Brake job cost?

J

JOhnH

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Right Seater
It has been an awful long time since I had to pay someone to do a brake job. I know prices have gone Waaaaay up since then, but I am not sure what is an acceptable price.

I use a good shop that gets good reviews and offers great customer service. But still, $1,200 for a complete 4 wheel break job, including pads, rotors and fluid flush? Does that sound right today?

The guy was apologizing for the price as he was looking up his costs, so I am thinking that I just need to bite the bullet. I want it done right and I am NOT doing it myself.

Vehicle is a 2 wheel drive, 2015 GMC Canyon (midsize pickup) with 53,000 miles.
 
Do you really need all 4 rotors? Can't be resurfaced with only 53K miles? The AC Delco ones seem to be priced around $140 each, but there are non-OEM options.

(2019 Colorado owner)
 
Why do you need all 4 wheels done? I can't imagine the rear pads/rotors need to be touched at 53K miles. Generally speaking, the parts cost per axle is $150 for basic OEM stuff, maybe $250 for performance rotors/pads. So, with shop markup you may be sitting at $400/parts per axle plus labor and the brake flush/bleed ($100).
 
How many miles on the vehicle?

Edit. 53k. Highway robbery. I have never owned a vehicle that needed pads before 60k let alone new rotors and crap.
 
Did that cost include all 4 calipers.??

Was the brakes making a grinding noise when you used them.??

Was the brake pedal pulsating under heavy braking.??

Replacing the rotors at 53k miles is not usual unless there was severe wear or damage on them. Did you get the old parts back.??
 
Zeldman said:
Did that cost include all 4 calipers.??

Was the brakes making a grinding noise when you used them.??

Was the brake pedal pulsating under heavy braking.??

Replacing the rotors at 53k miles is not usual unless there was severe wear or damage on them. Did you get the old parts back.??[/QUOTE]
No. I haven't had the work done yet because I thought the price was excessive. I had the truck in for an oil change ($41) and they made these recommendations on check out. Even though the shop has a good reputation, I was taken aback, although I have been told for the past several inspections that I would be needing new brakes soon.

I'll be taking it elsewhere for a second opinion.
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What makes think you need the rotors done? Can you put a micrometer on them?
 
Sac Arrow said:
How many miles on the vehicle?

Edit. 53k. Highway robbery. I have never owned a vehicle that needed pads before 60k let alone new rotors and crap.
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I get twice that amount, but don't think 53K is unusual depeing on driving style, vehicle design, and traffic. A buddy's daughter went through brakes and rotors every 20K miles on a Mitsubishi SUV. It was ridiculous. Although I rode with her dad a few times and he had a horribly abusive braking style - maybe she took after him.

That said, $1200 sounds like a lot. Maybe GM got it right and all 4 rotors wore out at the same time, but that would be unusual in my experience.
 
I priced the pads and rotors at NAPA using my uncle's 'shop' account. Retail $950 plus tax, which is what a shop would charge you. But their actual cost would likely only be around $400 plus tax, and I bet RockAuto, etc. would be able to get you that same pricing, if you were inclined to once again do it yourself. So, your $1200 quote that includes labor and a fluid flush seems to be in the ballpark.
 
Every time I replace the rotors my wife immediately tows horse and trailer and boom need new rotors

mid it’ll pass inspection who cares about a little pulsing right?
 
asicer said:
What makes think you need the rotors done? Can you put a micrometer on them?
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I had it in for routine service and they do a multi point inspection. THEY said it needed all that work.
Rgbeard said:
Pick up all the parts on Amazon and have yourself And a nephew do the job?
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My youngest brother lives about 500 miles away. He has worked in brake shops for 30 years and he agrees that the recommendation is absurd. I haven't seen him for over a year, so I am thinking about driving up to see him and paying him to do the work. At least this time I would get something out of all the money I have given him over the years.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Micrometer can’t tell if they are warped.
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A micrometer wouldn't, but any decent driver would. I'm assuming the OP is such a beast.
JOhnH said:
I had it in for routine service and they do a multi point inspection. THEY said it needed all that work.
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Tell them to put a micrometer on it and report back with the reading as well as the minimum thickness stamped on the rotor. I'll bet you they'll change their tune in a hurry.
 
Racerx said:
Too much rear brake. Was the car loose on corner entry? Turn the bias down! No more left foot braking! Sorry, race car on the brain.
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I'm definitely not a race type driver. I might drive fast on straight roads, but I'm the guy that tries to coast up to a traffic light without touching the brakes unless necessary.
 
JOhnH said:
I'm definitely not a race type driver. I might drive fast on straight roads, but I'm the guy that tries to coast up to a traffic light without touching the brakes unless necessary.
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I'd say remove the tire/wheel and take a picture of the pad thickness. We could tell you if the brakes needed replacing from that, and if there's no pulsating brake pedal indicating warped rotors then I'd say keep on moving down the road.
 
