YACT - Brakes are shot

[kyzen]

The brakes in my car have been making a pretty nasty grinding noise when I stop, and it seems like the car kind of grinds forward a bit, when it used to stop nicely. So I brought it into the shop, and, as expected, the brakes were worn through. They also told me that the rotors needed to be replaced.

All in all it's going to come to $337, plus taxes.

I had the guy break it down for me, and it looks like its $149.99 for the brake pads (ceramic), $70 for each rotor, and the rest from some other, mostly unrelated work I'm having them do.

Firstly - I drive an 89 Volvo station wagon. Are the ceramic pads necessary, or would their $79.99 semi-metallic pads be fine for my car? I can't help but wonder if they are just sticking me with the most expensive pads needlessly.

Secondly - the rotors. I have no idea how brake systems work, so I don't know what these are for. The guy said they are too thin to be serviced, and need to be replaced. This doesn't surprise me, because I think the brake system on there is the original one that came on the car 17 years and 93,000 miles ago. Is this normal, or am I being screwed here?

I told them to go ahead with the repairs, but if anybody thinks I'm being screwed here I'll have no problem calling them back to ask more questions or tell them to hold off.

Any quick advice would be appreciated

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: kyzen

Secondly - the rotors. I have no idea how brake systems work, so I don't know what these are for. The guy said they are too thin to be serviced, and need to be replaced. This doesn't surprise me, because I think the brake system on there is the original one that came on the car 17 years and 93,000 miles ago. Is this normal, or am I being screwed here?

Wow, I got 93,000 miles on my brakes and rotors. I just had my brakes done for the first time last week, all I needed were pads and the rotors turned.

Edit: Found my invoice. 278.35 w/tax for brake pads and turning the rotors on my front brakes and the drum brakes on my rear wheels.

 

[Heisenberg]

You do not need $150 ceramic pads for an 89 Volvo. You don't want to be cheap on pads, but a middle of the road semi-metallic should work fine. The advantage of ceramic pads is they produce less noticeable brake dust and usually last a little longer. Replacing the original rotors after 17 years is to be expected, as they've probably been turned as much as they can be already.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

It's a Volvo, just hit something cheap when you need to stop. Jeremy on Top Gear plowed into a brick wall at 40MPH and drove away.

<-- had an '87 Volvo 240GL for a short time, stiffest body panels of any car he's ever driven. (though there was rust on the rear floorboard where the carrier bearing bracket bolted up)

 

[Tyrant222]

do you have to go through them for the parts. buying the rotors or pads somewhere else might save you some money.

 

[Papagayo]

Do it your self and save $$$...

you just need a C-Clamp, Jack, Screw Driver..

 

[Ramma2]

Wow, I can get rotors for 20 and pads for 30 at napa...

If you've got a socket set, some break free and a jack, why not try it yourself? Get the Chilton or Haynes for your car and it breaks it down step by step.

 

[Horus]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It's a Volvo, just hit something cheap when you need to stop. Jeremy on Top Gear plowed into a brick wall at 40MPH and drove away.

<-- had an '87 Volvo 240GL for a short time, stiffest body panels of any car he's ever driven. (though there was rust on the rear floorboard where the carrier bearing bracket bolted up)

That was a Porche 911.

 

[NutBucket]

Actually IIRC turning rotors on volvo's is a bad idea (ones of your vintage anyway). I don't recall exact reasoning but supposedly they warp quite easily after being turned.

 

[Zenmervolt]

If the brakes were making a grinding noise, then at least one of the pads was worn down to full metal and would have been scoring the rotors (the pads grip the rotors to stop the car). This would definitely necessitate replacing the rotors.

Semi-metalic pads will wear the rotors more than ceramic pads and the ceramic pads will last longer and be quieter, but both stop about the same. The ceramic pads for my last car (Lincoln Mark VIII) were less expensive than the comparable metallic pads.

You're not being taken.

ZV

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: kyzen
The brakes in my car have been making a pretty nasty grinding noise when I stop, and it seems like the car kind of grinds forward a bit, when it used to stop nicely. So I brought it into the shop, and, as expected, the brakes were worn through. They also told me that the rotors needed to be replaced.

All in all it's going to come to $337, plus taxes.

I had the guy break it down for me, and it looks like its $149.99 for the brake pads (ceramic), $70 for each rotor, and the rest from some other, mostly unrelated work I'm having them do.

Firstly - I drive an 89 Volvo station wagon. Are the ceramic pads necessary, or would their $79.99 semi-metallic pads be fine for my car? I can't help but wonder if they are just sticking me with the most expensive pads needlessly.

Secondly - the rotors. I have no idea how brake systems work, so I don't know what these are for. The guy said they are too thin to be serviced, and need to be replaced. This doesn't surprise me, because I think the brake system on there is the original one that came on the car 17 years and 93,000 miles ago. Is this normal, or am I being screwed here?

I told them to go ahead with the repairs, but if anybody thinks I'm being screwed here I'll have no problem calling them back to ask more questions or tell them to hold off.

Any quick advice would be appreciated

Yes, you probably need rotors. Blame yourself for that though because you waited too long before taking the car in for service. That grinding to a halt noise you hear is the metal plates the brake pads are attached to scraping the rotors when you come to a stop.

