where do you guys get your brakes done/checked?

[adrian]

It looks like I'll need to have my brakes checked on my car, because they're squealing when I brake when I reverse from my garage.

Sure, I can go to any shop, but I don't want to get reamed by not having them do anything.

[pzarquon]

Fascinating that you posted this today, Adrian. I just took my van into Lex Brodie's on Queen Street today to get the brakes redone. Basically replaced everything in front, changed pads and other fiddlybits in back. Went in at 7 a.m., van was done by 2 p.m. Cost: $800.

Okay, that probably qualifies as being "reamed," and I wish I were mechanically inclined to do this sort of stuff myself. But, Lex has been good to me over the years (and I love how their eyes bug out over my multi-page customer record), so I keep going back. I don't mind being [expletive deleted] as long as I'm being kissed, as they say...

[tutusue]

Fascinating that you posted this today, Adrian. I just took my van into Lex Brodie's on Queen Street today to get the brakes redone. Basically replaced everything in front, changed pads and other fiddlybits in back. Went in at 7 a.m., van was done by 2 p.m. Cost: $800.[...]
:eek: :eek: :eek:
Maybe German car repair bills aren't so bad after all!!!

[CranBeree]

wouldn't firestone or midas be a better/less expensive option? just wondering...

[Composite 2992]

I used to do them myself, especially if was just replacing the pads or shoes. Real easy.

But now I just take the Honda hybrid to Tony Honda.

If it's my Explorer, I go to McKenna's.

[craigwatanabe]

Fascinating that you posted this today, Adrian. I just took my van into Lex Brodie's on Queen Street today to get the brakes redone. Basically replaced everything in front, changed pads and other fiddlybits in back. Went in at 7 a.m., van was done by 2 p.m. Cost: $800.

Okay, that probably qualifies as being "reamed," and I wish I were mechanically inclined to do this sort of stuff myself. But, Lex has been good to me over the years (and I love how their eyes bug out over my multi-page customer record), so I keep going back. I don't mind being [expletive deleted] as long as I'm being kissed, as they say...

$800 sounds around right when you consider they replaced everything up front and a few "fiddlybits" in the rear.

I never did my own brakes before but I did so on my AstroVan a few months ago. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I replaced the front rotors and the pads myself.

[Da Rolling Eye]

My experience. I do all my own brake work and some for family members. Never had to change out a rotor or drum. Never came across one that was so warped or gouged that it needed replacing. Never had any problems afterwards for not changing them.

Pads cost maybe $60. Maybe the same for shoes with the core fees. Add a few bucks for extra brake fluid. There isn't much to change out at all, for any brake job. Pads or shoes and top off brake fluid. Rotors and drums get changed out only if they're too warped or gouged to be resurfaced. If you haven't run the pads or shoes down to bare metal, it's not a problem and is rarely done because the brakes start to squeak like a dickens before that happens. Kind of a built in alarm.

If you really gotta have a mechanic do it, reconsider taking your car back to the dealer unless it's under warranty. Check around at some of the independent auto mechanics. I know there's quite a few in Waipahu. They'll normally quote you a couple hundred less than the dealer. Shop around.

Story. My brother owns a Saturn. His mechanic told him his front brakes needed to be changed. The dealer quoted him almost $1200....just for the front brakes.:confused: The mechanic quoted him $800. :confused: I did it for him for the cost of the pads. $60 plus 1 hour of my time. His rotors were just fine and didn't need any resurfacing or replacing. He hasn't had any brake problems since, almost 2 years ago. :p

[Pomai]

Story. My brother owns a Saturn. His mechanic told him his front brakes needed to be changed. The dealer quoted him almost $1200....just for the front brakes.:confused: The mechanic quoted him $800. :confused: I did it for him for the cost of the pads. $60 plus 1 hour of my time. His rotors were just fine and didn't need any resurfacing or replacing. He hasn't had any brake problems since, almost 2 years ago.Amen brother. Amen!

Story as well: My girlfriend's front brake pads were ready to replace, as the metal indicators began that audible screeching sound when the brakes were applied. This was when the car hit just over 35k miles and out of warranty.

So I told her to get an estimate at the Midas on King, just before Keeaumoku st., because I've had good experiences there BEFORE.

