VW brake job rip-off???

Hi everyone,

Just looking for a bit of feedback:

I've got a 99 Jetta TDI with 37K (mostly city) miles, and was told that I needed new brake pads and rotors for all four tires (the rear brakes being totally gone, the front about to go very soon). VW dealership quoted me a total of about $900-$950 USD, which I knew off the bat was a ripoff. I took the car to a local auto repair shop my friend recommended to me, and had the brake job done for $600 USD, with OEM parts. I was told that that front cost $340 to do, and the rear about $260--had the job been broken up as such--since front brakes are beefier. My question is, was this a reasonable price to pay someone for a four-wheel brake pad and rotor job? Any feedback/opinions are much appreciated. Thanks.

Reply to
TDI in Boston
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$340 isn't too bad at all considering you have to pay labour. I Did a front brake job - $316 for parts alone (in Canadian dollars) - cross drilled rotors, and performance pads (not all that much more in the scheme of things, but it will definately drive up the cost a fair little bit)... The dealer quoted me $550 for the front brakes - so I think your pricing is in line with VW dealers, and my dealer doesn't tend to try to rip me off, as I know the service manager quite well... That's just how much they charge, it's better to take it elsewhere.

I can't imagine the rear brakes being all that much cheaper then the fronts... Pads are about the same size, discs are smaller and non vented so you save money there.

I think $600 is reasonable for the whole car... but be carefull you might not really need new disks, unless the old ones are warped you should be able to get a long life out of them, how many Kms (miles) are on them? We have

Reply to
Rob Guenther

Well at about 75k miles I put front and rear pads and front rotars on my

99.5 jetta tdi. Total cost of parts and a special tool for rear wheel cylinders was under $100. It took less then 2 hours in my garage. Plus I've got the tool for next time. You most likely only needed rear pads. They are soft and wear fast. My front ones were still good but the rotors were warped so I put pads on too.

Glad I can do my own work as I can't afford others prices. JoBo

Reply to
Jo Bo

First one must know what the labor rate for the dealer was? When you say your mechanic used OEM parts, does that mean he ran over to the VW dealer and purchased the pads and rotors. If so you most likely paid VW list price for the OEM parts and the only difference was the cost of labor. At our dealer the price would be in the $600 ballpark but our labor rate is $72 per hour. As for getting 37K in city driving, you done good, especially if they drive anything close like the drivers from New York city.

Reply to
Woodchuck

I just always have to chuckle when people have work done on their car by a shop AND THEN ask did I get ripped off.

I am in contact with shops all day and that is the major complaint ~ people agree to have work done for a certain price THEN complain b/c they found someone who was cheaper.

Moral: do some research before agreeing on any service! Of course, there are times when you are literally stuck, but in the case of brakes you are going to have plenty of warning!

I have found that the automobile repair business is so competitive that many shops here in central FL will either do a free estimate or you can merely call them and say how much would it be for such and such....they are GLAD to get on the phone to the parts store or dealer to get prices.....then they consult the labor guide and tell you what it will cost to replace those parts!

Most customers don't realize HOW EXPENSIVE it has to be to run a 3 bay shop, not to mention a 30 bay dealership!

Reply to
Simplstupd

I just did my Passat brakes, both axles, pads and rotors. The parts were about $100 for the rear and $150 for the front. Pads were about 1/3, rotors about 2/3 of the cost.

Reply to
JeffN

I do my own brake jobs on my '89 Golf. Maybe $30 for the pads, $30 each for the rotors (usually not needed). So, $100 and 40 minutes (or less) later I'm outta there for the fronts. The rears are drums, and when I replace them I'll let you know how bad it is.

The big issue with professional shops is that they've got huge liability costs, and in order to have a chance if / when they get sued these shops tend to replace everything each time they touch the brakes. You pay for the shop's insurance, and you pay for the extra "not really needed" parts mandated by the legal environment. In my case they'd have to use dealer part$, replace all pad$, rotor$ and drum$, and charge enough to pay for the liability insurance. Hence, a $100 repair in my driveway would become a $650 bill at the local brake shop, or $800 at the local dealership.

Tim Wohlford '89 Golf

246,000 miles
Reply to
Tim Wohlford

does it have electronic wear sensors on the pads?

Reply to
®

The Dealer I worked for always replaced rotors on a2's (CAD 25.00 each retail) and a3's (46.00 each retail) and a4's usually got 1 turn in their rotor life. So the cost on rotors is enevitable on VW'S as they make them of softer metal. The bonus of this is no squeaky brake syndrome. How ever I've never pulled a set of vw brakes that weren't mushroomed. The price you got doesn't sound too far out of wack but you do want to stay away from "lifetime Warranty" on brake pads because those usually DO eat rotors and the shops that do them usually want you back to check them "for free" every 6 months or so. Gives them an oportunity to get you for more work

Hope their working good now

Tristen

86 golf (pepi) 88 westfalia (bogart)
Reply to
Tristen S

Sheesh...I have gotten 64k miles on my brakes (twice) with heavy Chicago city driving. I'd die if I only got 37k miles per brake job. What's weird is that at 130k miles, I still on my original rear (drum) brakes. They just keep going and going and going.............

Reply to
nospam

Man, how can that be? When I did the rotors, pads, and bearings on the front and back of my 98 Jetta GLX I mail ordered the parts and they were over $300. (Come to think of it I just did the bearings on the back IIRC).

Reply to
timeOday

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