Had a front brake job; 2 rebuilt calipers installed; 1 rotor; flush fluid; Total $470. Did I get ripped off?

Question

My car is a 1992 Buick Park Avenue. Had the job done at a local shop that I believe is a reputable shop, BUT, I have just been told I could have gotten a better deal at Midas, Les Schwab, or Firestone.

Here's the break-down or brake-down...if you will:

"Front brake job -- $160
2 - rebuilt calipers installed -- $95 each / $190 total
1 - rotor -- $60
Flush fluid -- $60

Total -- $470"

They also told me the rear brakes didn't need work at the time - this was just 3 months ago - and today my brakes totally failed on the freeway. Yesterday they were spongy, I got brake fluid and tried adding some, but it didn't seem to need much. Then today, they were spongy again, and when I applied the brakes, the car pulled to one side, I exited the freeway and then I heard a LOUD LOUD repetitive banging noise as I came to a stop. I had to have my vehicle towed home.

By totally failed, I mean the brakes pretty well went to the floor, the car jerked to the left, I caught it, got off the freeway and under the overpass it sounded like something was repetitively banging in the rear of the vehicle -- really LOUD and scary sounding. I thought a truck next to me was making some terrible noise and then I realized it was me. When I moved the car for the tow truck to get at it it made that sound again just backing it up and rolling forward again to position it for the tow. Bang! Bang!

Not wishing to put ANYONE at risk....is WHY I had the car towed home. I drove it once after adding the brake fluid, and realized I still had a problem. The problem exacerbated within minutes so---tow truck was called.

I have AAA. They will tow the car to the shop as part of the first tow on Monday.

Just for the record, I called the shop repeatedly, starting at 9 a.m. yesterday, and every half hour, when I started realizing the brakes were really spongy acting, and found they were closed. I went by the shop later thinking they might be open and they are apparently closed altogether on weekends. Then the problem got worse and I had the car towed home.

Thanks everyone for their input. Very much appreciated. And, you're right. I should not have driven the car when I realized the brakes were spongy. But I thought the brake fluid might help. I just didn't know. I know more now. Thanks again.

Answer 1

Well, you get what you pay for, if you took your car to midas they may have given you substandard parts. It sounds like this place used good parts.

As for them telling you your rear brakes were fine, they were probally right. They checked and saw your pads had plenty of life in them, that everything there was in good condition, ect.

As for what happened on the freeway today, I have no clue, 3 months is a long time, you cant blame anything on the shop, it is probally a new issue. But let this be a lesson to you, when you feel there is a problem with your car, check it out asap! Expecially steering/suspension problems, its fine if your engine or transmission act up, but if your brakes feel spongy you're putting others at risk!

Answer 2

You have two issues here. One is three months ago, you had the front brakes done on your 15 year old car. The price you paid was not out of line. It sounds like you had a caliper go bad, which caused the brakes to wear out on one side, and damaged the rotor! The shop replaced both calipers, and the bad rotor. Calipers should be replaced in pairs, but if the other rotor was not bad (or could be resurfaced) they did the right thing in not replacing it!

They checked your rear brakes, and at that time, there were no problems. They most likely cleaned and adjusted the rear brakes at that time, and did not charge you for it!

You may have been able to have gotten the front brake job done for a little less, but the price is not out of line at all!

You have driven the car for three months. Yesterday you felt a problem with the brakes. In three months, something could have broken, or a leak developed! Instead of having the brakes checked, you tried to just add fluid. Have the car towed to the shop. It is doubtful that your problem now is related to work done three months ago. On an older car, things are going to break!

If the brakes do not feel right, that is the time to get the car checked, before driving it!

Answer 3

Yes, they hosed you on the labor. The job could have been done in an hour of less by a competent mechanic. The caliper costs are high too. $60 for a fluid flush is absolutely BS. The labor should have been about half of what they charged, at least in most reasonable shops. I can't look up the caliper costs at this hour, but $95 per caliper is about 2 x what they should be with the core charge returned to you.

Did the shop give you back your old parts? They are required by law to return the old parts unless you give them permission to dispose of them. Unless you saw the old parts come off the and the new ones go on, you have no way of knowning if they were really replaced, unless you know about parts and take the brakes back apart. When the brakes are spongy, either there is air in the brake system (if the brakes were properly bleed, this should not have happened) that was left there whent the service was done, or there is a leak. As you stated, the brake system did seem to need much fluid. It should not have needed any if the system was repaired properly. The only reason to ever add fluid is a leak in the system has allowed it to drain. Otherwise, the system is closed and has no where to go.

The LOUD LOUD banging is particularly worrisome. You should never have a loud banging or any banging when you apply the brakes. There are too many possibilities here, but the first to come to mind is that a caliper bolt fell out, broke, was never reinstalled or a brake lining broke and a chunk or chunks cracked off.

If the car pulls to one side when the brakes are applied the culprit is usually a bad brake line. The pressure that builds up when you apply the pedal causes a weakened line to collapse on itself and the vehicle pull to one side. I don't understand why they only replaced one rotor. You always replace rotors in pairs. Rotors must wear at the same rate. If they do not, the older rotor will be narrower than the new. When you step down on the pedal, the new rotor will be grabbed before the older due to being thicker. This will also cause the car to pull to one side.

