Wheel bearing replacement leads to some free parts and labor from shop owner ?

[99Camry228K]

Had a wheel bearing replacement ( front and rear passenger side ) done by local independent repair shop. They also replaced steering rack and valve cover gasket. They also had car sent out for a wheel alignment. I pay the bill ($1125 total ) and leave to drive home . Hear metal to metal scraping.

I take it back. They admit they did not do a test drive. They adjust the backing plate and tell me all is well. I now take it for a highway test drive and when braking from 55mph, steering wheel shakes and vibrates a lot. I take it back again, tell them I had pads and rotors replaced 22,000 miles ago and have not had any braking issues and no steering wheel shaking either.

They give me back the car the next day, the owner of the shop who is also the head mechanic said he replaced the rotors for free, parts and labor. I asked what happened, owner mechanic said my previous rotors were defective. He also said my brake pads had 25% wear left on them. Granted this was very generous on his part. But it leaves me with the following question

Did the mechanic who worked on the car possibly damage the rotor during his wheel bearing repair work or as the owner said, my previous rotor just went haywire overnight ? I have never in my 39 years of driving received free parts and labor unless it was a warranty job.

Thanks, would love to hear feedback as I am car knowledgeable but not a mechanic.

 

[Subyman]

Have you checked to see if they actually put new rotors on? Sounds to me that they messed up the alignment when replacing the steering rack or maybe a caliper was missing a bolt and gnarled the rotor, which was on them.

 

[Pacfanweb]

They took it apart and realized that something they did messed it up, so they took care of it.

We can speculate all day long about *what* is was that actually did it, but if your car is now fixed, that's what happened.

Good on the shop. That's the way you do business.

 

[Raizinman]

I've seen sloppy mechanics get grease all over the brake pads and then reinstall. It will cause this type of problem and often ruin the rotors at the same time. It was best that he installed new pads and rotors. Hopefully of reasonable quality.