Just when I thought the mechanic was one of the honest ones.....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

For the longest time, I had been taking my cars to what I THOUGHT was an honest mechanic, routine maintenance stuff, tire replacements, and the like, general car care, and had been going there for at least four years.

On the last trip, to get an oil change, tire rotation and balance, they advised me that my car, a 2007 VW Rabbit, was going to need rear brakes and rotors, the fronts were fine and had plenty of life left

However, the price was noticeably higher than I was expecting, $450 for pads and rotors, I had a little life left on the rear pads, so I decided to think about it, and check with the local VW dealer and a couple independent shops for pricing as well…

It was basically the same at every shop, around $400-450ish

I was griping at work about this, when one of my co-workers, D’argo (names Farscaped to protect the innocent) asked why didn’t I just do it myself? It was easy, and he’d be willing to teach me, it’d be a heck of a lot cheaper as well he used to work at an Audi dealership as a mechanic, and said a basic brake job would take less than a half hour…

So, I went over to Autozone, picked up a pair of rotors, and a set of their top-end “Gold” pads, hardware alone was just under $100, and we did the brake job

Once we got the wheels off, D immediately noted that the original rotors were fine, that I still had friction material on the pads (left side was badly worn to 1mm of material left, almost down to the bare metal, yet there was friction material left), and that the factory rotors were thicker than the replacements anyway, and were perfectly smooth and didn’t need to be turned

Long story short, all it needed was new pads, we installed them, tested them, they grip perfectly fine, and make no noise, no pedal vibration, nothing, they feel just as smooth and secure as factory pads, he did show me what was involved in rotor replacement as well, just another couple bolts and screws, not that hard at all

Total outlay of cash for a DIY pad replacement? $40.00 and about an hour total time

Kinda’ makes me wonder what else my previously “trusted” mechanic has been gouging me on, wanting to bill me for a $450 brake-and-rotor job when all it needed was new pads for $40, looks like its time to start doing some more of my own repairs and maintenance, like oil changes…

So I’m now well on my way to becoming a TRUE petrolhead, learning to do my own brake job, oil changes, and other basic routine maintenance that I should know how to do anyway

2

So? 1mm lining thickness is “replace me now” time. With that little lining left, the heat capacity of the brake is reduced and wear accelerates.

What’s the minimum thickness on the factory rotors?

Seriously, your post ticks me off to no end. You got a quote from your mechanic, other shops came in at the same price, but he’s dishonest because you did a partial job yourself for substantially cheaper?

Oh, by the way, if the left rear pads were worn more than the right, then you still have work to do.

3

Is it possible your mechanic had access to a diagnostic tool you did not that provided the faulty rotor assessment?

4

He got price quotes for the other places. They didn’t do an inspection to see if the work needed to be done in the first place.

5

That price sounds right in the ball park BTW

Translation: you bought the automotive equivalent of a computer part in a white box. Something made in China of dubious quality.

Well now I know why this guy used to be an auto mechanic. Pads are considered to be worn out at 3mm. 1mm is replace pads NOW. If he didn’t tell you this, well all I can say is I hope he fixes computers better than he fixes cars, cause he is a fucking idiot about cars. Did he use a micrometer and measure the thickness of the rotors and compare it to minimum thickness stamped on the rotor? If he didn’t then how does he know the rotor is fine? Also about the factory rotors being thicker than the replacement, either you are way wrong, or it just reinforces my comment about the quality of the parts you purchased. Get a micrometer and do some measuring.

Well except for the part where the shop is going to buy better quality parts that cost more that 40, they are going to replace the rotors which also cost and (how dare they!) make a profit on the parts. Plus they are going to add a little thing called a labor charge you are right back to $450.

Jumping Jesus Christ on a pogo stick, you fix computers for a living right? If I posted here that the hard drive in my Mac book died and the shop wanted $X to repair it, so I went online to Newegg and bought a drive for $50 and installed it myself. This is then proof that the computer shop was ripping me off, you would eat me alive. I mean come on, if I bring you a hard drive, will you install it for free? Why not? Come on sell me inferior parts at cost, and no labor, that’s fair right? :dubious:
Get a clue, buy a vowel if necessary.

