How much should a brake job cost you? 

That's how they all should be. I wouldn't even mind if it was 200 front and back. A good mechanic will have that done in less then 3 hours. So if he does 3 brake changes for an 8 hour day he makes 600 bucks a day that I'd great. I don't understand why more people wouldn't do this and get customers by the handfuls not being greedy and making great money. U do that 5 days a week that's 3k changing brakes

Where do you buy Akebono brakes?

You always change the calipers for your customers lol I’m sure every customer wants to spend money on new calipers

I hope you mean rotors and not calipers. Otherwise you're scamming people.

If ain't broke don't replace it! Service the calipers instead of replacing it

That makes no sense

So likely what your mechanic is seeing is that it needs rotors and pads, and rear shoes for the brake drums, and looking at the age of your vehicle it's going to need a flush and bleed on all the lines. $600 may sound steep but consider that likely your brakes are going to last a long time assuming I'm right about the situation, and I can see this is the case. I'm sure he could give you some wiggle room on the price though, you just gotta be upfront and ask. Be humble and honest and say you can't afford it all at once. If I were you, I'd break it down into 3 services. Front brake pads, then rear drums, then brake flush. But believe me, a full brake service will last a long time, and really is worth it in my opinion. If you wait too long, the problems get worse and then good parts go bad to super bad lol Just yesterday while doing a full service on a truck I discovered half of the nuts had stripped heads by someone (maybe another shop), a broken bleeder valve and cylinder, and a line broke when changing the rear drum cylinder, and not to mention just to get the tire off we had to gouge out a stripped lug and stud without damaging the rim. Even though the job was priced before my discovery, and then later discovered the headaches, we kept the same price and replaced the broken parts free. This is why some shops don't want to go cheap. Because more often than not, a simple job has hidden problems and the shop eats up those costs by adjusting the price across the board. We master the process of fixing these types of things, and sometimes this stuff doesn't come cheap because we work hard to get good at our jobs, and the costs of tools.... we gotta make enough to money to keep good mechanics in shops. Believe me, when you get a cheap discount shop, it's probably filled with some unhappy techs that you cannot depend on. Hope that helps!

Audi dealer quoted me $1,350 to replace the rear pads and rotors on my wife’s A4. I said thanks but I don’t have time to get it done this time. Went home and purchased the parts online for ~$250 and did it myself. I did have to purchase a hydraulic puller for $90 to get one of the rotors that was stuck to the hub off.

@@gerrimiller7238 yes. Thank you

@@robertaripley Most welcome sir, and I'm fair at my job, and a few bad players make the industry look shady, but you're doing the right thing by getting quotes by different places. One car make (I won't mention names)requires a super expensive 10k tool to properly do the rear brakes, and sometimes that shop can do it alternatively at a cost to them. No shop wants to say "I can't do this job as good as a better specialized shop" but that's the truth. I personally can do your brakes for $200 if you supplied the parts, and $300ish if not, because I am familiar with your model, and being that it's common, I'd say most shops can as well. -Here's one thing you should do. Press on the brakes with the engine off. Keep your foot on the brake and turn the engine off. If you feel the brake pedal drop a little, then you know your master cylinder is working properly (It works by using a vacuum assist from the engine that allows your foot's 90lb of force to become +600lbs). -Then your next step is to test the parking brake. If it functions well, then likely there should be no bigger issues with the brakes. -If the car pulls when you brake, stops hard at a full brake, or vibrates when you brake then you could have a disk or rotor that is bad. -Lastly stick your finger in the brake fluid at the fill up container at the master cylinder. Put your finger in. If the fluid is clear, then you're good. Bad fluid will turn dark, sometimes nearly black, as the fluid brakes down over time. If your things check out, then it's an easy brake pad replacement, your brake pistons are good, and shouldn't take any more than 45 minutes and $300 is a fair price being inclusive with their pads. Also there's a super important method to making sure your brakes last the longest time. It's called "Brake Burnishing" I'm sure there's plenty of RU-vid videos on how to do it. It's a way of braking in your pads to best prevent brake varnishing (which is a reason so many people have brakes and rotors go prematurely.) If you have any more questions, feel free to ask :)

@@fmtien Don't forget to use silicone based lubricant on the sliding pins. This step is very important for your calipers to move freely. This is also the most overlooked process for at home brake jobs, and sometimes causes them to seize. The rubber boots will break slowly with any petroleum based lubricant. I've seen this happen a lot.

Thanks, I am glad it was helpful

You got scammed

Bro they ripped u tf off😭

You think you got ripped off bad, I just got charged $2,000 for rear brakes and rear rotors on a challenger...

@@edp5623lol r u ok ?

I also charge $150 labor per hour and my shop is in california

Thanks for sharing

@@LouisonAutomotive The reason why my brake caliper last forever, especially in our hard winters, is because I completly flush my brake fluid every 3 - 4 years. That also prevent the bleeders from seizing. And when doing a brake job, I pump the caliper piston 3/4 of the way out, lift the dust boot and using a cotton swab moistened with alcohol, clean out the area extremely well (about 25 cotton swabs) before putting in a low viscosity silicone grease under the boot. Those same calipers are now 22 years old with about 205,000 miles in the hands of a friend who bought the vehicle off me.

Thanks for this comment, I have the same car and I think I need the same things done. They told me around $1,000 over the phone (including an oil change) and they didn’t mention charging to hookup a computer.

Case of upselling Customers again...

