[ebcgervais]

Hi, my 2001 dodge minivan rear brakes had seized and I didn't like my first estimate so I took it to another garage who gave me a slightly better estimate. Almost everything was replaced on front and rear brakes. Rotors new pads calipers and the quote was 2600. The repairs were done and. I ended bringing the van back because the drivers side rear wheel was making noise. It was beacause the pad or rotor was slightly warped so it was replaced but the tech noticed a burning smell and one of the hoses wasn't working so that was another new bill that brought the cost up to 3000. I took a 10 day trip through mountains etc and within a week returning the brakes go right to the floor. We take it back and it is the rear brakes again. This time it is the brake pump not working. Now we are up to 3500 in brake repairs. Does this sound legit. Had we known it was going to be this much money, we would have purchased another vehicle. The brake pump is used because they don't make the part anymore. Does this sound legit?

 

[binder]

That... sounds high. And like they kinda don't know what they're doing. A brake job should not have 2 call backs.

My 1st pass on things like this is to look at Rockauto.com for the parts, and see what that totals up to. A very quick look shows ~$200 for front pads, rotors and calipers. $150 for rear drums, shoes, springs/hardware. And ~$20 for two drum cylinders (equiv of the caliper for drum brakes.) That's $400USD in parts. Usually shops pay more, so call it $600USD to be fair. (Same day delivery vs ~week for rockauto, so it's not nuts to pay more locally.)

Then estimate labor time multiplied by the shop hourly rate. My mechanic is $92.50/hr. But that's low, I've seen $250/h at indy shops, but that's extreme. Rotors+pads/drums+shoes should be ~1h of labor per axle. A caliper is maybe an extra 15 mins? Call it 4hr generously. WAG of $150/hr gets you to $600.

Not sure what you mean by brake pump. Master cylinder? ABS hydraulic control? Brake booster?

Honestly, brakes are not too hard to DIY if you're at all handy. You might consider that path in the future.

 

[beat_truck]

Does this sound legit?

No, it sounds like your problems are being misdiagnosed and you have been / are being screwed BADLY. No way brake work should cost that much and have so many reasons to keep repeatedly going back with problems and paying more.

 

[Long_Voyager94]

I whole heartedly agree with the others here.

Your getting hosed by a shop that knows you have no idea they're hosing you or your shop has no F-ing clue how to work on a vehicle and is charging you for their F-ups.

I had a shop replace EVERY brake part including lines on my 95 Voyager a handful of years ago, the whole job was $1200. That was new master, booster, lines, hoses, calipers, cylinders, proportioning valve, rotors, drums, pads, shoes, hardware, etc.

Parts for a 4th gens aren't much more expensive, nor are they any harder to work on, so figure $1300-1500 to do the same.

 

[itsallgood]

Did they do a brake fluid flush and bleed the system after all the repairs? It sounds like there is air in the system.

 

[itsallgood]

I use a Fluid Evacuator to change fluids on our vehicles. This is the one I use, it cost $45 more now, but worth the price if you change fluids and any small or big engines. It makes bleeding breaks and doing brake fluid flushes easy by yourself.

FAIRMOUNT® Tools 6.5L Manual Fluid Evacuator (eastwood.com)

 

[beat_truck]

It doesn't take a genius or a machine to bleed brakes / flush brake fluid..... I've done many brake jobs myself without one.

 

[itsallgood]

It doesn't take a genius or a machine to bleed brakes / flush brake fluid..... I've done many brake jobs myself without one.

I would say you need to be wise and educated on the procedure. If you don't know what you're doing, someone can lose their life. I've bled brakes the old fashion way and it takes longer and is more work. The fluid Evacuator just makes it easier and faster. I prefer to work smart and not hard.

Just my opinion.

 

[marvinstockman]

If the brake work was done recently and you paid by credit card, stop payment on the card. You have the power, use it!

 

[Jeepman]

I would say you need to be wise and educated on the procedure. If you don't know what you're doing, someone can lose their life. I've bled brakes the old fashion way and it takes longer and is more work. The fluid Evacuator just makes it easier and faster. I prefer to work smart and not hard.

Just my opinion.

Just don't suck air into the system through a seal, bleeder screw or whatever, especially in older systems, that work fine under positive pressure, but so much when the pressure is negative.

Gravity bleeding, or a one person bleeder, is my long standing normal modus operandi.

A modified $5.00 squeeze bulb siphon pump should work, used one today to get oil out of my lawn mower, the same set-up I use for getting fluid out of the Jeep's differentials.

 

[Ivan Caravan]

Yes very excessive price. Too much $$ Too many mistakes.

However our USA friends should note that prices for almost everything are a lot higher in Canada and our dollar is a lot lower value.

