We need a brake inspection done. How much would this cost me?
Any where between 0.00 and 1000.00 dollars . Mike, we have no idea where you are or the going rates for what place you decide to use .
Many places will check your brakes for free, figuring that if they need replacing, you will have them do the job.
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Most honest shops will do it for free.
Tester
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The shop where I work will do a brake inspection for $55, with the understanding that if you have the brakes repaired with us we waive the inspection fee.
A proper brake inspection includes road testing the car at freeway speed to check for any noise, pulling, or pulsation, inspecting the level and condition of brake fluid for water and copper content, scanning the ABS system for fault codes, removing all 4 wheels to measure pad/shoe thickness, rotor drum condition, inspect hydraulic hoses and lines, and checking wheel bearings.
I wouldn’t trust any shop that offers a free brake inspection to anyone that walks in.
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Most of the time I’ve found, when someone asks for a brake inspection, there’s already something going on with brakes.
Tester
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True, but whether the brakes need work or not every brake inspection gets the same level of detail and care. A proper inspection will take about half an hour, I have no qualms about charging for that time. I never trust anyone who says they work for free.
I just replaced a right side headlamp on 2010 Malibu
Sure! It took a half hour.
But I didn’t charge the little old lady the $100.00-$200.00 most shops were asking
I did it for free.
Now she knows I’m an honest shop.
I can’t wait for the goodies she brings!
Old ladies are like that.
Tester
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I never meant to imply that you were not honest, hope you didn’t take it that way. But you and I both know that this industry is filled with shops offering free brake inspections, then go for upsell after upsell when in fact nothing at all may have been needed.
I too have replaced headlamps or done other minor repairs for customers on fixed incomes or tight budgets, especially when I ran my own place. But now that I’m managing someone else’s shop, I have to be more thoughtful about how much money I give away. I can’t in good conscience have one of the mechanics (or myself) spend half an hour on a car and not get paid for it when there’s a line of cars outside waiting for service. If the job took half an hour I would have to put $55 on the bill, $20 for the bulb, and then show a $75 discount on the ticket. When I think about the fact that changing that bulb for free actually costs me (or the business) $75, I think long and hard about doing it.
For the same reason, we can’t afford to do free brake inspections. We’re generally booked 3 days out for brake work. If we worked for free we’d be even busier that that.
But the home-baked goodies sure are nice.
The problem with free inspections is that there is annoyingly large segment of people out there who have no intention of having a repair done at all. This applies to brakes or anything else.
They simply want some free advice so they can DIY or have the guy around the corner do it cheaper.
My Wife’s niece was in town visiting her Mother. She had just driven 600 miles. Her usual speed is 15 or 20 over the limit. The front tires were bald, and the rear tires still nice. 30,000 miles and no tire rotation(s)
They were Goodyear tires so they went to a Goodyear store. Without leaving his desk, the service writer quoted $2400 for 2 new tires and brakes. He said at 30,000 miles the brakes would be shot. There is an example of a free brake evaluation which cost nothing as was worth nothing.
There was no complaint of noise or vibration. Another shop installed 2 new tires and indicated the pads were fine.
WOW! Let me know when she is in town, so I can be sure not to be anywhere close.
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Does she drive a Bugatti Veyron or some other type of supercar?
And they probably claimed it didn’t make any noise.
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What an impressive level of destruction combined with a lack of care…
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it is called, “Why should I go to a shop and spend money on brakes and all the other things they tell me I need when the car still stops?” It is an attitude of an increasing percentage of drivers as people understandless and less about their cars and are upsold more and more mouse milk by dealers, oil change places, muffler shops and far too many general mechanics.
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