I had brake trouble when traveling in Nevada this summer. The front had to be rebuilt and the rear had a leaking seal on the axel. The shoes were only worn about one half and had to be replaced because of the oil. The shop said I needed drums also. The drums had never been turned, this was the first time the shoes were replaced, the drums were smooth and did not have a ridge on the edge. I commeted to the service manager about this, but he said they had to be replaced. I was 1700 miles from home and had to go along with it. Did he take me for a ride or can brake drums wear with no visable signs of the wear. He said he measured them.

The total bill was $2777.00 for labor, 2 rotors, 2 calipers. pads, rear drums, shoes and seals.

Thank you for any coments you have.
John

 

WOW, thats bout 100 dollars an hour in labor......

 

By your use of the word "service manager" does this imply that you went to a Ford $tealer$hip ? If so, it's no wonder you got ripped. If not, then it must have been your out of state plates and they knew they had you by the onions !!

 

Thanks for your replies: Pfogle and Nightowl. The total labor was $510.25, the rest was parts. When I got back home I got quotes from Midas, Goodyear, Advance Auto Parts, and Ford. The Ford dealer retail on the parts was about $1,000. The shop I got it fixed at was not a Ford dealer, it was a Midas shop and they charged me over $2,200 for parts.

Thanks again.
Jclenden

 

Hi John,

Sounds like they saw you coming with out of state plates, been there myself, they know your'e stuck and unfamiliar with the area.

I'd be hard pressed to think the Drums were wore out, with no wear ridge. Have you had to replace the rotors before, since they wear faster than the rear drums? How many miles were on them?

Regards, Bob

 

Hi. Bob, The truck had 127,000 miles on it. The rotors and calipers had been replaced before and the rear checked. The last time at 93,000 miles. The rear drums were OK then. They have never been turned nor were they scored.

Thanks,
John

 

I think you complain to the better business burea of that state!

 

File a claim with midas, through their headquarters. give them details...

 

That's a shame...in the future I would always request the return of all used parts (there's usually a space on the work order to check) and pay with a credit card which gives you some options as far as chargebacks while you determine if you were cheated or not. That said, when I went to do the rotors on my E150, there was a huge range of prices up to a couple hundred dollars (I went with the $39 chinese suckers) so I could see about $2K for the whole job going with the most expensive aftermarket replacement parts just going of the Kragen (Partsamerica) website I get about $1300 in parts, give $200 for tax and incidentals, and $500 for labor and that gets you in the 2K range with a generous margin. So I would say they stole about $700 from you. Everything should be broken down on the work order, maybe you have a cause for action? I don't know why the hell mechanics and shops do this to people. There's a bunch of money to be made on cars without all the BS. I happen to have a group of friends that work in the car dealership sales and service industry, and after seeing behind the scenes it makes me sick what goes on. Here's some representative parts prices, maybe you can let us know how the parts on your invoice compare as far as brand and price so we can locate any glaring inconsistencies.

Bendix rotors $203.99x2 (407.98)

Raybestos Calipers $116.99x2 (233.98)
(reman - unloaded)

Bendix OE Pads $97.99

Bendix Drums $172.99x2 (345.98)

Bendix Shoes $166.99

 

Those prices seem a bit high. How many hours did it take? A complete brake job should only take 3 hours tops.

 

jclenden,

Have you owned the van since new? Did you ever complain of pedal pulsation in your brakes (typical of a warped rotor) or vibration (as with an out of balance tire) during the warranty period?
I have an E 150 that I bought new in '94 and after the dealer chased the above mentioned and other brake related problems over three trips to the service department, they finally concluded that the rear drums were out of round and turned them to correct it. The next time I had the drums off they were still smooth with no ridge as you describe, but when I checked them with my drum gauge I found that they had turned them all the way out to the max wear limit. Maybe this is what happened to yours. If there was a service bulletin out on out of round drums, they may have turned yours while it was in for other warranty related service without you being aware of it.

On the other hand, I bought a used car several years ago for one of my daughters that had been owned by a young woman. Her Dad had taken care of the car early in it's life and had impressed upon her the importance of preventive and routine maintenance. Unfortunately, he passed away so she began to take her car to a Midas shop for service and they ate her lunch. She gave me the service receipts when I bought the car from her and they told a very sad story of a young woman on her own being robbed by an unscrupulous shop. The price

Gene

 

Thanks to those who replied: I have complained to Midas Customer Relations and filed a complaint with the Nevada Attorney Generals office. They now admit they made over $500 in errors which I say tainted the entire job and I asked for at least $1030.00 back. I have made a matrix of part prices. Those from Checker (parts America) are Bendix and Raybestos and original Ford. All prices are for 2 items.

<TABLE borderColor=#4c6e03 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=459 border=1><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=6 height=16>

Retail

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=17>

</TD><TD width="9%" height=17>

</TD><TD width="18%" height=17>

</TD><TD width="19%" height=17>

</TD><TD width="17%" height=17>

</TD><TD width="15%" height=17>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

Part name

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>Qty.

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

Midas

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

Midas*

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

Checker**

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

Ford

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

Henderson

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

Tucker GA

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

Auto Parts

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

Dealer

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

Caliper Remfg

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

$ 458.60

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

$ 199.98

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

$ 39.96

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

$ 257.66

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

Front Rotor

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

$ 690.44

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

$ 333.98

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

$ 257.76

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

$ 368.90

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

Rear drum

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>2

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

$ 779.60

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

$ 293.98

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

$ 217.76

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

$ 203.46

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

Total

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

$ 1,928.64

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

$ 827.94

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

$ 515.48

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

$ 830.02

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="22%" height=16>

* From estimate

</TD><TD width="9%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

</TD></TR><TR><TD width="31%" colSpan=2 height=16>

** From web site

</TD><TD width="18%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="19%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="17%" height=16>

</TD><TD width="15%" height=16>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Thanks,
John

 

Glad too see you complained to the Attorney General, my understanding is the Better Business Bureau is a sham.

-J-R-

 

Good for you !! Let em have it !!

 

You know something's wrong when the dealer is a bargain!!

Go get 'em