2003 Toyota Echo

I have 123K miles on my echo and I have never had my rear brakes serviced. I want to do this for preventive maintenance purposes. I do my front disk brakes myself but have never done rear drum brakes nor do I want to or want to learn how. Here is my question. If I put my car in a local repair shop, how much can I expect to pay versus buying the parts (brake shoes) and brake cleaning fluid and allowing a mobile service tech come to my home and do the repair?

What should I expect to pay, parts and labor, for a repair shop to do this job. I just want some ballpark estimates please.

I have used mobile auto mechanics before and have been very pleased with the work. Thanks in advance for any replies.

For reference, Rock Auto quotes $67.79 for a drum kit, including shoes, shoe hardware, 2 wheel cylinders, and 2 drums.

GeorgeSanJose said>>>>For reference, Rock Auto quotes $67.79 for a drum kit, including shoes, shoe hardware, 2 wheel cylinders, and 2 drums.
Is this only for parts George?

If you take it to a shop, you should expect to pay $150-$200 in parts and labor to replace the rear brake shoes. I don’t know what mobile services charge.

It’s an easy job but one that should go to the shop. I have seen some owner work that left parts hanging or sitting on the shoes, secondary shoes on the right side, primaries on the left. That must have stopped funny. Usually, nobody cries when they have a rear brake job done unless two $100 drums are needed.

Thanks jesmed1. Would you say at 123K miles, I need to have this done. I don’t wanna wait until I hear grinding or squealing noises.

The only way to tell for sure is to remove a brake drum and inspect the brake pads. Since we are not talking a lot of money here…just have the pads replaced for your peace of mind.

$249 including labor for new shoes, wheel cylinders, hardware/spring kit, resurface 2 drums, fluid, bleed and adjust.

@ADP41‌

I wouldn’t be surprised if the brake drum backing plate has a small inspection hole. You remove the rubber plug and can see the lining thickness

It wouldn’t be unheard of if the brake shoes on this car were still in fine shape

Is this only for parts George?

That’s the cost for the parts kit ADP41. Not for the labor. You can sus it out yourself by surfing to the rockauto website and selecting the year/model etc. You can just buy the shoes if you prefer.

The one for $68, that’s a pretty complete parts kit. When I do the routine service on my Ford truck rear brakes I only replace the shoes, retaining the drums and the wheel cylinders. Unless the wheel cylinder is visibly leaking. And the drum dimensions are still within spec. I do cross-hatch score the inside of the drum with some 120 grit Al O2 sandpaper to remove any glazing.