Dealer quoted $180 for front brake pad replacement
- Thread starter jlseed
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STAYGOLD
Banned
i'd go to an independent for something like that. good pads/oem probably around $40, turning rotors around $20 a piece, half hour of labor around $40. lots of places advertise brake pad specials for around $60 installed (like sears etc.). just have the rotors turned in addition and escape for around $100.
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In my humble opinion (as 25 year of SAE member) and work experience with more than 20+ 4runner from 1st to 4th gen, it takes an good hour just to replace the pads from both side - needless to mention resurface the disc. Sometime I encounted the lugnuts frozen to the hubs.
I just replaced the front pad for my friend 2006 4runner. OEM Toyota pads is $84 +tax with discount. What about brake cleaner cost??? flush out the front caliners ???
You can get cheap aftermarket pads but it wont meet the required spec - including brake distance/heat/dust/noise/durability.
jlseed - if you are still on the 1st OEM pad, you are doing verywell. Stay with OEM Toyota pad or I recommend akebono brand.
I told my friend that if he/she wants to save money - then quit smoking and stop drinking.
$180 part and labor is A FAIR deal. Just make sure that the torque by hand with required spec!
I just replaced the front pad for my friend 2006 4runner. OEM Toyota pads is $84 +tax with discount. What about brake cleaner cost??? flush out the front caliners ???
You can get cheap aftermarket pads but it wont meet the required spec - including brake distance/heat/dust/noise/durability.
jlseed - if you are still on the 1st OEM pad, you are doing verywell. Stay with OEM Toyota pad or I recommend akebono brand.
I told my friend that if he/she wants to save money - then quit smoking and stop drinking.
$180 part and labor is A FAIR deal. Just make sure that the torque by hand with required spec!
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superman3043
Senior Member
Yeah, sounds about right for a dealership price.
Like they mentioned, you could get it done a little cheaper at another shop. Wouldn't hurt to call around for quotes and use them to bargain with the dealer if you'd rather have the work done there. I do it all the time. They should work with you.
Pads are a piece of cake, but you're at the mercy of somebody with the proper equipment when it comes to re-surfacing/turning. You might want to price the whole shebang (rotors and pads) and do the install yourself. You always come out better when you do the work yourself and for $180, you could get quality parts.
Like they mentioned, you could get it done a little cheaper at another shop. Wouldn't hurt to call around for quotes and use them to bargain with the dealer if you'd rather have the work done there. I do it all the time. They should work with you.
Pads are a piece of cake, but you're at the mercy of somebody with the proper equipment when it comes to re-surfacing/turning. You might want to price the whole shebang (rotors and pads) and do the install yourself. You always come out better when you do the work yourself and for $180, you could get quality parts.
Sounds like a fair dealer price, 80 for pads, 100 for a hour of labor. That said you go brand new rotors and pads for the same cost and choose the pad you need (cermaic, semi metalic, etc) for the type of driving you do.
FYI the acura dealer offered to turn my wife TL-Type S rotor for $140. I laughed over the phone and said no thank you I'll buy new rotors for less and install them myself.
FYI the acura dealer offered to turn my wife TL-Type S rotor for $140. I laughed over the phone and said no thank you I'll buy new rotors for less and install them myself.
While the dealer prices are very high...places like Sears are just crooks. Do NOT go to any of the chain repair places. Find a good independent. Far cheaper and less likely to be crooks. Sears is at or near the top of the list of auto repair centers to stay away from. On two separate occasions Sears had class action lawsuits against them for basically cheating their customers. Both times they lost to the tune of MILLIONS.
Auto repair chains (Sears, Midas, Pep Boys...) the mechanic works on commission. This is how it works...
For every dollar in parts/service the mechanic recommends and the customer buys...the mechanic will receive a portion (usually around 30%) of that money. There's a minimum threshold they must meet to start receiving that commission (usually around $1,000/mo). So it's in their best interest to push any/all services or repairs....doesn't matter if the repairs are warranted or not. And all too often the repairs are NOT warranted (thus the class-action lawsuits).
It is a decent price. Not good or bad.
The dealership will use factory pads which will last (you got 68k miles on yours) and will not squeal or make any other noises. A 40.00 set of brakes pads will not be a good pad, you will have issues. A good set of pads, factory, wagner thermo quiets, etc... will run 60-75.00. And they are worth it.
