tunedup

Set front Pads - $$55.50
Set Rear Brake Pads - $ 75.99
Machine rear rotors and replace pads $ 55.50
Fuel Filter - $20.00
replace fuel filter - $18.00
Repair Cooolant Leak - $36.00


Tell me what you think of the prices

MY car was having problems starting
some of you suggessted that i get my fuel filter changed...
so i will keep you posted on that one..

plrod Black 95 SE

Now I know what I've been missing by not having my car dealer serviced. Feels pretty good in my wallet. I recently did: Front pads, $18; Rear pads $15; machined rotors $ 5.00 each.

Hey Daniel, do you machine rotors everytime you replace pads?

shumax

Jesus! You must make a ton of cash to pay people $18 to replace a fuel filter that takes 10min. to do! WOW! Not to mention that 55 for front pads is a RIP OFF! 'GOT RICE' sold me some GREAT pads for 30 and they are MILES better than the crappy stock pads!

At least its done though....I guess.

SHUMAX

UMD_MaxSE

iTrader: (1)

The charges for the brakes seem a bit steep...other than that.I guess it sounds reasonable..

tunedup

i need one of those service manuals reallly bad.... damnit

Kenneth

iTrader: (8)

that's cheap!

Sarah99GXE

Well since you are not doing the work yourself the prices seem reasonable. Actually what I do is buy all the parts separately (you will get them cheaper usually than what the mechanic will charge you) and take them into my mechanic for him to replace. This way all he charges you for is labor.

CFster

tunedup:

Actually that's about right for retail work, considering most shops are over $45/hr labor and 20% mark-up on parts.

Sarah91se:

That's great if you have a good relationship with your mechanic and he wants to do you a favor. Most shops wont do it though since they're losing that income from the parts mark-up.

Trust me, from someone who runs a shop - it is now hideously expensive to stay up to date as far as diagnostic equipment and the EPA is concerned.

black96se

I think you forgot to mention those prices are in Canadian dollars. Unless you pay your mechanic with US dollars here in Toronto.

tunedup

so ppl on this board can understand ...
thnx for your CONCERN.

AntGVR4

I did all this one month ago when i bought my car.. luckily i have access to a lift and all the tools i need ..lucky me

i paid
rear pads $35 (OEM nissan)
cut rear rotors $8 per rotor to be cut
install pads..took me 15 min
fuel filter $12 OEM nissan took me 30 min ..but a mechanic will do it in 5 min ..

So you paid a bit much for the pads but thas it..

Ant

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

ok go ahead and replace the fuel filter and let me know how much time it takes you. i can do it on a VG in 5 min...have u seen where the VQ fuel filter is located? if it takes u 10 min then i want to see how do u do it?? because i can barely fit my hands in there. the fuel filter itself is approx 12-13 bucks.
Dan

shumax

Ok..I have done it twice, each time in about 10min. Its not tough to do from the top of the engine. However, I do know a lot of folks here have had a hard time with it so I am confused...maybe I got lucky BOTH times. Drive your car down here and I can do it for ya! I got the part from Pep Boys for 9.99

SHUMAX

Eric L.

I guess prices vary depending on which part of the country you live in. I take my car to a mechanic in San Francisco, and compared with other SF mechanics, this guy charges very reasonable prices. But SF in general seems more expensive than the other prices I've seen.

And for a four wheel brake job, OEM pads and shims, flush brake fluid, turn rotors, it cost $250. Kinda expensive, but worth it in my head since I trust this guy and it's better than what the dealers here wanted ($350 with turned rotors, $200 without). But he charges way less for other repairs...the dealer wanted $330 for the 30k service, my mechanic charged $160, and did like twice as much work.

CFster

yo_its_ok:

It's not necessary to cut the rotors every time you change pads. If there are no deep grooves or lateral runout (pulsation) then its not needed.

As a matter of fact, a lot of automakers are specifying that in their repair procedures. If it's still in spec, DON'T machine it. At least that's what GM tells us at our shop. This is a change from just a few years ago, since they realized it just isn't necessary.

Ever see the 24hrs of Daytona or LeMans? They change pads every couple of pit stops (without changing or turning the rotors) and they experience no loss of braking performance.

Eric L.

Actually, after checking around in San Francisco on shop rates, the average rate is $60-75/hr for general repairs, and the specialty shops (the ones that repair only BMWs, VW, Toyotas, etc...) charge like $75-90/hr for labor.

CFster

"#1 Are you ASE certified ? "

Well, you got me there. No I'm not ASE certified and never had a need to be. It's not the end all and be all of auto tech existance and I've had plenty of screwed up jobs by ASE techs anyway. While its a good thing to have, they're not all perfect. Especially the ones who have just come out of tech school. I've got practical experience (14 years) and am a supervisor at a 7 bay shop at an auto auction. I have several ASE techs under me. We see over 150,000 cars go through a year our auction a year. I probably see 90+ brake jobs alone go through my shop a week. My job is more on the administrative end these days. We deal with the automakers directly as we have accounts with most of the big lease companies and GM directly. We have guidelines that THEY tell us to conform to.

"#2 Some of GM rotors are "composite" and will vibrate like crazy, in otherwords...UNCUTTABLE."

If they're still in spec sometimes you can cut them using the right composite adapter and silencer band. We don't have much of a problem. Every hear of a three jawed hubless chuck?

By the way, why do they even make lateral runout gauges? If every rotor needs to be cut, why bother checking?

I see from your profile that you work at a retail shop. A retail shop's job is to sell work. In my experience, sometimes work that's not necessary. I'm under no such obligation. We do what's necessary to fix the car properly and that's it.