Rotors are those shiny smooth disks you see behind your wheel. That's what the brake pads clamp down on to stop your car. Every manufacturer sets a tolerance or minimum thickness that these need to be or they need to be replaced.

$337 sounds very reasonable to me.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

$337 seems cheap for that much work!

Semi-Metallic pads are fine, no need for ceramic.

 

[DrPizza]

$337 is pretty cheap for what you need done...

However, for $20 or less, you can get a book on how to do it.
For another $40 - $100, you can get the rotors,
and another $30, the pads.

Get a book first to find out how you remove the rotors on your volvo... some makes of cars, it's extremely easy to remove the rotors, on others, apparently you almost break a sweat. But, it's a skill worth learning how to do; the sooner you learn, the sooner you'll save $100 or more every time you need to change the pads.

FWIW, I find changing the brake pads on one axle to be easier than changing the oil in a car.

 

[nakedfrog]

There's a couple people on here that have older Volvos, and at least one did his brakes recently. Can't remember who, though.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: Horus

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It's a Volvo, just hit something cheap when you need to stop. Jeremy on Top Gear plowed into a brick wall at 40MPH and drove away.

<-- had an '87 Volvo 240GL for a short time, stiffest body panels of any car he's ever driven. (though there was rust on the rear floorboard where the carrier bearing bracket bolted up)

That was a Porche 911.

No, they were doing a $1000 beater challenge or something like that. It was a Volvo with a broken speedometer (he ment to do 30)


As far as the brakes, on the Volvo 240 I had there's two bolts, I don't remember if they're torq heads or not, that hold on the calipers, disks all around, they come off pretty easy. Shouldn't take more than an hour to do all four yourself, depending on how difficult the rotors are to get off.

 

[Kelemvor]

Call your local Napa, Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, etc type store and get a quote. Brakes are pretty simple to replace depending on how easily the rotor comes off.

That being said, I don't think that price is unreasonable if they have a nice warranty on them. Most places around here have lifetime warranties on the pads and everything just in case.

 

[AdamK47]

Considering both the age of the car and experience with the procedure, it might be best to pay more and have the shop do it. By doing it yourself you may just end up getting frustrated trying to loosen the first rusty bolt off of the caliper.

 

[Asharus]

Price sounds good, just do it

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
$337 is pretty cheap for what you need done...

However, for $20 or less, you can get a book on how to do it.
For another $40 - $100, you can get the rotors,
and another $30, the pads.

Get a book first to find out how you remove the rotors on your volvo... some makes of cars, it's extremely easy to remove the rotors, on others, apparently you almost break a sweat. But, it's a skill worth learning how to do; the sooner you learn, the sooner you'll save $100 or more every time you need to change the pads.

FWIW, I find changing the brake pads on one axle to be easier than changing the oil in a car.

He didn't even know what a rotor was. Yeah, I can see him trying to do a brake job...

 

[Tommouse]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

Originally posted by: Horus

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
It's a Volvo, just hit something cheap when you need to stop. Jeremy on Top Gear plowed into a brick wall at 40MPH and drove away.

<-- had an '87 Volvo 240GL for a short time, stiffest body panels of any car he's ever driven. (though there was rust on the rear floorboard where the carrier bearing bracket bolted up)

That was a Porche 911.

No, they were doing a $1000 beater challenge or something like that. It was a Volvo with a broken speedometer (he ment to do 30)


As far as the brakes, on the Volvo 240 I had there's two bolts, I don't remember if they're torq heads or not, that hold on the calipers, disks all around, they come off pretty easy. Shouldn't take more than an hour to do all four yourself, depending on how difficult the rotors are to get off.

Yea Jeremy took that wall out!!! And proceeded to drive away.

On topic: That seems to be a pretty decent price, they arn't shafting you.

 

[altonb1]

I spent $600 for new front brakes, rotors, and rear brakes for an '04 Chevy Venture last week. <OUCH!>

 

[NogginBoink]

Do it yourself. You can save a bunch of money.

Buy the shop manual for your car and the brake pads and rotors from the local auto parts store. Get your car up on jackstands (borrow some if you need to) and allocate several hours since this will be your first time doing it.

You can save quite a bit of money doing this job yourself.

 

[Thegonagle]

That's including labor, right? For parts only, that's a bit steep, but with labor, that's OK. You can safely save a few bucks with the semi-mets; the labor is exactly the same for both types, and the "wholesale" price difference in parts should be about $20-30, not $70. Most drivers will never notice the difference between different brake pads anyway. (With the cheaper pads, a little extra pedal pressure may be required to stop just after you blast through a puddle, which some drivers find disconcerting, but it's not necessarily dangerous if you're able to adjust to it.)

 

[farmercal]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
Wow, I can get rotors for 20 and pads for 30 at napa...

If you've got a socket set, some break free and a jack, why not try it yourself? Get the Chilton or Haynes for your car and it breaks it down step by step.

Not for a Volvo you won't.

 

[Vette73]

If I had done the work replace pads and rotors it would be around $240 for semi-met pads and 2 new rotors. Of course when I ran my own shop I was the owner so there was no middle man so my prices are lower then most.

But the price is not out of this world. And yes i would replace the rotors. i stopped turning most rotors a long time ago. Most of the time they would warp long beofre the pads were gone again when you turn rotors on most cars today.