Am I being Taken? Brakes & Rotors Quote

Maintenance/Repairs
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61

I want to chime in here. I do service work myself. It doesn’t relate to cars but to computers and electronics. This story sounds just like something I would deal with.

I get people coming to me saying that the “are on a fixed income” and basically expect some kind of special deal. Then they let me know that they can get the part cheaper on eBay. I let them know that is a low-quality part and will not work right, at least not for long. They then ask me what they should buy online. I let them know that I would be more than happy to select the appropriate part for them and install it for the originally quoted price. They then ask if they can buy the part and have me help them install it over the phone. My response to these people is “That would probably take more time than me just doing it myself. I will have to charge for that as well.”

Basically ANYONE doing service work comes across these types of people. I am busy enough without having to cater to the lower-end customers. Any red flags are a sign to nicely try to get away from this job. As for him wanting you to setup an appointment ASAP, that is for your own good. Metal on metal brakes are dangerous! This isn’t all about making money. Honestly he should have suggested the same work be done on the other side of the car as well as others have suggested.

I used to try to “work with people” (in their own words) by offering a cheaper service to get them going again. There were times where I would tell them that this repair is cheaper but might not last as long. They ask how long and I tell them it could last 2 days or 2 years. They seem OK with this until it breaks 2 weeks later, then they call up all hopping mad, demanding a refund or redo and I have to remind them that they told me they were OK with a band-aid repair. They forget that and are upset that the job didn’t last.

Now I turn away jobs where the customer’s penny wise and pound foolish attempt to save money will cause such issues down the road. I did have one guy wanting to not fix something critical I found during the job. It was a failing power supply putting out voltages out of spec. This would be like running your car with an alternator putting out too much or too little voltage and/or current. I was doing a bunch of repair for the guy and some of this was likely caused by the failing power supply unit. Anyway, I kept telling him that he was going to cause a future problem down the road if he didn’t fix it right. He didn’t want to spend the money and I told him it was foolish as he would be back where he began if he didn’t. I let him know that I would be requiring him to sign a form acknowledging that he was declining a critical repair and that by doing so he would be risking the repairs I had just made. I also let him know that the form had a statement about there being NO WARRANTY on the work because of this. At this point he said “Go ahead and fix it right then.”

I suspect that the guy at the shop was seeing these same patterns. Putting more focus on replacing a wheel for a purely cosmetic blemish rather than fixing a critical safety component of a car would be a red flag for me. I used to sell some used computers before I realized it was too big of a hassle. The bad customers would always pick the one that “looked the best” rather than the one that I told them had the best specifications.

You have jobs lined up and then a customer like this calls. You want them to either agree to your prices and get the job started or go somewhere else if they won’t quit wasting your time. I have always found that those willing to spend the least are often the most demanding and take up the most time. For this reason I have started charging out all jobs by the hour for the work it actually takes. Often the customer will get in the way, ask a ton of questions, not be ready, or want additional work added on. I once did fixed bid jobs but no more.

Then there is the saying “Well you charge too much” even when your prices are very competitive. So, I tell customers like this to go ahead and buy the part they think they need off eBay or Amazon but that I am in business to make money and will charge them if they need assistance. I let them know this might cost them even more money if they order the wrong part are cause additional damage attempting to do work themselves.

There are good customers and bad customers. The alarms in my head would have been going off if I worked at this shop to be wary of this job. Anyone in any type of service has the same exact stories.

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62

Where I live it’s the law that parts that are replaced on a car must be returned to the customer (unless they don’t want them).

Remanufactured (reconditioned) parts are usually sold on the basis that the old part (core) will be “exchanged” during the purchase of the remanufactured piece. Therefore they ordinarily aren’t returned to the customer, but are usually offered for inspection.

Also, think of it more like the caliper was essentially “reconditioned” (as a sublet repair) rather than replaced with new, the exchange process just making it more expedient.

Could this be why the remanufactured parts do not get billed out with new parts? I suspect that. That procedure usually applies to “sublet” work, also.

When I was a service writer at a car dealer we didn’t do that. We had a big rubber stamp that printed, “VEHICLE UNSAFE TO DRIVE, OWNER ADVISED” and a space for the owner to sign, acknowledging that, before they were given a copy of the estimate. It was intimidating to some, but was a definite liability issue.

However, on more than one occasion, when the customer read the message, he/she would ask, “How soon can repairs begin?”

