is $50 plus parts fair for a brake job?

[alkemyst]

$50 for brakes sounds a little low. If I were doing both axles on a regular passenger car I'd ask at least $100, assuming I worked for cash.

I've done work on friends' cars in the past. The deal they got was that they had to buy any tools required that I didn't have, said purchased tools would become mine after the work was done, and they had to buy me lunch/dinner. I got a nice set of Torx bits and a c-clamp.

I don't know if I'd want anyone touching my cars that didn't have even a c-clamp or torx bits already.

Sort of scary sounding.

 

[StageLeft]

DIY How To: Rear mk5 brake pad and rotor replacement, from VWVortex:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4234178

Looks like kind of a pain in the ass but I only briefly looked at them. Basically the older the car and the more bolts/screws to replace the pain in ass factor magnifies very quickly. When I think of that guy recommending needle nose pliers on something that spends time close to the road I just picture in my head a big pain in the ass as something is seized and you cannot get enough torque into it with needle nose. Maybe it's not so bad, though 🙂

 

[franksta]

I don't know if I'd want anyone touching my cars that didn't have even a c-clamp or torx bits already.

Sort of scary sounding.

Because my ownership of tools and my knowledge of car repair are directly proportional?

I needed the c-clamp to do disk brakes since my car at the time had drums. My car also predates Torx fasteners, I think. It definitely doesn't have any.
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/franksta/1957beetledeluxe.jpg

 

[T2urtle]

DIY How To: Rear mk5 brake pad and rotor replacement, from VWVortex:

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4234178

yea. that isn't an issue for me in terms of tools or know how... I rather do fronts as they almost never give me issues.

Well here is the thing tho. i didn't tell him a price. my father just always mentioned " good price" so pending if i struggle or finish w/o breaking a sweat i'll either do 50-100.

thanks for the feedback guys. $50 for just front pads is more then enough and i think thats what midas charges. they have $75 front brake deals and thats with pads.

I'll post back when its all said and done. He knows its $600 from the dealership so any price lower then that is decent. I do decent work and never had any issues.

 

[kornphlake]

Thank you! x2

Inspection of the caliper, paying special attention to the piston and seal area. Pressing the piston back into the caliper may require a special tool depending on the vehicle.
Regreasing the slide bolts with caliper grease, not just using regular marine grease, but the special moly lube.
Inspection of brake lines, paying special attention to the rubber line to the caliper.
Overall inspection of tie rod ends, ball joints, halfshaft boots, anti sway bar end links, etc.
Use threadlocker where applicable

There's more.. this is just off the top of my head.

If I took my car to a shop to have the brakes changed and payed $600 I'd expect all that, for $50 in labor all I'd expect is to have the pads and rotors changed. There's a huge difference in expectations and costs when comparing a mechanic at a dealership or legitimate garage to a car guy who does his own wrenching and picks up a job or two for acquaintances.

 

[alkemyst]

unfortunately most are expecting the job to still be done right...you saying later on that "it was only $50" isn't a solution.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

The fair price is $50 per axle for pads only.

$75 per axle for pads + rotors.


If you do not believe your services are worth that much then charge less.

 

[slag]

If I took my car to a shop to have the brakes changed and payed $600 I'd expect all that, for $50 in labor all I'd expect is to have the pads and rotors changed. There's a huge difference in expectations and costs when comparing a mechanic at a dealership or legitimate garage to a car guy who does his own wrenching and picks up a job or two for acquaintances.

As long as you share your expectations up front, then its ok, but if a shop says it will be $600.00 and a shadetree mechanic says Hey, i can do that for $50.00, the expectation is there that all the services the shop would provide would be also given by the shadetree mechanic. People rarely get under their cars to inspect things and expect that when a normal wear and tear item needs to be replaced that a full inspection of the underside would be done.

 

[kornphlake]

unfortunately most are expecting the job to still be done right...you saying later on that "it was only $50" isn't a solution.

There's a difference between doing the job right (in this case replacing pads and rotors) and doing all work that is convenient to do at the same time. The guy isn't paying for you to inspect the front end he's paying for $50 in labor, which covers the bare minimum amount of work. An inspection is an inspection and a brake job is a brake job, it's convenient to do both at the same time and costs less when purchased as a package deal, but they are independent services and can be done correctly independently.

The average customer doesn't know what a tie rod end or a half shaft boot is, and given the reputation most mechanics have, the average customer is likely to assume it's like a muffler bearing or blinker fluid.