Cost of a brake job?

[eggzz]

Ok, I have my car in the shop as we speak. It needs brake pads and rotors, both front and rear. It is a 2002 Jetta Turbo. I'm wondering if I'm getting the run around. This shop is pretty good, and has a reputation for being expensive, but do any of you guys know from experience how much this job should cost me? Don't make a wild guess if you don't know. Thanks!

After I get a good feel on price, I'll tell you what I paid.

Thanks!

[ThaSaltCracka]

what are the rotors? I know Midas charges like $65 for brake jobs. It really shouldn't be much, brakes are all pretty cheap.

[stabn]

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It needs brake pads and rotors, both front and rear.


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Why does a 2002 need new rotors? You should get them machined instead.

[Shajen]

My old exploder needed front rotors replaced, along with the pads and shoes.

Cost was ~$1000. I felt I got gyped, except I didn't have to pay for it, it was covered under my warranty.

I'm guessing for your car it's in the neighborhood of ~900...am I close?

[eggzz]

It does have 50,000 miles on it, he said they were in pretty bad shape.

[stabn]

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It does have 50,000 miles on it, he said they were in pretty bad shape.


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Unless you'd been hearing a scraping sound when breaking for a long time i would have gotten a second opinion. I heard a loud SCRRRRRSSSHHHh the last time i drove my pickup before getting my pads replaces and having my rotors machined and it was no problem having them machined. Of course, i never brought it into a shop, so i don't know if they would have told me to replace them.

[ThaSaltCracka]

have you never changed your brakes?

[eggzz]

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It does have 50,000 miles on it, he said they were in pretty bad shape.


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Unless you'd been hearing a scraping sound when breaking for a long time i would have gotten a second opinion. I heard a loud SCRRRRRSSSHHHh the last time i drove my pickup before getting my pads replaces and having my rotors machined and it was no problem having them machined. Of course, i never brought it into a shop, so i don't know if they would have told me to replace them.

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First to Cracker, of course I have had my brakes replaced, but this cost was a little high to stomach, so I asked for input.

Second, to Stabn, yes there was a very difinitive scraping noise...problem...this is the old woman's car, and she likely didn't hear a thing until it got louder than the radio, so it is likely that we could have preserved the rotors, had she said something earlier. Gotta love women.

Also, the check engine light came on, which I believe was the brake system telling me the brakes were going downhill fast.

Total cost today was seven hundred bucks.

[MHarris]

The rotors that are on many newer vehicles are:
1) made of a composite material that machines VERY poorly, and
2) usually have thin braking surfaces that, when machined, become thinner than the specification, thus warping much more easily and leading to bad brake pulsations.

[MHarris]

I'm not really familiar with VW's, but I did work in the auto repair field for a few years. I wouldn't be surprised if your Jetta called for new rotors with every brake job. It also may have ceramic brake pads, which are pretty expensive. If that's the case, maybe $350-400 per axle, depending on your shop's labor charges. If you can get the front rotors machined, wonderful. That would knock at least $150 off your bill. The rear rotors cannot be machined.

[slickpoppa]

Brake pads are pretty cheap, but rotors are expensive. I don't know exact numbers, but I am not surprised that the estimate seems high to you. However, it is somewhat surprising that your car is less than 3 years old and needs new rotors.

[slickpoppa]

I did a quick search on an auto parts website and rotors are ~$80 and pads are ~$40, so 4*(40+80) + 150 for labor + yada yada = $700. Could be more like $800 with more expensive pads. Am I close?

[IggyWH]

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However, it is somewhat surprising that your car is less than 3 years old and needs new rotors.

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Not really...

Considering he said it was the old ladies car, who knows how long she's been braking metal on metal. If he said it was loud then I'm assuming it was a while.

Rotors SHOULD last you 100,000 miles as long as you keep your brake pads maitenance up. Once you don't though, it doesn't take much to kill a rotor.

I just pulled a moronic move and let my brake pads get too low. I have a '94 Blazer and it loves to make noise. I heard the noise for about a month but never felt any vibration from the braking. Come to find out my front right rotor was being used as my brake pad. Just the one would have run me $350 at a shop. Luckily we had a warm day after Christmas and my pops did it for me.

[eggzz]

Well you guys were all spot on. The guy did tell me that he has never done a Jetta brake job without replacing the rotors. He seemed to agree with the guy who said its very tough to machine this rotor.

As I stated above, the total cost was actually 750 bucks, but he also had to replace a caliper hose which was 35 bucks. I guess it was reasonable, and the old lady swears that she just started hearing the scraping noises the other day.

Now a follow up question, what is the normal mileage one should get out of brake pads before you can expect to replace them? 30,000 or so?

[cardcounter0]

How long should brake pads last? At least 35,000.

However, considering the shape your brakes were in after 50,000 miles and the fact that the Jetta isn't exactly a heavy car --- Me thinks your woman driver likes to mash those brakes.

She is either riding them, or is one of those people that has to hit the brakes every 50 feet going down the hiway for no reason.

Accelerate quickly and them slam 'em on 20 feet down the road at the next red light?

Either way, I think I would be taking the car for a spin every 20,000 or so, and see if the brakes are starting to fade bad or feel mushy.

[CCx]

do it yourself...i change my brakes and it's so much cheaper to just buy the pads and/or rotors and pick up a socket set

[IggyWH]

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How long should brake pads last? At least 35,000.

However, considering the shape your brakes were in after 50,000 miles and the fact that the Jetta isn't exactly a heavy car --- Me thinks your woman driver likes to mash those brakes.

She is either riding them, or is one of those people that has to hit the brakes every 50 feet going down the hiway for no reason.

Accelerate quickly and them slam 'em on 20 feet down the road at the next red light?

Either way, I think I would be taking the car for a spin every 20,000 or so, and see if the brakes are starting to fade bad or feel mushy.

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Couldn't have said it better myself... 2 thumbs up!