6

Some things to keep in mind: [ul]

[li] turning the rotors not only ensures that they are smooth, it removes any warping. If there was 1mm of friction material left – which is essentially none --there is chance that the rotors (and the whole assembly) has been overheating during braking, which can cause warping. Just because the rotors look ok doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be turned.[/li]
[li] a good mechanic will remove and rebuild the calipers. Depending on the car this can be a time-consuming job. Some calipers have multiple pistons or pistons on both side. This is a safety issue: replacing the pads without rebuilding the calipers carries a remote but distinct possibility of future brake failure. Please keep this in mind when doing your own brake jobs in the future.[/li]
[li] because the calipers were rebuilt, a shop is required to bleed the brake system of air. This has the added benefit of changing the fluid in the system, something that is a good idea to do every once in a while anyway. Brake fluid is hygroscopic (well, dot 5 apparently is not), which means after a while the boiling point is lowered. Boiling brake fluid = no brakes. It also can contribute to corrosion, one of the reasons it is vital to rebuild the calipers when doing a brake job.[/li][/ul]
I would be very surprised if your mechanic’s estimate didn’t include all of the above. Money well spent IMO.

7

it’s like the pointy-haired boss in Dilbert. “I just assume that anything I don’t understand is easy.”

8

Exactly. Just like Apple is such a ripoff. Why should pay $1799 for a MacBook with a Retina display when I can buy a Dell for $399?
It’s exactly the same thing.

9

Very rarely done any more as a routine step. Judgment about mileage and a check for piston leakage before and after compression forestalls most caliper rebuilds.

This also eliminates the need to bleed the brakes, although there’s 50/50 opinion that a full flush with new fluid is in order. I think that’s a case where more judgment could be used instead of an automatic $60-100 service, but testing the brake fluid etc. would cost almost as much in time, so I lean towards doing it.

But yes, OP, this is very much a case of pro Apples and novice Oranges in your comparison.

10

Another item that people most often tend to forget to factor in is how much your time is worth. My brother-in-law bills out at $100 per hour for computer programming - he doesn’t have to do much running around picking up parts and stuff before just dropping the car off at the mechanic’s and having someone else do the work is costing him less than doing it himself.

11

Okay then, ignorance fought, since my mechanic didn’t go into detail as to what was involved, I didn’t realize how much labor was involved

That said, the VW OEM rotors were noticeably thicker than the “Duralast” rotors, I did notice that the DL rotors were made in china as well

I look on this brake job as a learning experience and apologize for jumping to conclusions about the mechanic’s estimate

12

Well, of course they’re trying to screw you. What do you think? That’s what they do. They can make up anything. Nobody knows. “By the way, you need a new Johnson rod in there.” “Oh, a Johnson rod. Yeah, well, you better put one of those on.”

13

Uh, no. And frankly, that’s pretty darn insulting.

If I’m being whooshed here then I apologize, but if I’m not, seriously, dude - really? Why in the world would you say something like that?

14

Letters like this one remind me of why I got out of the auto repair industry.

You can do your best every day to treat people the way you yourself would like to be treated, but half the people you meet will assume that you’re a crook.

Of the other half, a significant portion seem to be hoping to discover that their trust in you was misplaced - your apparent honesty was only a ruse to lure them in.

I can see why a scoundrel would subject himself to the abuse, but an honest joe would have to be either a saint or a glutton for punishment.

15

Must we really go through this faux outrage exercise every time someone makes a statement about mechanics and dishonesty? Are you really that surprised?

Lots of mechanics are dishonest. Not all of them, but lots. In my medium-sized city, 3 out of the last 5 mechanics I’ve tried have been blatantly dishonest (put a cheaper oil in my car than I paid for, told me that some spilled fluid was actually a leaking seal, etc.)

Other people who are habitually dishonest: salesmen and lawyers. It simply make the honest ones that much more valuable, once you’ve found them.

16

By this, I mean habitually dishonest as a group.

17

Nice thread shit.
I’m too tired and busy to take this to the pit, but this post is about as [del] low class[/del] no class as it comes.
How about you tell us what do for a living do I can insult you personally and your profession.

ETA: if you or Absolute ever have a car problem don’t bother to post about it cause you can’t trust my answer I’m dishonest and stupid.

18

It’s been a while. but I think YogSosoth was quoting from an old Seinfeld episode.

19

Did I insult you personally? No. I’ve followed your posts on here for years and long admired your contributions to the board and technical knowledge, and I would have no problem trusting your advice, whether over the internet or in person.

That does not change the fact that a large fraction of other members of your profession are not so scrupulous.

I am very happy to have found two honest and otherwise excellent mechanics in my city (one who specializes in domestic cars, the other european cars), and I go out of my way to steer business towards them at every chance I get.

20

Yes, he was.