It’s hard to estimate how many accidents, injuries, or deaths were prevented by this procedure.
CSA

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63

I forgot I get a notice when this is responded to so I’ll only comment this once for the day to other posts.

I know for a FACT the shop owner is NOT on this site watching his mechanic be told he is incompetent.

I DID NOT- as I’ve written before- tell the mechanic I was on a budget. What that word means to me at this very moment and what it means to someone else I’m sure are two different things. He doesn’t know whether I plan to have someone else do the work or not. I didn’t ask what parts I need to do the job. I made an appointment, got the estimate, asked for some clarification of the estimate, made a tentative appointment and that was basically it. I asked about my rim outside as we were saying goodbye. I also asked if he had a chance to look at my tire, knew the answer since the other 2 times fell on deaf ears then said it didn’t matter, I’ll just buy a new one to match the other 3 new ones I purchased from the same chain store in a different city.

I DID NOT ask the mechanic what parts I needed. They are listed on the estimate. I began questioning the numbers when I got home and replayed his words in my mind. I feel they are desperate to have some work coming in. Like I already said, there are 6 smaller mechanic shops in this little town. In my opinion, that is why he wanted to close the deal before I saw the cost… his first attempt was before he handed me the papers. Who would know better about the was things went and felt they were going than the only person who was actually there?

Regarding labor: He said he is installing the caliper for $29.99. I had asked what that amount meant. Its the labor charge for installing just the caliper. He said he is doing the rest of the brakes for $60 and that is the total and only amounts he is charging me for labor.
Again, the $80 some dollar amount under labor is the cost of the caliper itself, listed under the Labor section without a part number. I don’t know why he listed it that way.

I have since added up the parts if purchased through O’Reilly’s plus the amount my guy will do it for that matches Farm & Fleets labor charge and they aren’t differing all that much. I am on a time frame as well and in THIS instance, I don’t have time to order from EBay. I want the limited warranty as well.

When Chrysler was installing my subframe, they TOLD me to purchase the parts myself for the tie rods and sway bar links I wanted to replace since it was in for repair anyway and they would go ahead and install them. I had just won a jackpot so I was taking care of repairs I needed in the future all at once. I asked if they’d really do that- allow me to purchase non Mopar parts from somewhere else and they’d install them. They said they don’t have a problem with it. Maybe because Chrysler Headquarters was paying for the rest of the repair and wanted to look helpful to headquarters? I don’t know why but was grateful for the price break. Maybe that’s just how this small town is. I’m fairly new here. Chrysler was just doing the inevitable. Like I already wrote, there have been complaint after complaint about my make and model and the rust issues. There gave been class action suits filed. My car was one month outside the covered time frame where they were fixing the cars at no costl- mine was Nov and the manufacture month that was covered was Oct. Sooner or later, my car would be included in a suit somewhere because I was keeping it.

I decided overnight to go with Farm & Fleet for the warranty they guarantee but I didn’t post that yet… I was pre-occupied with other posts.

For the last time, I am not getting a new rim now or know when I will. I just know I like my car too much to drive it with a rusted rim forever. If I couldn’t find a replacement rim, as it was indicated finding one may be difficult, a quick check on eBay proved otherwise. There are plenty for purchase.

I’ve been a buyer and seller on eBay since the late 90’s. I have had no issues with purchasing quality merchandise at a great discount with customer satisfaction the utmost priority. You will never get “stuck” with something that is not what it states it is or of different quality than portrayed.

Have a lovely day

64

Clearly, they didn’t charge you labor, as removing those parts was part of the subframe repair. Might as well install new parts, as opposed to old

That said, it’s quite probable the dealer was not able to offer you warranty on those non-mopar parts which you supplied. But you’re probably okay with that

Same goes for any other shop that is willing to install customer-supplied parts . . . and most shops are NOT willing, as you may have learned by now . . . but we’ve already been through that

65

Yup!
On this site, and on others that I frequent, a question will be asked, and if the answers don’t conform to the questioner’s preconceived notions, then the advice is rejected as…meaningless…or worse, and the respondent will often wind up being insulted for having provided an answer that the OP did not anticipate.

:unamused:

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66

For what it’s worth (and arguably, that isn’t much,)
my first read through of this post also had me wondering why the original poster was trying to go skimpy on a brake job while looking to purchase new (and seemingly unnecessary,) wheels on a tight budget. I, too, was questioning priorities

:unamused:

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67

Too many posts, hope this is pertinent, brake guys suggested replacing calipers on the passenger side due to high failure rate. I do not remember the price, but as 90% of my time is in town driving, and the calipers were not exhibiting problems I declined the upgrade. 85k miles later brakes redone, and calipers are fine. Now I am not disrespecting the original brake guys suggestion, aluminum calipers prone to failure I suppose, there are no guarantees, but I dodged the bullet so far.

