I really hate chain garages

[FriboRage]

So, today I replaced a belt on my gf's car (ps, wp, alt), so I took it for a test drive to make sure everything was working right, first intersection after her house is down hill, and so I tried to brake and my foot almost went to the floor before any stopping happened, almost went right into the intersection, my gp's brakes are so sensitive I wasnt ready for it... so anyways I mentioned to her mom it needed brakes.

I went to work (I work at Advance) and priced brakes soon as I got there, planning to buy them and do it next weekend. About 100 bucks. A few hours later my gf texts me all angry, her mom took it to Jack Williams for a brake job and they charged her over 400 dollars!

400 dollars for a brake job? Am I overreacting or am I right to be pissed off about that, especially when I just priced out all the parts for about 100 dollars...

And they didnt even do it right, the pedal goes farther to the floor than it did with the old brakes and there's even less braking than before, so wtf. Im guessing maybe they didnt bleed the lines maybe..

It coulda been a 100 dollar job done right the first time, or a 400 dollar job all screwed up and having to go back a second time. I dont know why her mom went there when it's not nearly the first time I bought parts for that car, or the first time I did work on it?

So that's what am angry about tonight, hope you enjoyed it

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

Be glad YOU didn't have to pay for it

[FriboRage]

Well my girlfriend has to pay for it, and she doesnt exactly have the money to be throwing away like that now...

She only wouldve had to pay 100 if I did it vs the 400 the garage charged

I understand that Im not charging her labor but roughly 300 dollars for labor at the garage for pads and rotors?

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

Why did her MOM take her car in the first place?

A real man hides the keys from the GF's mom.

[FriboRage]

Well I worked on the car in the morning while the gf was at work, made an offhand comment about brakes sucking... then I went to work myself when I was done...

And in between me going to work and my gf getting home from work was when this mischief occurred, lol.

Guess I shouldnt have left the keys in her bedroom...

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

That sucks. I guess all you can do now is milk the shop for what it's worth and COMPLAIN and LOUDLY, ask for a discount off services rendered for sending the car back out more unsafe than before.

[ctracer]

i remember i went to maine with my buddies for a week in mid summer. now a night before they picked me up my alternator went. i just figured i was gonna replace it when i get back, take a half hour whatever. well, i get back, and my mom had it taken to the shop, and they charged her 526 dollars for an alternator replacement...

but aside from that, you probably can complain because its not even braking as good as before.

[twol8uluz]

Yeah, shops tend to charge almost double for the same parts you can get from the same place, then of course the butt raping for labor, when it seems most of the time they hang around and take their time. I know many mechanics that says "the book" says 3hrs labor, but they've done it a thousand times so It only takes them an hr and a half.....but they'll still charge you the 3 hrs. That's how they make they're money! Cuz the other half of "your" time they're already working on someone elses car. And so on and so on. They're in the business to make money, and unless you know someone who can do it on the side for alot cheaper or do it yourself.....your gonna take it in the butt!

[BillBoost37]

Shops have overhead and salary costs. I'm not suggesting that $400 for brakes is reasonable, merely saying.. it's going to cost to have someone else do it.

On that pedal going almost to the floor and being worse after. You sure there's not a bad brake line?

[FriboRage]

Well they called her parents back and they "believe" it's a bad master cylinder that's causing the excessive pedal travel

They want another 400 for that...

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

Lol...

[matt5112]

Price out two calipers, pads, rotors, 20-40% markup from cost on those parts then add in 1.6 for the pad/rotor change plus 1-2 for the caliper replacement.

Mitchell time manual if you want to be picky.

I'm willing to bet its over $400.

As for the terrible brakes, its possible they explained the "solution" could cost more and the customer ( GF's mother) said no just the bare minimum.

MOAR DETAILS PLZ.

Because without them, this story is about as useless as a GP in the autocross...

[01gpgt01]

150-200 per axle isnt uncommon

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

Shoulda gone to Just Brakes

[FriboRage]

Well they didnt do calipers, just pads and rotors on the front, and shoes in the rear, didnt replace the drums.

And what they said was that the brake pedal feels "squishy and shakey" which I know is a symptom of a master cylinder.. so Im not saying they're wrong about that...

Also, when I started this I didnt mean it to be 100% on the garage, I was also like wtf why didnt you just let me get the parts and do it, lol.

But yeah I just think 400 for pads and rotors and shoes, then like 485 for a master cylinder is just nuts. Especially with how I said I could've gotten the parts for near 100 on the pads and rotors, shoes are only like 30, and I priced a cylinder just now for 80-90

[Tuner-Extraordinaire]

Hey, running a shop costs money.

[matt5112]

Again, look at the mitchell time manual, and you're getting cost because you're an employee (if you're not, you're doing it wrong).

So add a fair markup back onto those parts.

[FriboRage]

The prices that I got myself were before my discount, after my discount it'd be 20% off the prices I mentioned earlier... that's the regular joe customer price.

And I dont know where these guys get their parts from but I know we give commercial accounts a fairly steep discount as well, and most of them are tax-free

I guess also part of what ticks me off is that I know of a few smaller, privately owned garages that I feel would've done better work for cheaper, vs the big successful chain garage

[BillBoost37]

Shops use the retail column on the invoice. Right.. they figure the discount into their profit/overhead coverage.

Next time, you may want to tell a person that you want to do brakes to the car later that week to save them money. That way the person or mom in this case doesn't think there's an issue and that she needs to get on it for her daughters safety.

[tms8582]

I would lot let her drive the car if the pedal is soft. I'm surprised the shop let her mom drive it away like that... I'd guess either a bad line, not bled, low on brake fluid or bad master cylinder. Like others mentioned $300-500 is the going rate for brakes all the way around depending on what parts are needed. I always install the bigger premium ceramic pads. It seems like a lot less pedal pressure is needed to stop with the larger surface area of premium pads. The cheap economy pads take a lot more pedal pressure to stop.