@@SavedAssembly Yup, and in some cases the computers are 10k and only do 1 brand of vehicle. Shops gotta buy those, and they would go broke selling cheap service. This is why cars are getting expensive the more fancy they are. Maintain those things, keep the service up and you shouldn't get hit with a high price. Brake fluid usually doesn't go bad until 150k miles, but if the brakes are neglected, it could cause a cylinder to go bad, and then you get air and water in the lines..... then fluids bad. That's how it happens usually.

Glad it was helpful!

You are welcome

Any time

I'd pay to watch the absolute ship show it would be to see you change front and rear pads, rotors, and calipers on any car in 45 minutes

Did they say what was wrong with your lower control arms?

Sounds a bit high to me to, however depends on the brand and quality of the pad and rotor, callipers are sometimes expensive to.

It is high...

a bit ???? That is rediculously high...

If you're brake pad needs replacing, this is something your mechanic should be able to show you (the pads will be low). Brake rotors that need replacing also have visible signs of being worn (grooves on rotor, and you can feel a lip on the edge)...however, in some cases, the rotor can also be warped, and you'd know if when you're driving, and press the brakes, you'll feel a kind of pulsing or vibration. The brake calliper..some visible signs that this might need replacing include brake fluid leaking, or uneven wear. Also, a brake caliber might need replacing if your brake pad on the left/right side is lower than the other side (i.e uneven wear on pads), would also indicate that one of the brake callipers is seizing..and would need replacing... Long story short, a mechanic should be able to explain and demonstrate why you need a repair...don't be shy to ask questions. I often invite customers into my shop to explain any costly repairs and why it's necessary. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Weary about taking my cars to dealerships / auto shops for any repairs. Most times, they will charge me more than they should or up sell me for other repairs that the car doesn't need, or just something else.

You think that's bad? A Benz stealership wanted to charge me $1,125 for rear brakes and rotors on an E300. I only took it in for an oil change.

Happy to help!

The $200 is just for the labour....the parts price can vary (depending on quality of the brake pad and rotor)..so yes, add the price of pad+rotor to the $200.

I got two Estimates from Auto Shops a mile apart from each (wait what was i thinking lol only 2 axles on truck) other 1st one said $410 front and back to install pads and shoes $205 per axle includes inspection , installation, parts and measuring the Rotor if need extra! other shop said $125 for parts one axle so $250 for pads and shoes only so about same to install . So I"m starting a buisness starting out should i advertise "save hundreds 50% off local shop price's"?

Yes totally

$160 to $200 is good for most shops, are you in Toronto?

I thinks that is reasonable, we charge $80 at our shop. So you can charge whatever your hour is worth to you.

$70 for all 4 brake pads or $70 for each brake pad?

That's too cheap if you're wire wheeling everything and greasing everything. But for a pad slap with no greasing and wire wheeling, that's not bad. I'd still charge $100 minimum

If the shop labor rate is a $100 per hour, then the price is fair. Remember it don't matter how long he actually takes to do the job, the industry minimum rate is an hour jobs charge for changing brake pads.

@@LouisonAutomotive i remember in the 90s i could get it done for 40 dollars same amount of time

@@tbrwn2548 High time to start gathering needed tools. Remember, The old saying. IF YOU WANT IT DONE RIGHT, DO IT YOURSELF...

@@tbrwn2548 That's back when honest people existed. This world as we live in today, Is unfortunately about greed

@@marlenejones399 This has been the case for years now...most want to rip people off.

If you rode around for 3 weeks with the brakes grinding, and to the point where you had no brakes at all, you more than likely needed everything replaced. You should have gotten the brakes done before you noticed the sound of metal on metal and then drove it like that for 3 weeks. That's crazy!

@@n8iv386 yea idk what i was thinking, coulda gotten killed

@@UNBAN_LEAFY You're probably right, but what if it was someone else or some innocent child? Could you be lawfully charged with involuntary manslaughter due to your negligence, if they had found out that you were knowingly driving your vehicle for weeks, with faulty brakes? Idk, but that's definitely something to think about.

@@n8iv386 ok

It’s really hard to answer this question, because the coupon is not for me it’s from firestone you’ll have to read the fine print on that coupon or contact firestone. thanks

What kind of car is it?

@@LouisonAutomotive 07 hyundai sonata

4.5 hrs

Are you in Toronto?

@@LouisonAutomotive Detroit

Thanks

Sounds high to me, we will talk more about in our next Q&A

Wow

For one set, Front or Rear

@@LouisonAutomotive thanks so much.

Yeah you'll save money but it won't be a quality job for sure. Your brakes will be gone again in 6 months

lol

That could still be a good deal, all depends on the quality of the parts that was used and if the price included taxes.

Wow!

What part of Bay Area next time hmu I’ll do It por half of that 😬

Must be some top of the line parts, because that sounds a bit high.

I'm guessing you drive a European car? I know some cars require EXPENSIVE tools just to open the brakes. And if the shop doesn't get a lot of those vehicles in, it's gonna charge a lot.

That sounds correct for front and rear pads and rotors

Louison Automotive Inc IG

@@LouisonAutomotive thank you I’ll follow you. What do you figure is an average shop cost for brake pads or pads and rotors for a 2014 Lexus ES350 ? My dad hasn’t had work all year after covid has killed the tourism industry in New Orleans but he needs a brake job and he’s scheduled a shop to do it but I’m trying to figure out how much I can likely save him and how quickly I can get the parts so I can try to convince him to let me do it. I just need to figure everything out fast enough to stop him from leaving in the morning to go and drop his car off.