Cost to "replace" brakes?

<< Yeah - a break down would have helped The mechanic has just scrawled a
list, with no individual costs. He avoided questions about brands, and
warrantees ... >>
____Reply Separator_____
Wow! Did you figure the price of the Vaseline you used into your final cost?
Dry cleaning/washing your trousers from the grease they absorbed while laying
around your ankles on the shop's floor??

I have no idea why, but dealing with mechanics feels so rushed I
usually end up making foolish decisions (which would explain why I'm
left feeling ripped off/foolish). Definitely time to change mechanic,
maybe even cough up for dealership work, atleast they itemize and
document everything.

You will get ripped off on brake jobs if you go to one of those specialty
brake shops.There motto is nobody leaves wiyhout spending at least 500
bucks.There mechanics get paid a percentage of the entire bill including
parts,and there parts are really expensive.they will find parts you need
to replace.There big move is when they say I CANT GIVE YOU THE LIFE TIME
WARRENTY WITH OUT REPLACING THIS PART.Skip the life time warranty,its a
sales pitch.
Master Mechanic

It depends on the tires too. I got 4 winter tires installed and balanced
with new tire valves for about $550. The tires are studded because they are
needed on our ice/snow covered roads and will be on the vehicle until the
end of April only. The tires are a house brand (Nordic for Canadian Tire)
and are made by Michelin, in the same way that Roadhandlers were made for
Sears before Sears went out of the tire/battery/muffler/garage business here
in Canada.

So for the OP, you could have been treated fairly - but for sure one has to
know specifically what tires and the brand/model of brake pads you got.

Ken
Canada

HAMBURGER wrote:

> On my 300M, a set of ceramic brake pads all around - $100 and a set of
> (4) kumho 16" tires - $200. They were already mounted and balanced on
> steel rims ordered as a wheel package from Tire Rack, so I figure
> mounting & balancing to be about $20 for each tire. Did you get your
> rotors turned as well? If so that's probably another $15 for each
> one. I do all the work myself so I'm sure things don't get
> crossthreaded and are torqued properly, parts get lubed that require
> it, caliper retracting clips get installed, etc., little things that
> techs working under flat rate may skip doing.

HAMBURGER wrote:

> The Kumho's got pretty good reviews on Tire Rack. And c'mon, dude's
> not driving a porche, it's a minivan for crying out loud, so I was
> simply giving him some ballpark figures to work with on typical off
> the shelf parts so get a grip.

Regardless of what you drive the tires are what is between your steel "box"
and the road at any speed. Are you saying that when you drive a minivan your
life is not worth much and you should eat only at fast food outlets and never
see a physician or dentist, while if you can afford to drive a Rolls Royce
then your life is worth more and you should eat only at the waldorf astoria
and see a physician and dentist at least once a week?

I think you should get a grip. This is MY opinion only. I have two vehicles
that are more than 20 years old and have Michelin-made tires on them with
120,000 km thread life (projected when new) on them. I only have them because
I feel they are more reliable as in "safer" than retreads or... The two newer
vehicles have Michelin-made tires too for the same reason(s).

Just my opinion - and choice. An accident because of tire failure is not
worth hospitalization nor the ONLY life I and members of my family have. This
is not my response to a scare tactic from some sales person. I have tried
other makes/brands of tires and Michelins have given me the best service and
service life - Pay me now, or pay me later is what the oil commercial sez.

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 21:59:54 -0600, Ken Pisichko > wrote:
<snip>
>I think you should get a grip. This is MY opinion only. I have two vehicles
>that are more than 20 years old and have Michelin-made tires on them with
>120,000 km thread life (projected when new) on them. I only have them because
>I feel they are more reliable as in "safer" than retreads or... The two newer
>vehicles have Michelin-made tires too for the same reason(s).
>
>Just my opinion - and choice. An accident because of tire failure is not
>worth hospitalization nor the ONLY life I and members of my family have. This
>is not my response to a scare tactic from some sales person. I have tried
>other makes/brands of tires and Michelins have given me the best service and
>service life - Pay me now, or pay me later is what the oil commercial sez.

Oh pleeze, Michelin is hardly the end all and be all of tires, there are many
other brands out there that get the job done just as well. And like I said
the Kumho's got a many favorable review at Tire Rack so I don't see what the
issue is. I'm sure your $200 Michelins are very nice, in fact my 300M came
with MXV4+'s stock and speaking of grip, they had none in wet and snow, I'm
talking absolutely horrible traction in those conditions.

Ken Pisichko wrote:

> HAMBURGER wrote:
>
> > The Kumho's got pretty good reviews on Tire Rack. And c'mon, dude's
> > not driving a porche, it's a minivan for crying out loud, so I was
> > simply giving him some ballpark figures to work with on typical off
> > the shelf parts so get a grip.
>
> Regardless of what you drive the tires are what is between your steel "box"
> and the road at any speed. Are you saying that when you drive a minivan your
> life is not worth much and you should eat only at fast food outlets and never
> see a physician or dentist, while if you can afford to drive a Rolls Royce
> then your life is worth more and you should eat only at the waldorf astoria
> and see a physician and dentist at least once a week?
>
> I think you should get a grip. This is MY opinion only. I have two vehicles
> that are more than 20 years old and have Michelin-made tires on them with
> 120,000 km thread life (projected when new) on them. I only have them because
> I feel they are more reliable as in "safer" than retreads or... The two newer
> vehicles have Michelin-made tires too for the same reason(s).
>
> Just my opinion - and choice. An accident because of tire failure is not
> worth hospitalization nor the ONLY life I and members of my family have. This
> is not my response to a scare tactic from some sales person. I have tried
> other makes/brands of tires and Michelins have given me the best service and
> service life - Pay me now, or pay me later is what the oil commercial sez.

Please. At some point, safety does come down to price. If it didn't, we'd all
be driving something that resembled an Abrams tank. Face it, sometimes more
expensive products have features that are safer, yet not everyone can/should/does
purchase them and that's life.

Are Michelin/Goodrich tires an assurance of tire safety? The only blow out due
to tire failure I've ever had was with a Michelin tire, with a whopping 11,000
miles on them. I guess that is how they "paid" me.

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005, Jed wrote:

> Are Michelin/Goodrich tires an assurance of tire safety?

No. Well-made tires, appropriately selected and applied for the prevailing
conditions, are better than poorly-made tires inappropriately selected
and/or applied for the prevailing conditions, but neither is an assurance
of safety.

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Mon, 17 Jan 2005, Jed wrote:
>
>> Are Michelin/Goodrich tires an assurance of tire safety?
>
> No. Well-made tires, appropriately selected and applied for the prevailing
> conditions, are better than poorly-made tires inappropriately selected
> and/or applied for the prevailing conditions, but neither is an assurance
> of safety.

The trick is finding a tire that gives excellent wear resistance, great wet
traction, decent cold weather performance, excellent heat tolerance, good
dry and wet breaking, and responsive handling at a reasonable price. The
Michelin Hydroedge and the Goodyear triple tread are good examples, but they
don't come cheap. And neither are ideal selections for high speed
performance vehicles. But for the mini-van, you could do a lot worse.

Richard.

On Wed, 19 Jan 2005, "Richard" > wrote:

> > Well-made tires, appropriately selected and applied for the prevailing
> > conditions, are better than poorly-made tires inappropriately selected
> > and/or applied for the prevailing conditions, but neither is an
> > assurance of safety.

> The trick is finding a tire that gives excellent wear resistance, great wet
> traction, decent cold weather performance, excellent heat tolerance, good
> dry and wet breaking, and responsive handling at a reasonable price.

BFGoodrich Traction T/A.