So she calls me and tells me the estimate was $1200 because they need to replace the entire brake assembly in front. I was like "WT???!!" According to the (new? and very cocky) manager there, the rotors were so badly damaged, he said they had to replace it, plus other "fiddlybits". This "included" new pads for the rear axle.

So she puts me on the phone with the manager, and the chump tells me yadda yadda yadda, and I then tell her to tell them we're going to get another estimate elsewhere. The manager gets back on the phone and started giving me this wise@ss this and that and why she should just sign the dotted line and do it, and I basically hung the phone up on him, called her back on her cell and told her to get the hell outta' there. :mad:

So I told her to try this small hole-in-the-wall mechanics shop on Queen's st. called Queen's Radiator (located near Office Depot behind Ward Entertainment Center). He did a sweet deal for me once when replacing my radiator on my old Honda, and I remember his sign also said he did brakes. Really nice guy.

So she took her car there. He inspected the front brakes and said that the Midas shop was full of s##t. He replaced the front brake pads and resurfaced the rotors for $220. Cha-ching! She just saved $980 in unnecessary car repair costs.

From that last brake job, her car still runs (and brakes) like a charm.

I should have complained to the corporate head of Midas, or even worse, to local authorities. And this goes on EVERY SINGLE DAY in the auto repair industry. Either misdiagnosis or HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

I'm not bashing Midas, but there ARE good and bad apples out there, no matter where you go. We just happened to run into a bad one.

[Kungpao]

I agree totally on the good apple bad apple thought. Some guys just don't give a rat about their customers and will just say to replace things rather than repair them.

Honestly, PZ brakes aren't that difficult of a job. There are plenty of Internet resources that can help you out there if you want to save some $$

I do them for myself and for my friends. A friend of mine was so distraught that it cost so much for brakes one time cause he was saving for his wedding. I took him over to the parts store, had him pick out which quality brakes he wanted and we went back and installed them for him. He even got a free lesson in brake jobs lol. After much fussing, he MADE me let him take me to lunch for the work and he STILL saved a boat load.

[tutusue]

[...]And this goes on EVERY SINGLE DAY in the auto repair industry. Either misdiagnosis or HIGHWAY ROBBERY.[...]
This is precisely the reason I only buy cars my mechanic specializes in repairing. I won't give that guy up. As a single female I'm a sitting duck for unscrupulous repair shops. Been there...done that. Then I found Tim almost 25 years ago. He's worth his weight in gold and while that limits me to the makes of cars I buy, keeping Tim in my life is worth it.

[lihingmui]

Island Brakes in Waimalu, across from the shopping center. $600.00 for front brakes a couple of years ago. I didn't feel ripped off.

[joshuatree]

To all the DIY'ers out there, how do you tell when you need to have the rotors resurfaced? I've replaced pads on my own a few times but just don't have the experience on knowing when to resurface rotors. What do they normally charge if you just bring in the rotors for some resurfacing?

[Da Rolling Eye]

Don't rightly know how much they charge these days for resurfacing.

Rotors will take on shallow grooves and a gloss or glazing. The glazing can be worked out with a little sandpaper, if you feel that it has to be done. So long as the grooves are real shallow and have no sharp peaks and valleys, the rotor should be fine. Most of the time, they are. You'd have to have really abused your brakes to lay gouges into them. Like continueing to use them when there's all kinds of grinding sounds along with the loud squeaking.

I drive an 89 Nissan P/U and have not changed the rotors or drums since I bought the thang brand new. I've changed out the pads and shoes at least three times and have never sent my rotors or drums out for machining. The drum surfaces are still smooth and the rotors only have very shallow grooves. This truck has over 160,000 miles of rush hour traffic, town and long distance driving.

[Kungpao]

Resurfacing the rotors will only work for a certain amount of time. yes, it's pretty much a matter of evening out the face of the rotor so that it has no grooves and is a nice flat surface again. Rotors have to be a certain thickness to pass inspection (least that's how it is where I live) so as you can imagine... resurfacing will gradually make the rotor thinner.

[zff]

It looks like I'll need to have my brakes checked on my car, because they're squealing when I brake when I reverse from my garage.If your brakes only squeal when you back out of garage in the morning, it's probably nothing to worry about. Occasional brake squealing is completely normal, especially when the discs are cold and there's a little bit of dew.