At the end of the day you can shop it and save 30-40 bucks but it's not worth the aggrivation or trouble to get it fixed when they make noise. Try and see if they will offer any coupon or discount and if they do be prepared to do it.
superman3043
Senior Member
I'm not well versed on the history or class action suits but I can share my experience on these "chain" shops. I recently had an alignment done at a Sears Auto Center because, after going to a few shops locally, they were the only ones with the proper equipment to align my wheels without damaging them. I felt like I got a fair shake from them and wouldn't hesitate to take my vehicle to them again. As a matter of fact, I'll probably be going to them for coolant flush. There prices were right in line with everyone else (cheaper if you go online and look for coupons), they had the proper equipment, and they got me in and out quickly. So like with anything YMMV.
I've also done business with a Meineke (or one of those type of chains) in the past and feel indifferent about them. Could take it or leave it. Nothing fishy, yet nothing spectacular.
I find tire chain stores (particularly Discount Tire) to be unbeatable and they've got a customer for life in me.
I've always done my work through a dealership on my 4Runner until this year, when I'd had enough of the local Stealership. You can read my rant in the "Dealers - Your Experience" section if interested.
Anyway, the point is, don't necessarily right them off based on others' experience. You may have a good experience like myself.
Oh, and like somebody mentioned. You almost always get quality parts with OE and most dealerships know what they're doing. So that piece of mind could be worth something to some. It was to me until I had to deal with these jack-wagons.
Decent price for a pad slap, but there is little chance you are getting out of there with just that. Expect the call that your calipers are frozen an the $180 job turns into $1000. BTW, don't expect to be just $180. It will probably be closer to $220 when they add in the the shop fee, environmental fee, etc.
toybox
New member
I just bought Wagner ThermoQuiets for $29 from Amazon. Had them on the truck and all torqued up right in a half hour. The 4runner has the easiest pads to change out, (not that any discs are hard) you dont even have to mess with the caliper at all, clips are the only thing that hold them in.
I tend to agree with you on most of that. I've never been a big fan of dealerships or the "chain" shops beyond the warranty expiration. I have to say though, my experience with this dealership has been really good, so far. Maybe because it's a small town dealership, I don't know.
Anyway, I think I'll let them do the work for the peace of mind, knowing that it will be done right. I may however, try to negotiate the price down a little bit, if I can.
Anyway, I think I'll let them do the work for the peace of mind, knowing that it will be done right. I may however, try to negotiate the price down a little bit, if I can.
STAYGOLD
Banned
pretty cynical. writing off every store from a company that has been around since 1886? its brake pads, not rocket science. i wouldn't go there either but thats because i do my own repairs. for the average consumer, places likes this are fine for a set of brake pads or the like.
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I tend to agree with you on most of that. I've never been a big fan of dealerships or the "chain" shops beyond the warranty expiration. I have to say though, my experience with this dealership has been really good, so far. Maybe because it's a small town dealership, I don't know.
Anyway, I think I'll let them do the work for the peace of mind, knowing that it will be done right. I may however, try to negotiate the price down a little bit, if I can.
Thats a dang good price on quality pad. Around here they run 55-69 bucks depending on the store.
Yea. They probably won't budge on that price. The cost of accessing all their equipment will be barley covered. If you consider the "warranty" cost, that can't really go cheaper.
Also. Changing pads is just about the simplest car job you can do. Why not tackle it yourself?
Also, unless you have some warping of the rotors, you don't need to turn it. Honestly. Drive on those pads for about a week and they will mate perfectly with the rotors. You really want to turn your rotors if you notice odd wear on the pads, or odd braking behavior. If your braking is fine, smooth and it is just the pads that need replaced.... I wouldn't worry about it.
Also. Changing pads is just about the simplest car job you can do. Why not tackle it yourself?
Also, unless you have some warping of the rotors, you don't need to turn it. Honestly. Drive on those pads for about a week and they will mate perfectly with the rotors. You really want to turn your rotors if you notice odd wear on the pads, or odd braking behavior. If your braking is fine, smooth and it is just the pads that need replaced.... I wouldn't worry about it.
