$952 to fully replace rear brakes sound reasonable?

[KeithTalent]

I think you're crazy for putting that kind of money into a '97 Maxima. Sell it and get another used car.

It's only a grand. If it gets me a few more years out of it, seems ok to me. I really do not feel like getting a new car, seems like a pain in the ass.

KT

 

[Viperoni]

No, it's not fucked up. Braking affects the balance of the car and it is crucial that braking is equal from side to side. No way I'd replace anything related to braking on one wheel only.

If a caliper is fine, there's really no need to replace it just because the other one on the same axle's being replaced.
They're not wear items like struts, or even more sensitive items like pads and rotors.

 

[obamanation]

Maybe the OP should get another inspection and quote elsewhere....?

 

[dawp]

I think you're crazy for putting that kind of money into a '97 Maxima. Sell it and get another used car.

to get a decent used car, you'd have to spend at least double that. and he won't have to have this done again for maybe another 13 years.

if he likes the car, I see no reason to get rid of it.

 

[dawp]

If a caliper is fine, there's really no need to replace it just because the other one on the same axle's being replaced.
They're not wear items like struts, or even more sensitive items like pads and rotors.

my thoughts on this is if one is that bad, the other probably isn't that far behind. do them both and he will not have to worry about the other one, and he has stated he's going to keep the car until it don't run anymore.

 

[StageLeft]

I just plan on keeping it until it falls apart completely. I do not drive that often really, I take my car out maybe once or twice a week and not very far, but I do take small road trips every once in a while (I drove to Seattle last week and am doing so again this Sunday).

If I make this change and can get 2 or 3 more years out of the car, I'll be happy with that. Does that sound reasonable? :hmm:

KT

Out of the brakes, absolutely. Who knows about the rest.

In practice I don't know how one caliper changed impacts things but general best practice is for both calipers to be changed. I am sure virtually every mechanic will say this, too.

If brakes are bad it's absolutely worth fixing on that car. It's not a 93 escort. I think that OEM should NOT be used, though (cost). 2-3 years of not much driving won't really stress out anything.

 

[kevman]

Parts should cost no more then about $180, if we are talking rotors and pads. Labor should be about an hour tops so you shouldn't pay more then $250. if you lived near me I would do it for free, its a real simple job. I beg you not to pay that much for that job.

 

[nwfsnake]

The expensive calipers (loaded with pads) from rockauto are $120 each, the expensive rotors $80 each. You can get good quality stuff for half that, though, also from rockauto. This should be a $500 job.

 

[CupCak3]

for my wife's malibu maxx, the dealer wanted ~$700 to do disks and pads all the way around. I did them for l~$250

 

[SandEagle]

rip off. buy aftermarket parts and let a dealership install it. they charge standard hourly labor and warranty the labor only.

i bought the entire set (f,r) of stillen performance brakes, rotors, and steel braided brakes lines. dealer charged $250 to install all and bleed the brakes. spent less than $900

 

[drnickriviera]

I just plan on keeping it until it falls apart completely. I do not drive that often really, I take my car out maybe once or twice a week and not very far, but I do take small road trips every once in a while (I drove to Seattle last week and am doing so again this Sunday).

If I make this change and can get 2 or 3 more years out of the car, I'll be happy with that. Does that sound reasonable? :hmm:

KT

I though you were in Cali KT???

You shouldn't take like that. As soon as you spend the money on the car, your transmission is going to fall out as soon as you drive out of the shop. If you sell it off, you'll run into the guy you sold it to 10 years later, and he'll tell you it's the best vehicle he's owned

I'd but the parts off the net and give those to the mechanic. He may not warranty the parts, but as long as it works when you drive off, I wouldn't worry with it.

 

[KeithTalent]

Thanks for all of the advice guys, but it's too late to do anything else as I'll be picking my car up in about two hours. I did call two other places and got a rough quote over the phone and one was slightly lower, while the other was higher, but I need my car before Sunday because I'm driving to Seattle, so did not have time to mess around too much.

I really do like my car, it's very comfortable, plus more than anything else I do not want to go through the hassle of getting something else. Of course if it has any other major issues, I'll have to get rid of it.

KT

 

[bruceb]

It might be a bit high, but the OP is in Canada, so expect the old parts to be rusty or salt corroded. And since it is rear brakes, there is likely shoes for the parking brake that may be worn out as well.

 

[alevasseur14]

KT, if anything like this comes up in the future, you should see if your mechanic will let you provide your own parts. By the sounds of it, you could get some pretty good pads from rockauto and just have to pay the guy labor. I feel like most reputable mechanics should be cool with this.

 

[HarryLui]

KT, if anything like this comes up in the future, you should see if your mechanic will let you provide your own parts. By the sounds of it, you could get some pretty good pads from rockauto and just have to pay the guy labor. I feel like most reputable mechanics should be cool with this.

And the work would not be in warranty.

 

[KeithTalent]

KT, if anything like this comes up in the future, you should see if your mechanic will let you provide your own parts. By the sounds of it, you could get some pretty good pads from rockauto and just have to pay the guy labor. I feel like most reputable mechanics should be cool with this.

