brake repair costs

aioua

So, I got my new tires, go down to the shop to have them mounted and balanced. Since they're taking my wheels off I'll have them look at my brakes, which I know probably need replacing. And they're more fucked than I ever imagined! Trying to see if the quote they gave me is reasonable since I'm just not that much of a car guy.
The car is a 1999 Oldsmobile Intrigue GL. 4 disc brakes. Aside from your normal brake job replacing the pads, the work they wanted to do is:
All 4 rotors need to be replaced; two are worn down past their specified thickness but are otherwise fine, the front right one is all scratched up because at some point the previous owner let the pad wear down entirely, and the rear left one is fucked because...
The rear left caliper is broken and sticks shut, and therefore has worn that rotor dangerously thin. (seriously it's about half as thick as the other rotors ) That caliper needs to be replaced, as well as the rear right caliper which they said was probably going to break in the same fashion fairly soon.

So for 4 pads, 4 rotors, and 2 calipers they quoted me about $880, parts and labor. This is in Seattle so I guess adjust for cost of living accordingly. Any ideas?

edit: oh also I swear this wasn't my fault, I've only had this car for a couple of months. Got it fairly cheap since I knew they were a bunch of littleish things wrong with it. I plan on keeping it in much nicer shape ^_^

ThreeCubed

Pfft, that sounds darn near cheap. I had to pay about $600 to get only half of all that done.

Tejs

Yeah, that sounds ridiculously cheap.

For me, 4 pads are 200, each rotor is 1000, and I don't even know what a caliper would cost me.

Bowen

That sounds about right, but it also sounds like dealership pricing too. You may want to shop around and see if you can get better.

mts

i just paid 220 for rear brakes ( i think they swapped out everything, i haven't picked the car up yet) and that price included state inspection fees etc.

to me it sounds high

illig

sounds about right for parts + labor

just FYI, brakes are usually very easy to DIY (especially discs) - so if the cost is hitting you hard you may want to think about getting a knowledgeable friend and tackling this yourself... parts alone will be less than $400

Blake T

Stop asking around dealers.

Ask around your friends.

Replacing rotars are not a big deal. You can probably look it up online but it's a lot easier doing it when someone who has done it before.

It'll be three, maybe four hundred dollars tops (I think my rotars are fifty dollars each?) for parts and it will take you an afternoon tops.

Buy your friend a nice six pack.

IronKnuckle

Assuming the brake lines, fluid, and master cylinder are all in good shape, certainly consider doing it yourself/having a friend do it as others have suggested. Speaking of, were the lines, fluid, and master cylinder checked?

Spudge

Brakes are an incredibly easy job on those cars. The rotors are held on to the hubs by one philips screw. Pads are simple - vent your brake reservoir, press in the calipers, install new pads

The only thing that would be daunting is replacing the caliper. That requires releasing the brake system and bleeding. You need at least one person who knows what they're doing to do this properly, but it's not as hard as it seems. $300 in parts (give/take) or $880 for a shop?

Darkewolfe

You can usually negotiate, as well, if you're inclined to use this place. Just say it's a little more than you can afford right now and see if you can get the price down a bit.

THEPAIN73

That sounds like a fair price.

Shop around if you must.

matt has a problem

Doing the rotors on my old Honda Passport myself was $400, they were a hundred bucks apiece. Pads for each wheel were around $20. So that's almost $500, and you still need two calipers replaced plus all the labor charges, so $880 is extremely reasonable.

MushroomStick

Since you need a pair of calipers replaced, that's not a bad price. A quick run through the autozone website suggests that the parts alone would be $400 - $500 alone.

Don't get the brake pads that are supposed to last forever, in case you were considering them. They just screw the rotors up faster.

adytum

Spudge wrote: »

Brakes are an incredibly easy job on those cars. The rotors are held on to the hubs by one philips screw. Pads are simple - vent your brake reservoir, press in the calipers, install new pads

The only thing that would be daunting is replacing the caliper. That requires releasing the brake system and bleeding. You need at least one person who knows what they're doing to do this properly, but it's not as hard as it seems. $300 in parts (give/take) or $880 for a shop?

On a '99 car you should be able to open the caliper up with a large flathead screwdriver if you're careful. There is a special tool but that costs money.

It cost me about $300 to replace all the pads and rotors on my old '96 MY car.

$880 is a pretty reasonable quote for all that work, though, as it can take several hours.

aioua

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm taking it down to have them do it. In the future I'll probably do the pads myself, and the rotors again if it lasts that long, but I didn't want to mess with the calipers.

adytum

Aioua wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm taking it down to have them do it. In the future I'll probably do the pads myself, and the rotors again if it lasts that long, but I didn't want to mess with the calipers.

In order to replace the break pads you have to open up the calipers; you don't actually replace the calipers.

If the car is a '99, you'll probably junk the car before you have to replace anything break-related again. :P

Spudge

If they give you the choice, go ceramic brake pads. The Semi-Metallic ones are less expensive, but they can score the rotor and have a greater propensity to squeal

edit to adytum: His rear calipers are shot; have to be replaced

adytum

Spudge wrote: »

If they give you the choice, go ceramic brake pads. The Semi-Metallic ones are less expensive, but they can score the rotor and have a greater propensity to squeal

edit to adytum: His rear calipers are shot; have to be replaced

Ah, reading fail. Yeah, those are a bit more difficult.

BlindZenDriver

A note. Yes working with brakes are easy - if you know what you are doing or are at least familiar with using tools and you will be using a lot of common sense then working on brakes is fine. Otherwise then don't!

When one works on the engine, the exhaust, buffing out a dent and all that then one must be really unlucky to mess up in a way which will put anyone at risk. Brakes, steering and related parts is another matter - mess up bad it can mean injury or death!




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Slightly OT: Oh boy are stuff like this cheap in the US.

Recently I had the front calipers and rotors replaced on my Miata - it came to like $2,000 and I got a discount!

The large majority of the cost was parts so that plus it being freezing cold meant I didn't do it my self.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Tejs wrote: »

Yeah, that sounds ridiculously cheap.

For me, 4 pads are 200, each rotor is 1000, and I don't even know what a caliper would cost me.

Stop buying OEM parts.

http://www.dba.com.au/product-search

Spudge

chrishallett83 wrote: »

Tejs wrote: »

Yeah, that sounds ridiculously cheap.

For me, 4 pads are 200, each rotor is 1000, and I don't even know what a caliper would cost me.

Stop buying OEM parts.

http://www.dba.com.au/product-search

This.

Also RockAuto

aioua

New brakes are in! Oh so smooooooooth. I can't believe I drove it around as long as I did with those brakes.