Did I overpay for new brakes?

[My Dream]

Having worked at Goodyear and Firestone as a service advisor in my younger years, and doing all my own automotive work from rebuilding two engines and doing a body off restoration (1800 hrs) on a classic car here is my take on this.

As with brake pads as well as rotors there is a good, better, best quality. Also knows as Economy, Coated, Daily Driver, Performance in each brand of rotors as well as pads. Cost of each rotor can range from $15.00 each to $100.00 each, depending on whether you purchased, Raybestos, Durago, Centric, Power Stop, AcDelco, Wagner, Bendix, Brembo, Bosch, etc.

To give and educated answer, we would need to know the manufacture as well as the quality of both the rotors and brake pads, as well as any other materials used, such as seals, guide pins, etc, in order to give you an informed answer.

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Car-Guy Which reminds me, if you are doing your own brake job, then don't add any brake fluid until the rest of the job is done. Then check the fluid levels and add "if necessary". Anyone who has done their own brake job "should" understand why.

Well, yeah, if you're just topping off, you won't have to, because the new pads are thicker than the ones you took off. But if you're replacing the fluid, it doesn't matter. I still change my brake fluid every 3 years, alternating between yellow and blue (I still have a substantial stock of ATE Super Blue Racing).

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby ... I would also have replaced the brake fluid if I were doing the job myself. It is not difficult or expensive, but it is recommended every three years or so, because brake fluid is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture) and moisture can decrease the effectiveness of the brake system. ...

+1 My Uncle was an airline mechanic, and he felt this was important due to that hygroscopic nature you mentioned, and I've read from other reliable sources.

When I asked our independent guy about having the brake fluid flushed, he said they always did it for us as part of a brake job, so he didn't feel it was needed at that time, for us (based on the timing of the most recent brake job, or anticipating it in the near future).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby In old days, you would turn the rotors on a lathe if they were warped. But new rotors are so cheap and easily available now that they just replace them instead.

I've also heard that they are just thinner, to reduce un-sprung weight and maybe increase mpg by 0.01 (which all adds up with a hundred different things like that).

-ERD50

[REWahoo]

OP, I've found the repair cost estimates on this website are reasonably accurate: https://repairpal.com/

Here are the results when I plugged in your car and the brake repairs you specified using my zip, and I live in a LCOL area. Looks to me like no, you didn't overpay.

[freedomatlast]

Brake work has to a huge profit maker for these shops. I've always done my own brake work and if you have basic hand tools and some mechanical ability, there is nothing difficult about it. There has to be at least $600 profit in the OP's job and using a lift and using pneumatic tools, the shop couldn't have more than 2 hours total in that job.

[street]

When I checked on prices to do my brakes in a shop it was 600$ labor after I prices the parts, also. I just didn't want to pay that kind of wages for them to do my brakes.

[CRLLS]

Last year I was quoted about the same price from the dealer for my own 2012 Elantra with much lower mileage. I DIY for<$150 in parts. If you cannot do your own work, then you will pay for the labor. It does seem a bit high on labor IMO, but the price you were quoted is in line with dealer prices.

[cooch96]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gumby In the old days, you would turn the rotors on a lathe if they were warped. But new rotors are so cheap and easily available now that they just replace them instead.

Yes, they’re also frequently thinner and more fragile. Frequently so thin, you can’t safely turn them down more than once. This saves weight, which improves mileage; and rolling inertia, which allows better acceleration. But it leads to more frequent replacement.

Also, if you don’t drive the vehicle regularly enough, the surface rust on the rotors can become deeply pitted, which then chews the pads. I lost my last set of rotors that way when I only drove my car once or twice a month last winter and spring.

[SmallCityDave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianB It's been a long time since I had to have brake work done. The car is a 2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring GLS. It's primarily driven by our daughter. The car has 4-wheel disc brakes, original from when we bought it new, and has 88k miles. The pads were down to just 2 - 3 mm and the rotors were too thin to resurface. The shop replaced all four rotors and installed new ceramic pads. Total cost out-the-door was $749.99. Lifetime warranty on the parts & 12k mile warranty on the labor. The cost seemed high to me, but we want our daughter to be safe! What do you think? Bonus question: We didn't have the fluid replaced. Should we do that too, considering the age & mileage? Brian

Looking at RockAuto the parts are between $150-200 shipped my mechanic charges $100 per axle and it doesn't matter to him if he has to turn the rotors or replace them, the brake fluid should have been flushed.