Seems like good advice, thanks very much. I would have spent a little more time on this if I had it, but with working 16 hour days right now and needing to make that drive on Sunday, I really did not have time to mess around too much.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

And the work would not be in warranty.

That's a good point too. The invoice says the parts are covered for the life and I get a free inspection in 6 months, just to make sure everything is in working order. Sounds good to me.

KT

 

[kornphlake]

When you take it back in 6 mos for the free inspection don't remind them that they'd done the work and don't mention a free inspection, say the car pulls to the right sometimes or that the brakes squeal on foggy days and watch them quote you another $950 to replace everything. Once they've done the work and hand you the bill, you can show them the invoice with today's date and the lifetime warranty bit. Take the keys and walk away, as you'll have gotten even with the shop.

 

[KeithTalent]

When you take it back in 6 mos for the free inspection don't remind them that they'd done the work and don't mention a free inspection, say the car pulls to the right sometimes or that the brakes squeal on foggy days and watch them quote you another $950 to replace everything. Once they've done the work and hand you the bill, you can show them the invoice with today's date and the lifetime warranty bit. Take the keys and walk away, as you'll have gotten even with the shop.

I do not feel any need to get even with anyone, I'm fine with what I paid after the brief amount of research I did and the maount of available time I have. /shrug

KT

 

[alevasseur14]

It's true that it wouldn't be in warranty. I work at a small shop (not a mechanic, though) so I trust the guys not to bullshit me. They even got me the parts at cost to do all four brakes on my truck, even though I took it all home with me over winter break and had a friend do it. They helped me out tons while I still owned that truck. Anything warranty usually only cost me a few pints after work...

I'd be skeptical too if I didn't know I could trust them to be straight with me.

 

[MercenaryYoureFired]

Meh you can justify that price to yourself all you want but that sounds incredibly high. Are you sure you needed new calibers/rotors? Doesn't a 97 Maxima BB for a little more than twice the price you're paying for breaks? I had a 94 Altima that needed breaks and I just went and bought pads for 20 bucks and put them on myself because I knew that it wasn't worth replacing all those parts for a car that old. The breaks worked fine after new pads and the car ended up dying on me about a year later so in my situation it worked out.

 

[Pulsar]

Calipers on a 97 maximum run $80-$200 remanufactured (and I've seen much higher).
Rotors are: $50 a piece
Pads are: $70 a piece.

150 x 2 = $300.
50 x 2 = $100.
70 x 2 = $140.

Total, $540.
Labor will be $50 / hr a an independent (roughly) or $80 / hr at a dealer.

That's 8 hours of labor at an independent (ridiculous) or 4+ at a dealer (closer to reality).

If that's an independent shop, it seems about $200-150 too high, assuming remanufactured parts.

 

[Meghan54]

Calipers on a 97 maximum run $80-$200 remanufactured (and I've seen much higher).
Rotors are: $50 a piece
Pads are: $70 a piece.

150 x 2 = $300.
50 x 2 = $100.
70 x 2 = $140.

Total, $540.
Labor will be $50 / hr a an independent (roughly) or $80 / hr at a dealer.

That's 8 hours of labor at an independent (ridiculous) or 4+ at a dealer (closer to reality).

If that's an independent shop, it seems about $200-150 too high, assuming remanufactured parts.

It seems you're assuming that shops charge labor by actual time spent repairing the vehicle, which is almost wrong in ever instance.

Instead, shops charge by the time quoted in the Motor Labor Guide Manual....below is an example of a copy.

Each part/repair on every vehicle on the road has a time value assigned to it in hours it should take to do the job. And while true most every job can be done much quicker by a competent mechanic than what's quoted in the Motor's manual, shops still charge by the book value, hence the exorbitant labor rates.

For instance, my brother, an ASE cert'd mechanic working in Northern VA, moolights weekends at a Mercedes dealership---think it's a Penske dealership, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, when an MB needs a heater core replacement, the dealership has a single mechanic who does the job. Why? He does so many of them he can complete the repair in under 5 hours....the book quotes something like 12 hours for the repair. But, since the mech does so many, he knows every shortcut to do the job and does it fast, giving a huge profit in labor to the dealership.

And it works that way in every repair job. When you're quoted an amount for labor for any job, the shop looks up the repair in the manual, multiplies their rate ($XX/hr) by the quoted time and charges you that....no matter if they do the job in 1/2 the time, which is typical.


And I'd like to find independent ASE cert'd shops charging $50/hr for labor. Even around here, SE GA, the local shops are already at $75/hr....dealers are even higher.

 

[obamanation]

Out of the brakes, absolutely. Who knows about the rest.

In practice I don't know how one caliper changed impacts things but general best practice is for both calipers to be changed. I am sure virtually every mechanic will say this, too.

That's only true if there are only two brake lines or even one brake line (I don't know if that even exists) coming off the brake booster. But if there is a brake line for each wheel, then no, you won't have to change both calipers. Cars with ABS or at least have the option for ABS have dedicated brake lines per caliper in order for ABS modulation to occur. This isn't the case nor necessary for cars that don't even have the option for ABS.

 

[CraigRT]

Just replaced the calipers, pads, and rotors on my 02 maxima in March.. very easy job, and very worth saving the $.

Yeah, its a common weakness on a Maxima (rear brakes)