Work done on my brakes - price sound about right ?

Snow-Munki · 10 Aug 2010 at 22:57

Had to take my car in today as basically the handbrake wasn't work and I knew my rear pads were going.

In the end the bill came to this:

Brake pads - £55
Brake clean - £25
Calipers - £156
Fluid Change - £32
Labour £85

I have no idea if that is correct, oh just a 1.8 Nissan Alerma 2000.

Just wanted to check it sounds about right.... bit late I know ....

iaind · 10 Aug 2010 at 22:59

Snow-Munki said:
Brake clean - £25

Maz · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:01

Why did they replace the calipers? Oh why clean the brakes when they've just been replaced?

Snow-Munki · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:05

I 'think' they just replaced the pads first and cleaned 'them' and later found out the calipers also needed to be changed.

He showed me the calipers and they seem pretty worn out, not been changed before. ??

iaind · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:07

Calipers arent routine maintenance - what makes you think they looked worn out?

Howard · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:07

You wouldn't replace calipers unless they were faulty - i.e. seized/sticking. They're not "consumables" unlike the disks and pads. :confused:

Snow-Munki · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:09

Howard said:
You wouldn't replace calipers unless they were faulty - i.e. seized/sticking. They're not "consumables" unlike the disks and pads.

Pretty sure he said the part which attaches to the handbrake had seized. Which is why the handbrake was no longer working.

Noticed it a lot the other day when my car kept rolling down a hill

Maz · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:09

Snow-Munki said:
I 'think' they just replaced the pads first and cleaned 'them' and later found out the calipers also needed to be changed.

He showed me the calipers and they seem pretty worn out, not been changed before. ??

The calipers aren't really something that needs to be replaced unless they stop working or start leaking.

It's not as if they need to be changed every so often or every so many miles.

MikeHiow · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:14

Its entirely possible the caliper needed replacing because the handbrake mechanism broke.

That said, there should have been no reason to clean the brakes if that was the case, so something is amiss somewhere, imo.

Snow-Munki · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:17

Thanks so main concern would be the 'cleaning'

Might call them tomorrow and just ask again but no doubt they'll give some excuse. Was bit of a rush job and had to get it done today so didn't get a chance to shop around so much. Just took it somewhere I was recommended

rare · 10 Aug 2010 at 23:21

Sounds about right to me. Remember most garages will mark up parts prices,and sometimes they will make a healthy profit on them. In fairness the prices there arent terrible, but clearly you could have saved some money if you had sourced the bits yourself.

That being said they are there to make a living and it doesnt seem like they ripped you off.

25 for cleaning is the only bit that is a bit odd, they bassicly have charged you for a can of brake cleaner which is a couple of quid. Pads probably cost them 25-30 and calipers about 50 each I would have said.

dalin80 · 11 Aug 2010 at 07:19

rare said:
Pads probably cost them 25-30 and calipers about 50 each I would have said.

Only for cheap and nasty stuff, Japanese cars usually have pretty expensive parts, wouldnt have been surprised if the pads were 45/50 and the calipers were 90 each.

Matt82 · 11 Aug 2010 at 09:24

£30 for pads on my golf = pagid

Nathan · 11 Aug 2010 at 10:10

Its all mostly ok for a garage apart from the "clean"

UltimateBadger · 11 Aug 2010 at 11:27

Why not do the work yourself? It isn't difficult.

dale1uk · 11 Aug 2010 at 11:36

Couldn't the 'brake clean' be cleaning/skimming the discs?

dalin80 · 11 Aug 2010 at 12:49

Its more likely to be cleaning the pad carrier, it has to be removed, slides removed, filed, cleaned and re-greased.

easy to do but takes a bit of time.

tigerstyle · 11 Aug 2010 at 13:35

dalin80 said:
Its more likely to be cleaning the pad carrier, it has to be removed, slides removed, filed, cleaned and re-greased.

easy to do but takes a bit of time.

You wouldn't need to do that on new calipers? And anyhoo thats what labour is for, I wouldn't worry about the price, its to late, you've already paid it! Rush job as you say sowhatcanyado

Participant · 11 Aug 2010 at 13:45

UltimateBadger said:
Why not do the work yourself? It isn't difficult.

Difficult or not, you have to have some degree of mechanical knowledge and confidence to safely work on brakes.

Clarkey · 11 Aug 2010 at 13:48

Snow-Munki said:
Had to take my car in today as basically the handbrake wasn't work and I knew my rear pads were going.

In the end the bill came to this:

Brake pads - £55
Brake clean - £25
Calipers - £156
Fluid Change - £32
Labour £85

I have no idea if that is correct, oh just a 1.8 Nissan Alerma 2000.

Just wanted to check it sounds about right.... bit late I know ....

There's a fairly decent mark up on the pads, fair enough though I'd do the same.
Brake clean is a con, should be included in labour.
Caliper is fair enough if it was seized or broke, entirely believable, they are often quite expensive too.
Fluid change is a rip, fluid costs a fiver, add 15 minutes to the labour.

Seems an odd way to bill someone, you charge for parts/materials and labour, not random things like 'brake clean' or 'fluid change'.