By the way, we also have a fleet of over 100 company vehicles (cars, trucks, buses, wreckers etc.) that we are responsible for maintaining. Unlike the typical retail shop, we can see the long term effects of our repairs on our own vehicles.

I don't want to have a war with you, but I'm not going to except the word of someone as gospel just because he has a certification. Especially someone who's telling everyone to waste their money needlessly. I'm going by practical experience.

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

the fuel filters pep boys carry suck. i had a few break their seal and leak gas. the plastic part just doesn't seal correctly. the 12-13 dollar deal is either a Bosch one..(all metal construction) or if u want to pay more the OEM one..which is the one i use.
well i go from the top of the engine..but i can't reach the bottom hose to pull that off the metal filter. maybe i'm missing something here. but i only do it when the car is cold. do u heat it up or something??
Dan

CFster

Hey, what was that about ? I just made a comment about cutting rotors and now you labeling me as someone who "sells" myself short ? Waste Money Needlessly? How so ? I don't say buy it or else, I have a passion for cars, i'm wondering if you do too, and if you knew me you wouldn't say that S*** to me....
CFSter...don't get me wrong, you aren't even an Inspector yet you have ASE techs underneathe you ? Interesting. As for your blabbering about GM's Guidelines...sounds like utter bull to me to save time and overhead. That lateral guage is to be used when diagnosing a problem, not when you "need" brakes, thats why they are in existance. Like you said ...if every rotor needed to be cut..why ? I answered your question...don't think that its all repair and no diagnosing problems.
Retail shop, yes we are, but we don't "sell" anything to customers. We are asked by the customers about their cars, we diagnose the problem and we fix it, only with the authority of the customer; yes if a problem arises we do consult the customer, but never do we say "You need it done." Never do I stoop so low as to "sell" my pride off to someone by trying to rip him or her off. I have no such obligation as well. I just do what has to be done to the customers "satisfactory" standards as well as my own. Fleet of 100 vehicles ? Long Term Effects of your repairs ? The point of that would be ?
EVERYONE'S DRIVING HABITS ARE DIFFERENT...So it can be very inconsistent unless everyone of the cars in your fleet is beaten on a daily basis.(Doubtful.)
I don't know where you are coming from with your last comments, but understand one thing, I don't want a war, but the comments you made personally about me without knowing me or how my business is run and telling me GOSPEL ??? You gotta be kidding me...Get your head out of your ***.

-Peace [/QUOTE]

1. What's an "Inspector"? Is that ASE lingo? There are people in this world that know something about brakes that aren't ASE certified. As for my mechanics having certification, they had that before they came to work for me - it was never a prerequisite to work here. I have the postition I have because I have 14 years experience with the company and have moved into more of a supervisory position - several of my techs are better mechanics that I am (I'm sure).
2. "As brake jobs go, whenever you change pads, ALWAYS have the Rotors Cut" That is absolutely not true, and you know it!
3. I offered my opinion on the above (this is a forum), and YOU felt it necessary to question my credentials instead of providing evidence to the contrary.
4. I make no observations about your abilities as a tech - I'm sure you know what you're doing. I made observations about most retail shops I have delt with - if they can make an extra $25 by cutting the rotors then they're going to do it. Unfortunately its shops like those that give mechanics a bad name. If I offended you, I'm sorry.
5. Our fleet of vehicles does experience very different driving styles. We have vehicles that just go down the highway, we have vehicles that just run around our yard. We have everything from shuttle buses to Corvettes. Some vehicles we turn over in a matter of months, others we'll keep for years. I can tell you that I've replaced pads on numerous vehicles several times with no ill effects. No detriment to braking performance or noise noticed by me or the drivers. It just plain keeps cost down as well. If there is a problem with the rotor (out of spec, warped or gouged) then of course I will machine or replace it - I don't let people drive around on dangerous rotors.
6. I too have a passion for cars, so I'll keep visiting this message board. I have no desire to draw this out, so this will be my last post on this thread. Again, my intent wasn't to "label you as someone sells himself short" and I truly am sorry if you took it that way and was offended.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Well, I just have to comment here. Very interesting thread. Good points on both sides. My brother is an electrical engineer and the other is a mechanical engineer. They both are passionate about cars(one still owns a 67 Mustang 289 fastback) Both have worked and rebuilt many engines and have worked on various cars for over 30 years. They both prefer not to get their rotors shaved as long as they are not warped and the grooves are not severe. They would rather put up w/ waiting for the pad to conform to the very slight grooves than to have a rotor w/ less amount of meat for heat absorption. I on the other hand just get them cut but every place I have seen cuts them WAY too much. Just a std amount vs just cutting the min amount to get them straight and get the grooves out. That irkes me to no end. So it's up to you I guess.

As far as being ASE certification, well an ASE certified tech TRIED to fix my VTC assemblies and apparently could not follow their own tech service bulletin or even check their own records to see if the vtcs have been rebuilt once already (rebuilding these more than once is a no-no). So what happened?? Well, they didn't clean the oil gallies, so the assemblies starved for oil and failed again 10k later. They didn't honor their own repair warranty and told me to screw myself. This I did the work MYSELF(see sig) and the VTCs have performed flawlessly for over 40k. So just becuase you are ase certified doesn't automatically make you the greatest mechanic IMHO.

shumax

Hmmm...the one I have in my hand is a BOSCH. I got it from PepBoys and have done two of them now without any problems at all! Not sure what to think about the one you are talking about?!!?
I don't use heat near a gas line to get it loose...you crazy? I just twist and pull like a mad man and eventually it comes loose. I did get a SMALL pair of pliars down there to help, but my fingers worked better in the end!

Drive er' down and I'll show ya what I am talking about and you can show me how to change my belts without rounding off the bolt on the tensioner pulley!

SHUMAX