2001 Mazda MazdaSpeed Protege: which brakes do I fix?

My car squeaks when I drive it (in particular in the rain) & I took it to my husband’s mechanic and he said it needs front brakes…(I thought price was too high) so I took it to Sears by my house & they said it needs rear brakes…question whom do I believe & can I tell whose telling the truth?!

Take it to a 3rd mechanic. I’d believe the husband’s mechanic before a Sears mechanic.

4 Likes

+1, especially the part about believing the husband’s mechanic before a Sears mechanic (frankly I’m shocked you can find a Sears mechanic anymore)

2 Likes

WE don’t know…the husbands mechanic may work for Midas!!!

Yosemite

1 Like

The brake inspection may have shown that the rear brakes are worn and in need of replacement, there may be information on your invoice indicating the amount of brake pad thickness remaining.

Your complaint of brake noise might be caused by the front brakes and replacement is the standard procedure, mechanics don’t want to attempt to quiet your brake pads that may be of questionable quality.

I stopped believing what any Sears “mechanic” told me many years ago. They’ve tried to sell me stuff I did not need several times.

1 Like

It squeaks when it rains. We need more info about the circumstances when it squeaks (idling, driving, braking, turning, accelerating, etc.) and from what area of the car the sound seems to be coming from.

A 2001 car could be needing quite a lot of brake work. Only some of it, maybe none of it, might be related to a squeak.

I agree. I was there once with a buddy who was getting an oil change in his car and I watched 4 customers before him told that they would “need” at least $200 worth of work done. I looked at him and bet him lunch that they would tell him the same. So about an hour later after my buddy declined their offer of almost $300 worth of unnecessary work, we were feasting on steaks on his tab!

I’ve run into all kinds that tell be that they are mechanics. Most know only how to replace parts and not diagnose what’s wrong. That is usually where I weed them out. Give them the symptoms and let them bury themselves by giving the worse diagnosis.

My wife had an uncle that worked as a sears mechanic. After his death I happened to buy his Dakota. I had a taillight problem and when I pulled the taillight assembly out…I found wire nuts to splice in wires.
During the ownership of that Dakota, I found quite a few things that I could only shake my head at.

Yosemite

I’d believe P.T. Barnum before a Sears mechanic. :wink: They weren’t that great to begin with, and now they’re playing the Hunger Games where stores that can’t show profits are getting closed and firing everyone, so you can virtually guarantee that they’re gonna find a lot of services the car “needs” and which they will charge you for and may or may not actually perform them.

1 Like