[Chuckanut]

I like to get a deal as much as the next guy. But, the real test of whether I over paid, under paid or fairly paid, is how long the job lasts. If your brakes are working well, just write off the extra money to experience. Next time shop around if you must. Me? I have a trusted mechanic whose prices are certainly not the cheapest, but they are 'fair' especially considering I have never had to go back and get a repaired item re-repaired.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 ........... I had a '94 Thunderbird which had a frustrating habit of warping rotors.

A the risk of thread diversion , rotors rarely actually warp, they develop disc thickness variation as the pads just touch a tiny amount more in one area than another and over millions of revolutions wear unevenly. Compounding this, different chassis designs react differently to the same amount of thickness variation. On one car, the brakes would cause steering wheel vibration and seat shake and on another you'd scarcely notice it - all with the same thickness variation. In recent times, this has been a characteristic that is more closely monitored and designed to be robust. Sensitivity to tire balance is similar.

[Bamaman]

Rock Auto sells 4 wheel kits including rotors for $100 to $150. I agree with above that it's a 3-4 hour job for an amateur. I've done a bunch of brake jobs and could do it in an hour tops with air tools and a lift.

Rotors couldn't be turned? That's a $50 job at one of the national auto parts stores for 4. If they have never been turned, rotors still have life in them for at least 1 turning. They might have just said they'd rather buy all new parts instead of fooling with machining the rotors.

And never think about taking a car to a dealership for brakes. A service writer's job is selling $300 brake jobs to little widows for $900. Brakes are a license to steal for them.

[Montecfo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 To some degree it depends on local cost of living, but that sounds like high end of normal range to me. Not outrageous, but perhaps a bit on the high side. Agreed with the above about not pinching too many pennies when it comes to my tires and my brakes.

In my locality, I have found shop labor rates can vary 15-30%. This is illustrated if you get bids for a labor intensive task.

You can also test this by simply asking your favorite independent and your local dealer what their shop labor rate is.

Prices can vary pretty sharply if the task is labor intensive.

[John Galt III]

I think most places do overcharge quite a bit for labor for brakes. Shouldn't take more than one hour to do all four wheels on a typical disc brake setup, at a professional place with a lift. It only takes me two hours to do all four wheels at home in my driveway. One hour labor at $120 an hour = $120. Not $300. Not $400.

[mountainsoft]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianB The car is a 2012 Hyundai Elantra Touring GLS. The shop replaced all four rotors and installed new ceramic pads. Total cost out-the-door was $749.99.

Yikes, I have no idea if that's a good deal or not, but as someone who does their own car work that seems astronomical to me. Heck, I only paid $1900 for my car, I'm more likely to buy another car than spend $750 on brakes! I guess I'm out of touch with what the rest of the world has to pay for things.

As car repairs go, replacing pads and rotors is one of the easier jobs. I usually only replace the pads unless the rotors are warped, scored, or otherwise questionable. That said, I replaced all four pads and rotors on my daughters 2003 Jetta last year. The parts cost me about $250, and took less than two hours to do all four wheels. Of course, having the right tools makes the job go a lot quicker.

[mistermike40]

I just had the front pads/rotors replaced on my wife's Ford Escape... $318 out the door.

[travelover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistermike40 I just had the front pads/rotors replaced on my wife's Ford Escape... $318 out the door.

Let me quess, this wasn't a Ford dealer?

[kgtest]

In comparison, I bought new rotors and pads for about $100 for DW Camry...The rotors looked pretty good so I just replaced the front pads (@100k). Will do back pads here before snow flies(@140k miles). I'll check rear rotors at that time to see how they are looking.

I might pay someone $400 if the brakes were life or death and it was below zero temps. Otherwise slowly heat the garage, and figure out the problem replacing the bad parts myself.

I've never paid someone to do breaks. Always did them myself, I replaced brake fluid once and might do it with my new truck here, otherwise you get lots of noticeable black break dust.

Truck is at 65k and I haven't done the pads yet. Probably before snow flies

[Badger]

Back when I could do these things I replaced the bake pads on my 83 Toyota Tercel. The rotors were fairly smooth, no scoring, and not warped. At that time the pads cost me about $60 for all 4 wheels. It was a simple R&R that took maybe an hour for my first time.
The prices now days just blows me away. I may just trade my car in the next time (probably in about 10 years).



Cheers!

[CRLLS]

The toughest part of the disk brake pad change on all 4 wheels is the resetting the rear axle caliper where you have to retract (screw in) the piston due to the parking brake systems used now. Having the tool makes it relatively easy(ish) most of the time.

The rotors are being made today are thinner for the sake of weight savings. It has been some time since I even tried to have them turned. The last few times I tried, there was not enough metal to do a proper turn. I just buy new ones when I'm doing brakes. I figure I can splurge on replacing them since I am saving all the shop labor rates.