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Depends Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Thu, 22 Apr 2004 06:08:17
In Reply to: Are brakes just brakes ?, 92 900S, Wed, 21 Apr 2004 07:45:40 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
I would REALLY want to know what is involved with 'replacing the rear brakes.' I'm always shocked by $500 or $1000 brake jobs.
Normal service for brakes is to replace the pads. A set of rear pads runs about $35-$40, and labor should be on the order of an hour. It should be less, but shops never seem to charge less than an hours. I know I can do it myself in about 45 minutes, and that includes finding all my tools and washing up afterwards.
However, most shops don't stop there - they'll also turn (grind down to flat) the rotors. This usually isn't required unless the rotors are badly scored (usually from running the pads down to the rivets) or badly warped (noticeable if you feel severe vibration hitting the brakes). Now, if the rotors are too thin, they can't be turned, so a new set of rotors are needed.
To me, 'replacing the brakes' means replacing the calipers. This would be required if they were rusted up and binding. Figure about $80 bucks each, half-hour of labor, and another $65 for a fluid flush and bleed.
Even that gets nowhere near the $500-1000, but hey, that's the magic of it all.
If your brake pads are worn and need replacement, and ALL the shop is doing is replacing the pads, it should be a $100 task. As to brake pads themselves, there is a wide variety out there. Saab pads are decent; for a set of rears, I wouldn't worry too much about aftermarket pads from an autoparts store.
If the shop is quoting for more than just a pad replacement, get very worried very quickly. Not about the brakes, but about the shop. In my 25 years of driving Saabs, I've had to replace exactly 2 calipers, and turned rotors exactly once. And that's for cars running well up over 150K miles regularly. To do that, I've done brake pad replacement before the pads wear to the metal, and I flush the brake fluid every 2 years (OK, more like 3).
The issue with brakes is that they wear slowly, and you don't notice the gradual loss of braking over months. And since rear brakes do very little of the braking, you could have them not working entirely and probably not know it. However, shops are businesses, and many 'free' or cheap services, like 'free brake inspection' or 'free snow tire changeover' are excuses to get under the car and look around for work. This is good, because most of the population never check their brakes, or much else, for that matter. However, Don't let nothing more than a worn set of rear brake pads become a big cost center.
Your best investment would be to get the Haynes or Bentley manual, and learn to do brakes yourself. Yes, brakes are a very critical system, but they are also surprisingly easy to do the simple stuff like changing pads. It is definately a DIY task. Yes, you'll need to 'tool up' a little - jack stands at minimum; you can grow into a floor jack. But for the cost of just a pad replacement at a shop ($100) you can get a great manual and jack stands, and still pick up the pads. The great thing about doing it yourself is that you get to know the underside of the car, to notice things going wrong before they get too wrong. You may still want to have a shop do the more serious work - no shame in that - but you'll be an informed consumer.
My brother took his Subaru in for brakes, and came out $1200 poorer. I still can't figure out what they did - for $1200, he should have gotten new pads, rotors, calipers, and the better part of a Master Cylinder. And three days in a nice B&B upstate. Calipers should last the life of the car - I can see one going occasionally in the life of a car-things do break, but not all four, not unless he was using Coca-cola for brake fluid.
posted by 192.249....
, Thu, 22 Apr 2004 06:08:17 <-- Viewing This Message
, Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:14:49
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