68

Yup!
IMHO, that is the epitome of badly misplaced priorities.

:confused:

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69

ANd we’re back at the rim thing AGAIN? My first post says nothing about the
rim!! If it does, I will give you a million bucks. My first post says
"Newbie here. And I went into complete detail of my estimate. Then Mr.
Volvo said I gave too much information…then I spoke with other people for
awhile, then my rim came up. And here you are, poking the snake once again
and ONCE AGAIN…YOU ARE INCORRECT!!!

I will take a picture of my tire and rim and post it tomorrow. I can’t
simply wipe off the massive amount of rust it accumulated. I don’t know why
it happened…I took someone else’s advice that it was brake dust.

70

Are you SERIOUS?? My first post says I want to get a rim?

71

No, but this quote of yours is from a later post and seems to indicate that.

Yeah, I think that’s why I’m going to check out new rims.

72

I’m sure they didn’t charge labor either but I do know the parts are not under their warranty of course. Chrysler is where I went for an estimate and told I needed an entire new subframe, the tie rods and sway bar links all done. Chrysler Headquarters paid for all but $1300 which I paid for the work to be done-$1110 for the subframe, $200 for the tie rod repair, to install 2 different tires and rotate the other two. I was grateful I was allowed to do that.

73

Here is what I said EXACTLY, but you can all go up to the top and read it yourself. HOW it was twisyed to SEEM like it was a priority is just appalling.

“My rim now has to be replaced since the rusted rotor threw rust on it. I would think if it was metal on metal that the rotor would be shiny, but it’s opposite of that. When I get a new rim, I definitely do not want a lot of brake dust all over it.”

I said it has to be replaced. not WHEN, for the what-10th time on this subject?
@oldtimer-11 began saying how I put getting a rim a priority over getting my brakes done while the rest ran with it. That was blatantly false.

74

@jdmere NOT IN THE FIRST POST…NOT UNTIL AFTER I GOT ADVICE ABOUT THE BRAKES.
It “SEEMS TO INDICATE” is what you said. No, you are ASSUMING in your own mind but it is clearly NOT what I said. You are picking out that quote from a casual conversation about used rims on eBay.

75

Hi. I went back and reread the whole thread because I wanted to figure out just where we hit the skids. Aside from an unhelpful comment at first, the rest of the replies were relevant and respectful. Then I think there were some comments where OP and respondents over- or misinterpreted each other and now it’s gotten legitimately heated. In the interest in dialing down the tension, let’s step back - was the original question as written answered? Maybe it’s worth rewinding to a more innocent time in this discussion when no one was going beyond what was written and asked. Thanks. :slight_smile:

76

@Cdquila I was fine with the advice I was getting and the discussions over
what brake pads are better. You can see where someone made a snippy
comment, soon others followed, twisting my words, saying things they only
assumed…I became irritated after it was assumed that I “wore the mechanic
down”. Perhaps I was expected to say nothing, but I wasn’t raised that
way. It seems then that the focus was shifted to try to make it look like I
did something wrong and soon it was turned into being all about me making
it a priority to get a new rim over a brake job which couldn’t be further
from the truth.

77

All auto parts stores have cleaners which are geared specifically towards rims

I have confidence, you can get that rim looking great again :thumbsup:

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78

Based on what she’s said, she can’t wipe it off because it isn’t rust. She let brake dust sit on the wheel too long, it got wet, and pitted the wheel. You can’t wipe it off because it’s physical damage to the surface, not a stain. The solution is to have the wheel refinished unless you can get another wheel cheaper than what you’d spend at the body shop.

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79

I hate quoting myself, but I’m not sure you saw this from a couple days, ago.

I found this stuff fairly amazing at removing brake dust, rust, and gorp from wheels, plus it’s fun!

It comes in a black 22 oz. bottle, sprays on this cool glowing green color and when it contacts all the mung it turns red! On really stubborn stuff you may need to assist with a brush or sponge, even do this twice.

It’s worth trying before buying rims. If it’s not a major success on this then it can still be used for general wheel cleaning.

I can’t wait to clean my wheels, again! :smile:
CSA

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80

You can come clean mine, if you like it that much. I’ve got 24 you can do! :smiley:

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