How much should i pay a friend to change/fix my front brakes?

Question

My friend is changing the front pads on my honda accord. He said it should take a couple hours. I'm bringing a 12 pack of beer over as the requested payment, but what would be a fair monetary/$$$ amount?

He is the husband of my friend and they are moving on friday.

Answer 1

He said just bring beer so just do that. Keep in mind most new Hondas take ceramic pads so make sure you put ceramic pads back on it. I also hope he has a brake lathe at his house because if you dont turn the rotors, I guarantee your brakes will squeak and then you will need to take it to a shop and have the resurfacing done for around 100.00

Answer 2

Normally a 12-18 pack of beer is an accepted form of payment. $20 if you not buy beer. OR both, a 12 pack and $20. PLUS you buy the parts.
This how I do for friends. Front brakes are not too hard if a person have the correct tools.
But, it kinda like a Waiter/Waitress. Sometimes we tip more or less depending on service. I have had Elderly people give me $30 and an apple pie. $20 would have been plenty for myself, but, those apple pies are hard to turn down! ;-)
I figure brakes on average cost about $25 for front. Many shops charge around $80 +/- so that about $55 for labor. This may give you a guide as to what it cost elsewhere and maybe you want to pay more than $20 and less than $55. Also, consider any cleaning supplies he may need.

Answer 3

Front pads should be in the $20-$25 range and it shouldn't take an hour to change them if he has all the proper tools. Replacing rotors, if needed, will take about a minute more and the last ones I got were about $25 each.

This is assuming the Honda is no worse than my wife's Mercury Tracer to work on.

Answer 4

The cost of the brake pads could be $40 or so. Depending on the year of your Honda (90-97?), your friend may have a big surprise in store for him or her in that some Hondas require a special tool to remove the front rotors if they need resurfacing.

Answer 5

Doing only the front brakes on your accord should take no more than 45 minutes if your freind knows what he is doing. However if he is planning on learning as he goes, it will probably take a couple of hours. So... I would say $15 to $20 for his time, not his experience if you intend to pay him. otherwise, the beer would probably be sufficient.

Answer 6

If he requested a 12 pack then give him a 12 pack. He set the price, you agreed to meet it. Done deal. If you want to sweeten the pot to make sure he will do the other breaks when they need changing give him a $20 gift card to the local steak house, or restaurant he likes but not cash.

*EDIT if they are moving give him a gift card to Lowe's they will need it more than the food one.

Answer 7

If he asked for a 12-pack, but you feel this is not enough, get him a 30-pack instead. Or make it a 12-pack of Guinness. As far as $$$, make sure you cover all his expenses -- reimburse him for parts and stuff.

If he's into anything BUT beer, you could get him some of that too. =)

Answer 8

Parts all paid for if they only requested a six pack/ then why argue with them should take less than hour/ if it takes more then offer some money if refused! then maybe later take out to dinner somewhere?

Answer 9

supply him a minimum of two six-packs of beer! heavily, the job for the rears only should not be better than $ 25 or $ 30 in case you had it accomplished professionally, so if he's a real buddy, i might think of roughly $ 15 or $ 20 might suffice.

Answer 10

I think he likes you......

Guys never offer to do repairs on cars for beer unless they have the "hots" for someone.

Wear some "daisy-dukes" and a white T-shirt and offer to help.

That's all he REALY wants. To see you......

ADDED:
Don't offer him money. If he wanted money, he would have said so before hand.