miles, too--I've had several vehicles go to 150,000 or more and the calipers still worked just fine (not so much for brake cylinders on drum brakes). I also repack with grease or replace the bearings.
I've probably paid for most of my mechanical tools just in labor costs saved over the last 15 years of doing my own brake jobs.
Member
I just replaced the front disc pads on my Tacoma and I believe it cost me around $40-50. For anything more involved i let a pro do the work, but brakes, oil changes etc. are my Saturday job.
Member
just did a little experiment for ya. At my local chain auto parts store. New pad and rotors $267 + Tax. That was using the premium parts as well. Almost $1000 for the job? What are they smoking and why are they not sharing??? Unless there is something I am missing you are getting taken for a ride. Do it your self.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote