Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches Capitol CEG *SIGH* Ok.. so I take my car for inspection.

Alrighty yall. I took my car in for inspection at the garage where my father usually turns his cars in. Well, turns out today that the garage called him this morning and told him that my brakes were shot. The rears were gone, and the fronts were fixing to go. So, he tells them to go ahead and fix them. So, he comes home for lunch and I ask him:

+"Is the car ready yet?"

-"Nope, it won't be ready until this afternoon."

+"They're that busy?"

-"No, they had to replace your brakes.. they said they were all either gone or just about to go."

+ "So.. how much is it going to cost?"

-"$300"

+ "What are they replacing?"

-"Brake pads...and they may turn the rotors.. i'm not exactly sure."

+"$300, how can that cost soo much?"

-"$50/hour labor, $100 parts."

+"Man, shoot, I could have probably upgraded brakes for that cost and done it myself! Have they started on it yet?"

-"Let me call . . . . . yeah, they have 3 brakes done already."



Now, I know my dad was just trying to help, which makes it hard for me to get mad at him, but dad, you've gotta ask about these things.. or at least call me about it! I did the same thing to him once, was driving my old taurus and one of the tires blew out on my way to school across town. So changed to the flat spare and limped to a gas station, filled the spare with air, took the car to a tire dealership, and put 4 new tires on the car since all of the tires were about to go.. according to the sales man... *i was 16 at the time*. So I have them all done, with out calling my dad. So, I get home and show him the bill ($200 I might add). "WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL blah blah blah blah?"

*SIGH*

I'm sorry, I've just gotta get that off my chest.

$300 sounds about right! New rotors, pads front and back, turning the drums and labor!

-Andy

Jeremy,

The worst thing is you probably got standard replacement pads Instead of some premium (low dusting) pads. After painting my rotors the last two weekends I beleive I can change my brakes in about 30-45 minutes easily Very easy car to change brake pads on. That would also include replacing the rotors as well

Scott

Agreed $300 is about right for a shop job, but a DIY job would be much cheaper and you coudl get better components for cheaper!

-Andy

Alrighty, here's an update. My father felt bad for me I suppose and decided to pay for the service. Thanks dad. But about the costs and such, I agree completely! Just got my car a moment ago.

Here's what they did:

New pads all around.
Refinished the fronts and back (but I can't see where they refinished the backs).

Now my brake pedal feels squishy.. not solid like before.. but now the ebrake feels solid.

OH yeah, HOW could I forget? they laid one of my new 18s on the face!! So, now it has scratches on all 6 spokes of the nicely painted silver rims. I mean, common, quality quality quality! I can tell they got smart because it was only one rim, but still.. We pointed it out to them and they said, well, you'll have to bring it back tomorrow. I know it was probably a mistake, but it's an expensive mistake, and I don't think I should be the one to pay for it. So, needless to say, either it'll get fixed, or a new rim is in order.. 18" spare... hrm..

What a day

that is some bad luck, sorry man

Yeah.

Well, here's the other thing now, I'm looking at my rear rotors... and they don't look refinished at all! They look the same as when we took it in.

pics:

FRONT (Obviously refinished)

REAR (Looks the same as before, notice the rust still rounded around the edge of the caliper near the vents...if they were grinding, shouldn't that 'edge' of rust be gone like on the front one?!)


Ok, maybe they forgot.. yet again another expensive mistake $40. Not only that.. ok, when I decided to take the pictures, I noticed this problem too. When they were taking the center caps off..:




Should I be mad or just demand more rims? Or both? I think next time I'll through the stock 15"ers on next time I take it anywhere.

dude, i would definantly demand a new rim (if only one was damaged) do u have pics before of them not scraped?
i guess that would be hard to prove but u cant let em get away with that
.....good luck


-e-

Jeremy,
The fronts are replacement!! That obvious the rears just look like they were turned and the inner and outer edge don't matter to much because the pads doesn't touch it. Now the rim, you have every right to demand it be fixed!

-Andy