JOhnH said:
I had the truck in for an oil change ($41)...
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That is why the brake job is $1200. They aren't making a lot of money on that oil change, 6 quarts of oil and an oil filter is probably $35, but it gets you into the shop to sell you brake jobs.
 
FWIW ... most factory brake rotors don't leave a lot of room to turn them down especially if they have warped from overheating. I'd be quite surprised to find that the rear brakes need replacing at such low mileage but that depends on how the vehicle is driven/used and whether the rotors are warped.

If you're gonna replace all the pads and rotors the actual work isn't that hard to do. Some rotors hold the bearings & races (front) and can be more expensive and require cleaning/repacking the wheel bearings when doing R&R on the rotors. Others are much simpler and just slip up on the hub and over the wheel studs. Not familiar enough with your vehicle to know which you have.
 
Don't know about the Canyon, but GM is famous for using a drum/rotor combination on the rear of trucks for regular and parking brakes. My 99 Silverado was about 200$ for just the parking brake bands and pins. Truck barfed the 3/4 clutch pack before I was able to do the brakes.
 
Wow,
I've got a '16 Colorado with 105,000 miles. Still haven't worn through the pads at either end of the truck, let alone damaged the rotors. Either our driving styles are drastically different, or your shop is really trying to stick it to you.
 
Ok, so you were given an estimate. The shop might have given you a high estimate to replace everything because if they had given you a low estimate for just replacing the pads then found everything needs to be replaced makes the shop sound like a rip off place.

If they get the brakes tore down and find the rotors and calipers are fine and only the pads need replacing then you are happy to get the lower price.

That is pretty much what I used to do when I was a mechanic many moons ago. I called it saving the customer money.
 
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Brake jobs are one with relatively low ratio(low parts, high labor) of parts cost to labor. You can get the stuff from Rock Auto for a fraction of the cost, only changing what you want.

Yes I realize not for everyone, if you trust the shop, O.K.. 53k miles seems a little early for wholesale replacement.
 
asicer said:
A micrometer wouldn't, but any decent driver would. I'm assuming the OP is such a beast.

Tell them to put a micrometer on it and report back with the reading as well as the minimum thickness stamped on the rotor. I'll bet you they'll change their tune in a hurry.
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Two of the shops that I've used no longer turn brake rotors. Due to the setup and liability, they just replace them if they are deeply scored or warped.
 
One hypothesis is that more recent cars have less meat on the rotors than older ones, thus reducing the possibility of turning them. Supposedly it is done to reduce weight and get 0.001mpg better. I replaced a rotor on my wife's car recently and measured the new rotor thickness. It was only 0.100" thicker than the discard number.

I've noticed that the South Main Auto guy on You Tube always replaces rotors on a brake job, and he seems to be quite honest and ethical.
 
JOhnH said:
It has been an awful long time since I had to pay someone to do a brake job. I know prices have gone Waaaaay up since then, but I am not sure what is an acceptable price.

I use a good shop that gets good reviews and offers great customer service. But still, $1,200 for a complete 4 wheel break job, including pads, rotors and fluid flush? Does that sound right today?

The guy was apologizing for the price as he was looking up his costs, so I am thinking that I just need to bite the bullet. I want it done right and I am NOT doing it myself.

Vehicle is a 2 wheel drive, 2015 GMC Canyon (midsize pickup) with 53,000 miles.
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$300 a wheel for GM parts and labor is probably the high end. The MSRP rotor price is $140 + $70 for the pads.

I own a 2017 Colorado with 55K and it does seem close to needing brakes, ymmv.
 
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I just did my rear rotor and brakes myself on a 2009 Chevy suburban. Amazon ac delco pads and rotors came out to $120. Took 30 min per wheel. I hate paying for service but realize one day I will have to.
 
A couple of years ago I replaced front pads and rotors on my daily driver - and was amazed to find the rotors for only $11 each on Amazon. Sure enough they warped (but it took awhile).
A couple of months ago I replaced the rotors only with an upgraded pair of drilled and grooved rotors for about $40 each. So far they are doing fine. Rock Auto usually has the best prices -
but the shipping may be outtasight. You are likely to do better (bottom line) on Amazon. If you don't want to get your hands dirty (and you will doing a brake job), you may find a Mobile
Mechanic who will do the work for a reasonable fee. Good ones are hard to find (just like repair shops). I found one who was fantastic several years ago - but can't locate him now.

Totally unrelated to brakes, but last year my daily driver blew a head gasket. Nobody wanted to do a head gasket job - that or they wanted more than the car is worth. I was ready to junk
it - but then found a cure in a bottle. Worked like a charm - and is still holding after six months.