The problem is they PUSH for unneeded repairs. When you have a mechanic who can get a 30-40% increase in their pay just by getting the customer to pay for some bogus service.
Show me the national chain that DOESN'T push things like Fuel Injector servicing or other such bogus services.
Here's one of my examples from NTB (National Tire and Battery - 40% owned by Sears).
Back in 2001 I took my then 98 Pathfinder (130k miles) for an alignment (they were running a special). Says they couldn't do the alignment because I needed new ball joints (at a cost of over $1000). Took my keys and left. I checked the ball joints and from what I could tell they were fine. Took it to a trusted garage (small shop that doesn't do alignments) and he couldn't find one problem with balljoints. Gave truck to daughter who needed it for college in 05 with over 270k miles. She gave it to her ex-boyfriend when she started graduate school at Harvard and no longer needed it. The truck then had over 350k miles....AND THE BALL JOINTS WERE STILL FINE.
As for Discount tire places. The local tire shop I go to..their prices are equal to or lower then any of the national chains. He belongs to a buying group. Basically about 20 tire dealers in the area got together and created their own mini warehouse. This gives them the buying power of the big boys. And the nice thing about this place...is they don't have high-school drop-outs doing the tires. The place is run by the owner and his son and they have 2-3 other guys working for them who've been with them for years. When the place gets busy you'll see the owner and son doing the work themselves. Go to the discount tire place and ask the manager with an associates degree in Business what a ball joint is. 90% of them have ZERO mechanical experience or knowledge. And now the big push by these discount tire companies is Nitrogen....GIVE ME A BREAK. Air is already 75% Nitrogen. Pure nitrogen has been shown to give marginal difference on the race track....but there is no way it'll make a difference in your every day driver.
toybox
New member
CrazyCowPie
New member
Just had mine front brake done at Longo Toyota..$120
superman3043
Senior Member
Well we appreciate that you would share a bad experience and it sucks that you had that bad experience. I'm just saying that for every bad experience there is probably several good ones. Otherwise companies couldn't stay in business. I'm sure there are people that love this local dealership that I think is pure slime. Sears did not try to up-sell me on anything and even if they did, I'm really quick to tell a guy "no thanks", but that slime dealership sure tries to up-sell customers at the drop of a hat. One of the reasons they've lost my business.
It's also cool that you get a good deal from your mom & pops tire store. I'm all for supporting local businesses and those people will always treat you right, but unfortunately, mine don't have the "buying power" that the big boys do. In this world of competitive business, consumers having all the research tools at their fingertips, and with people being more careful about were they spend their hard earned money, the mom & pops are just at a gross disadvantage and it's dog eat dog out there.
I've never had a problem with these high school kids lack of knowledge when it comes to tires. It's tires, they aren't building race engines. As a consumer, I'm pretty easy to please. All I ask for is a fair value, professionalism, common courtesy and respect as a paying customer. Provide me that, and I'm happy.
As far as nitrogen fills go. Yeah, from my understanding the science behind it is that the inert nature of pure nitrogen is less destructive on rubber compounds of the tire than oxygen which extend tire life. Also I've been told that the larger molecules will seep less causing the tires to stay inflated longer. Now whether or not I buy this, well the jury is out since I've never had a Nitro fill. If it's an up-charge over regular air, then I'll pass. If it's no charge, then give me the good stuff.
Actually that's not true. And it hasn't been true in this world economy for over 70 years. There's a great book about it written by three of the top economics. My daughter took a math class from one at MIT.
70+ years ago most people could perform most work on their homes or cars. Today it's less then 5%. So many people are getting shafted by mechanics and not even knowing it. And the big chains know how to manipulate their customers into thinking they are getting the greatest deal ever.
Here's a very recent example. JC Penny has changed their strategy on how they sell things at their stores. They no longer run sales...instead they lowered their prices and kept it there all the time. Their everyday prices are now LOWER then their sale prices ever were. JC Penny was spending MILLIONS in advertising every year promoting their sales. Same products....but lower prices (same profit per item or better then before)...And the number of items sold have been dropping 10-20% every quarter.
In conclusion...consumers in general are "stupid". And businesses no this. If Sears and companies like Jiffy Lube were so on the up-and-up..then they wouldn't have been sued and LOST now would they.