What are the warranties of the parts and service? You need to carefully read your receipt and find out. Labor warranties vary from shop to shop. Parts warranties vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, rebuilder to rebuilder.

I would go after this shop. Read your warranty. If need be, call a local invesitgative reporter and tell them. Bogus auto repair places have gotten a lot of bad press and the story is a hot button for local stations.

I was a service writer for a national auto parts and repair chain for 6 years. Mechanic for 12 years.

Call around to the part stores in your area, get the prices for those same parts with their core charges and warranties. Most calipers carry either a one year or life time warranty. You may have been charged for lifetime warrantied calipers, but you won't know until you check.

After you do the leg work, go back to the shop. Take someone who knows brakes, if you know someone. IF their work was faulty, which I suspect, then have the work redone, in front of you or your representative. Give them a bill of the tow if you had to go out of pocket. IF they want to argue, don't hesitate to call the police, the BBB, the news papers and tv stations. IF you lost time due to work, that may also be recoverable, you'll have to check what the law allows in your area.

I am really sorry the gouged you. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

Maybe they aren't so reputable after all. I would take the vehicle back to them and have them get it right. It's very rare when calipers need replacement and why only one rotor? I'm not sure what you mean by "totally failed". Maybe the calipers are defective somehow. As far as the rear brakes are concerned they only make up about 30 percent of your braking power so if the front brakes were working ok you probably wouldn't even notice the rear. Your rear brakes are probably fine they just messed up on the job. You could get a free estimate at a Midas or somewhere see what they have to say.

Generally a spongy feel to the brakes would mean that they did not bleed the brakes correctly. "Bleeding" the brakes refers to getting the air out of the brake lines.

Answer 5

Off the subject of your new problems a second,someone thought you lived on park avenue but hers an idea,yesterday i purchased a caliper for my 99 ram 1500 pick up for what would of been $36 from advanced auto parts but so you know most rebuildable parts like brake calipers have a core exchange charge which sounds like was not even explained Specialy if there charging you top dollar for a probably a $20 part which was about what i payed for a TRUCK caliper cause that $36 price droped $15 by returning my old caliper which i had brought anyway to be sure i got the same replacement. Another thing that baffles me is just how bad your calipers could of been if you were driving on em,not loosing fluid or no severe grinding outta either your wheels themselves or a scraping feeling in your brake pedal which is like the old idiot oil light on your car but the scrapping feeling is to tell you that it s time for brakes like the oil lights telling you to check/ add oil....and the fluid flush charge is a joke,that all should of been in either your brake job charge or just in with the labor time....& its also a good practice to tell what ever shop you do use that you want the old parts...thats a win win practice for you,A if u get money off for the core exchange they will tell you & B if you diddnt really need the part in question there not gunna hand you a part that was still good outta fear of catching them in a lie or later haveing you come back saying it wasnt needed,you would probly hear em tell you a new part woulda been X amount of money but for a little more labor we fixed or cleaned or whatever they gotta say to justify a charge so keep that in mind & good luck going fwd...its also not a bad idea to do a little internet shopping before heading to a shop on your own...besides the fact you can then hagle down a price but you will also sound like you have more knolage then the next poor schmo there gunna take for a ride & think twice about screwing ya over...again good luck.....

Answer 6

Take the car back and tell them that their brake job has not been done right.

When a car pulls to one side after a brake job, this means that they didn't bleed the system right. This is caused by a differential in hydraulic pressure from one side to the other.

If you have 35psi in on one side and thei other gets 15psi, guess what? the car will experience steering via the brakes!

Sponginess is a tell-tale sign of air in the brake line.

Also find out what the thickness limit/actual is of the rotors are at....you are entitled to know. You need to find out if they also "turned" the new and existing rotor....if not then they will need to complete the job by doing so.

The price for the work (assuming it is done right) is not bad....but the job has to be done right. If done right on a Buick.....new brakes should make the car "nose dive" to a stop....and not pull to either side. This baby should stop on a dime!

Answer 7

I don't know where you live but at my shop in orange county cali I would have charged $455+tax for that job but I would have replaced both rotors. As far as the noise and spongy brakes it sounds like something in the rear brakes came apart. Good Luck.

Answer 8

The price seems quite reasonable by why they only replaced one brake rotor instead of both is a bit hard to fatham. Everywith with brakes should be done as a pair to ensure best performance.

Your "pedal to the floor" indicates a hydraulic failure. Either the master cylinder failed or, given the age of the vehicle a brake line blew out or possibly a wheel cylinder.

Answer 9

The only thing on your list that i think you spent to much on is the brake job.My hubbie works on cars and a brake job is about a 30 min job and he charges about 90.00 and as far as the break down it sounds like they either didnt put the brake on right or didnt bleed the breaks and that can cause all kinds of problems like a lock up of your breaks.

Answer 10

That's a pretty good price for that.
But they should have pressurized the brakes to check for leaks.
You probably have a leak in the brake lines.
You're adding the wrong brake fluid. Or a synthetic