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New Brakes on my car, what a ripoff!


Ice bowl 67

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$1500 for new Brakes, new Rotors and new Calipers as well! A couple weeks ago on Sunday I was hearing a severe grinding sound in my brakes and took it in right away on Monday. He fixed it by Thursday and it cost me $1500 for it. What do you guys think of this? The guy is a friend of my Dad's. I dont think I will bring my car there anymore cause I think he overcharged me by alot for this. I dont want to come off as a complainer though and very grateful I have new Brakes and my car is back to full health.

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$1500 for new Brakes, new Rotors and new Calipers as well! A couple weeks ago on Sunday I was hearing a severe grinding sound in my brakes and took it in right away on Monday. He fixed it by Thursday and it cost me $1500 for it. What do you guys think of this? The guy is a friend of my Dad's. I dont think I will bring my car there anymore cause I think he overcharged me by alot for this. I dont want to come off as a complainer though and very grateful I have new Brakes and my car is back to full health.

What kind of vehicle? Make, model, and year?

Calipers on my 2006 Jeep TJ were only 70 each. Rotors I think 50.

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Sounds high but that can depend on the cost of the parts themselves and the top of vehicle. $1,500 for that work on a new 'vette would be a good deal, that price for a Ford Escort would be a complete ripoff

Yes... My MINI or BMW... Probably reasonable.

 

Not sure if true... BUT my brother's friend has a 2010 Cooper... Supposedly the car throws an engine code if you don't change the brake sensor! So even doing it yourself you are in for a headache!

 

My 2014, all new F-56 Cooper doesn't even have a dipstick... Same with the BMW. All oil is checked via onboard computer. Gott admit, kinda nice... No dirty hands!

 

When I installed a battery charger pigtail... I took no chances unhooking battery... Didn't want to throw a check engine light!

 

 

Calipers for some vehicles can be outta this world... 300-400 each!

 

 

Oh... You shouldn't have waited so long. Watch your mileage if no indicator sound is going off, scraping...

 

Sorry for the bad news. Again, prob the calipers $$ jacked up price.

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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I have a 2008 Chevy Malibu. What do you guys think? Is it still a bad price?

Ooo....I don't know... Kinda older model., prices should be lower seeing it is domestic.

 

Just one more question. How many calipers needed? I assume all four rotors, assuming you don't have drums in back? Or do you have drums in back. FWIW, my 2006 Jeep still used drums in rear and discs up front. Rear pads were only 15% worn. Adjusted e-brake too.

 

Might have been all 4, full job?

 

My Jeep had two new rotors, 2 calipers and pads... Installed was under $500... Probably could have saved $200 doing myself, but no time. Was done in 1/2 day.

 

Why did it take him 3 days for you?

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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I have a 2008 Chevy Malibu. What do you guys think? Is it still a bad price?

 

Pads, and rotors, and calipers? Sounds pretty reasonable, actually.

 

The bigger question is...well, pads wear out. Rotors...if you're not paying attention, yes they can get damaged by worn pads and need replacing. But calipers? What the hell did you do to your car???

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I have a 2008 Chevy Malibu. What do you guys think? Is it still a bad price?

 

Ugh, you got shafted. You could have taken it to a dealer and paid about half that. Did he give a reason for replacing the calipers on an 8-year old car? And why did a brake job take 3 days? Parts for a 2008 Malibu certainly aren't rare.

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Pads, and rotors, and calipers? Sounds pretty reasonable, actually.

 

The bigger question is...well, pads wear out. Rotors...if you're not paying attention, yes they can get damaged by worn pads and need replacing. But calipers? What the hell did you do to your car???

As they get old... They freeze up. Or, you miss the early indicator sound and wear right down to caliper.

 

FWIW... I knew front pads were going... Kept on putting off... No scraping sound until it was metal on metal.

 

Ugh, you got shafted. You could have taken it to a dealer and paid about half that. Did he give a reason for replacing the calipers on an 8-year old car? And why did a brake job take 3 days? Parts for a 2008 Malibu certainly aren't rare.

Maybe there were bad wheel bearing to he repacked/replaced?

 

Also... Does 2008 have 4 disc or drums in rear. Shouldn't need rears as much... Most braking is done up front... But drums are harder to mess with...

Edited by ExiledInIllinois
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I drove all the way to Kansas City this summer and back then drove to Marquette Michigan and back this summer. On those trips I had a few deer jump out in front of me where I had to apply bigtime pressure to the brakes in order not to hit them. If I didnt I would have demolished the deer and my car. I got the car at 71000 miles and now I put on 14000 miles putting it at 85000 miles and I dont think the brakes were ever replaced. I did have a bad habit while driving in town driving about a foot past the stop sign and slamming on the brakes then. Bad habit it was as I payed dearly for it. I believe he had to replace all the calipers, rotors and brakes and not to mention he did a tire rotation and oil change for me as the car was just about due for that anyway. I am pretty sure he did all four rotors as they were worn out to pieces. He told me everything could have busted at any time, it was that bad. I heard a mild squeaking sound about a month before and all my buddies said it is nothing to worry about. Then the squeaking turned to metal grinding on metal and an awful grinding sound. He might have replaced the drums too ExileinIllinois. I have had the car since Summer of 2014.