Dave
 
cessna182b said:
Totally unrelated to brakes, but last year my daily driver blew a head gasket. Nobody wanted to do a head gasket job - that or they wanted more than the car is worth. I was ready to junk it - but then found a cure in a bottle. Worked like a charm - and is still holding after six months.
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Be interested in the product you used. I've only had success with one product for a leaking head gasket:

mor-35500_xl.jpg
 
cessna182b said:
Totally unrelated to brakes, but last year my daily driver blew a head gasket. Nobody wanted to do a head gasket job - that or they wanted more than the car is worth. I was ready to junk
it - but then found a cure in a bottle. Worked like a charm - and is still holding after six months.

Dave
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Many of my problems go away when I bring out a bottle.
 
flyingbrit said:
One hypothesis is that more recent cars have less meat on the rotors than older ones, thus reducing the possibility of turning them. Supposedly it is done to reduce weight and get 0.001mpg better. I replaced a rotor on my wife's car recently and measured the new rotor thickness. It was only 0.100" thicker than the discard number.

I've noticed that the South Main Auto guy on You Tube always replaces rotors on a brake job, and he seems to be quite honest and ethical.
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I used to have the rotors turned on my race cars to save on rotating weight. Shop was always hesitant until I explained what they were for. Hell, even cut wheel studs down and used smaller lugs. Modified a spool used for road racing to accept the oval track ring gear as it was quite a bit lighter. Went to polished rims as the chromes were slightly heavier as well. I miss them Legends cars. But airplanes have won out...for now.
 
SoonerAviator said:
All fun and games until your heater core gets plugged up, lol.
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A smart mechanic would never run it through the heater core. ;) I used the Moroso product to seal a head gasket on a new build that had a slight leak when pressure tested and it worked well in that scenario.

BTW ... the Moroso stuff is not a put it in and leave it in product. It is designed to be all flushed out and the system dried out to complete the seal but you may not be aware of that.

It's quite a different product than the silver/copper/pellet goopy stuff many pour into the radiator.
 
Daleandee said:
It's quite a different product than the silver/copper/pellet goopy stuff many pour into the radiator.
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Which not only stops the water leak, but also stops the water flow through the radiator. Another lesson I learned as a teenager the hard way...

We used the ceramic seal in the race motors but not the race radiators.
 
Zeldman said:
We used the ceramic seal in the race motors but not the race radiators.
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Exactly the way the product was designed to work! Those without understanding don't realize that many excellent products for mechanical use can be found in cans and bottles. Wonder how many of them are using CamGuard in their car or aircraft engine ... or should be.:dunno:
 
SoonerAviator said:
I'd say remove the tire/wheel and take a picture of the pad thickness. We could tell you if the brakes needed replacing from that, and if there's no pulsating brake pedal indicating warped rotors then I'd say keep on moving down the road.
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Exactly! Our Fusion is nearing 80kmi with original brakes all the way around. I occasionally pull a front and rear wheel to take a look see, but so far plenty of meat left on the pads. Go figure?
 
Brake jobs tend to be an easy and satisfying DIY job unless the car is a Ford Taurus that lived in upstate NY all it's life. Most pad and rotor jobs I can do in about the same time it would take to drive the car to a shop and drop it off for repairs.
 
FORANE said:
Brake jobs tend to be an easy and satisfying DIY job unless the car is a Ford Taurus that lived in upstate NY all it's life. Most pad and rotor jobs I can do in about the same time it would take to drive the car to a shop and drop it off for repairs.
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Just depends on what tools and time you have available. I always do my own brakes, but there have been a few that needed more than standard tools. The front brakes on my '08 F-150 (RWD) are combined with the wheel bearings and use a large (36mm) axle nut that needs to be torqued to something like 295-ft lbs. Most big box store torque wrenches don't go up that high. So, in my instance I torqued to 250-ft lbs since that was the max on my torque wrench, then gave it a little "extra" with a breaker bar, lol.

Some of the newer cars need a scan tool or similar to be able to retract the electronic parking brake mechanism. Occasionally that option is available as a "service menu" option, but I'm sure auto makers are doing their best to push customers back into dealerships for brake jobs and other routine maintenance.
 
cessna182b said:
… replaced the rotors only with an upgraded pair of drilled and grooved rotors for about $40 each. So far they are doing fine. Rock Auto usually has the best prices -
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Yep.

I’ve got a minivan that’s too heavy for the brakes, and the rotors kept warping after just a little use. I had enough of replacing them over and over, so I ordered PowerStop brand rotors from RockAuto. Drilled and slotted rotors are unusual for a minivan, but they do the trick: the warping is completely stopped now. Price was good, and my labor was free.
 
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