It always takes this guy 2 or 3 days to work on the vehicle as well.

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Unfortunately, that is the going rate. I had a caliper go bad on my '07 Accord. The caliper pin seized up and wore the pad and rotor out. It is a fairly common thing to go wrong for the 7th generation Accord. They did a complete replacement of my rear brakes (pads, rotors, calipers) and it cost $800... and that was at an independent shop, not at the dealer, either.

 

I decided from that day on that I would do my brakes on my own the next time they went bad. There are enough youtube videos out there for auto repair that it's likely there is a DIY guide for your make/model. It depends on the model, but most cars really aren't that hard. If you can change your oil or do other minor repairs, you can likely change your car's pads and rotors.

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You guys know how to put brakes on a car? Is it easy?

Yep, very easy. Go to college, get a good job, pay someone else to do it. easy peesy....ain't no way i getting in a car where some dude says "eh, watched a youtube video, did all my own brake work" ...uber , here i come

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Speaking of rip offs, my son has been driving my old Camry for years but just came up against repairs approaching $1,000 for a car with 160,000 miles. Time for a new car. He has a great job and good but limited credit with a score over 700. Since he's never had a car payment before (due to sucker parents) his loan rate was anywhere from 17.5%-20%. My wife happened into Nashville an hour later and confirmed this, but when she co-signed the rate dropped to 3.5%. He was putting 30% down, and the best rate they had at CarMax for a 700+ credit score with zero other debt was 17.5%? Reallly???

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Speaking of rip offs, my son has been driving my old Camry for years but just came up against repairs approaching $1,000 for a car with 160,000 miles. Time for a new car. He has a great job and good but limited credit with a score over 700. Since he's never had a car payment before (due to sucker parents) his loan rate was anywhere from 17.5%-20%. My wife happened into Nashville an hour later and confirmed this, but when she co-signed the rate dropped to 3.5%. He was putting 30% down, and the best rate they had at CarMax for a 700+ credit score with zero other debt was 17.5%? Reallly???

that does not sound believable...something aint right with that story. And, putting a $1000 into a car with only 160K sounds like the right thing to do if everything else is okay.

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that does not sound believable...something aint right with that story. And, putting a $1000 into a car with only 160K sounds like the right thing to do if everything else is okay.

The car was at that point where repairs were exceeding future payments. It was getting to be every few months. My wife is the master negotiator. My 27 year old son was texting me saying he felt bad for the poor young guy she was up against. (She's a champ!) At some point you trade payments for repairs. In this case we will be on the hook for our first car loan in decades. Hope with bonuses he can get it off the books in 12-18 months. This came shortly after we bought a condo in Nashville for him and his son with a shiny new mortgage we have not even made a payment on yet. And we couldn't be happier with the outcome or the ability to be of help. :)

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I drove all the way to Kansas City this summer and back then drove to Marquette Michigan and back this summer. On those trips I had a few deer jump out in front of me where I had to apply bigtime pressure to the brakes in order not to hit them. If I didnt I would have demolished the deer and my car. I got the car at 71000 miles and now I put on 14000 miles putting it at 85000 miles and I dont think the brakes were ever replaced. I did have a bad habit while driving in town driving about a foot past the stop sign and slamming on the brakes then. Bad habit it was as I payed dearly for it. I believe he had to replace all the calipers, rotors and brakes and not to mention he did a tire rotation and oil change for me as the car was just about due for that anyway. I am pretty sure he did all four rotors as they were worn out to pieces. He told me everything could have busted at any time, it was that bad. I heard a mild squeaking sound about a month before and all my buddies said it is nothing to worry about. Then the squeaking turned to metal grinding on metal and an awful grinding sound. He might have replaced the drums too ExileinIllinois. I have had the car since Summer of 2014.

It always takes this guy 2 or 3 days to work on the vehicle as well.

 

 

Two types... Most are all disc brakes (rotors pads) now... Usually, if it has drum brakes.... Pads grab on the inside of a drum. They are on the rear now, most all modern vehicles would have disc on fronts. Usually, the drums don't go bad? Did he give you a itemized bill? Usually rear pads wear less. All the weight is up front. Who knows, probably never change rear pads.

 

But whatever... Sounds like you got all new stuff, all four wheels. I guess that isn't too bad of a price. I didn't look up the price of the parts. BUT calipers can range cheap (on my Jeep 80 bucks each) to expensive (100's each)... Rotors the same too. All depends on the vehicle.

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I have a 2008 Chevy Malibu. What do you guys think? Is it still a bad price?

id imagine at a dealer or a large well known shop... It's probably about where I would expect. I remember when I had my Mercedes, the dealer wanted to charge me more than that for the same thing. Had a buddy do the work for about $200 for parts and a case of beer for labor.

 

A lot of times tho, you don't actually need calipers. But they charge you for them anyway. It's often just Pads and Rotors that need to be done.

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