I just had these installed:

Pads Front - NAPA QE Front Brake Pads Semi-Metallic

https://www.napacanada.com/en/search?text=qe7732m&referer=v2

Discs Front - NAPA Premium Front Brake Rotor Smooth

Part #: NDR 748880037

https://www.napacanada.com/en/p/NDR748880037?impressionRank=1

NAPA Canada wants (see above links)

$84.09
$137.79
$137.79
========
$359.67

The shop gave it to me for
$249.95 -parts
$132.00 -labour
------------------
$381.95
Plus Tax
$45.84
-------------
$427.79 Total Bill

Note – he gave me a big discount on the rotors – basically one free.
Add another $200 for front calipers and it would of come to about $585 plus tax.

 

[Jeepman]

Now we are up to 3500 in brake repairs. Does this sound legit. Had we known it was going to be this much money, we would have purchased another vehicle. The brake pump is used because they don't make the part anymore. Does this sound legit?

Seems like a legit ripoff. Some shops will do that. Then again, where did they get the parts? Mopar/OE? Was that the ABS pump?
What's the breakdown of labor, parts, and shop supplies? Can't really say much without that.
Seems like they were "on the learning curve" installers too.

 

[beat_truck]

I would say you need to be wise and educated on the procedure.

I would say I am.

I've bled brakes the old fashion way and it takes longer and is more work.

Yep. That's stating the obvious.

The fluid Evacuator just makes it easier and faster.

But, that doesn't mean it works any better.

I prefer to work smart and not hard.

I prefer to save money by not buying tools that are unnecessary and / or I won't be using regularly.

Just my opinion.

 

[Baron]

....anyway.

i had all my brake stuff redone, everything you had listed here was done excluding the pump, it cost less than 2000, and i thought that was high. i have no words for this 3500 estimate, that's beyond insanity.

 

[Jeepman]

A Power Stop complete Sport kit, from rockauto.com, to here is $1222.85 ($951.00 American). Add to that 4 hours of labor max at $150.00 = $600.00 for a total of $1822.85. Now if that were Mopar parts, new versus remanufactured calipers, plus a rebuild of the "drum in hat" e-brakes, the price could get to the $2600.00, estimate wise. We don't know the OP's details, but I can see it happening. Seems to me that around $700.00 used to be an estimate from Dealerships for replacing pads and rotors, per end, i.e. around $1400 plus tax total for all 4 brakes. Calipers, upsell hoses, and shop supplies would need to be added to that. Maybe even a wheel sensor or two.

2001 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN 3.8L V6 Caliper, Rotor & Brake Pad Kit | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

ABS stuff, by Mopar especially, isn't cheap either, and could add another $1000.00 easily. I was recently quoted $900.00 for a sliding door latch I didn't need. The "Rest of the Story" is in another Thread and it involves warranty work (lock actuator).

2001 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN 3.8L V6 ABS Control Module | RockAuto

RockAuto ships auto parts and body parts from over 300 manufacturers to customers' doors worldwide, all at warehouse prices. Easy to use parts catalog.

www.rockauto.com

Giving a Shop free rein to make a profit off of parts, and upsells, can get the price up there. With auto repairs, one can get caught between a rock and a hard place. Rockauto.com, for example, can be too expensive for freight for heavy items. Partsavatar.ca is mostly where I look for price comparisons for say brake rotors. Feight is free if order is over a certain amount.

Front Disc Brake Upgrade Kit - 909.67003 by CENTRIC PARTS on PartsAvatar.ca

Front Disc Brake Upgrade Kit by CENTRIC PARTS 909.67003

partsavatar.ca

Speaking of being between a rock and a hard place, selling an old vehicle with non functioning brakes isn't a money maker either. It's pretty much a give-a-way. The price to replace the vehicle may be an even worse scenario. Hopefully the $3600 will keep the OP's van working for another couple years, versus buying someone elses problems, or losing thousands in depreciation on a new vehicle.

Being a DIYer, or using a Shop that's qualified and trustworthy, is so important to keep vehicle maintenance costs down. Should be interesting with an EV down the road. Watch out cash register! Material prices will sky rocket (lithium, copper, nicket, graphite, etc.). That's already happening and environment restrictions on mining are/will be getting stricter. What happens to auto Mechanics, do they become Electricians? Fossil fuel generated electricity is cheap now compared to what unsubsidized windmill generated electricity will be down the road. The hidden cost of subsidies - I won't go there.

High repair costs, even with newer vehicles, especially when it comes to brakes, flushes, oil changes, electronics, etc. are fairly normal to the unsavvy eye. Take a peek:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-dealerships-service-upselling-1.4300557

The video:

 

[Dvan]

Hi, my 2001 dodge minivan rear brakes had seized and I didn't like my first estimate so I took it to another garage who gave me a slightly better estimate. Almost everything was replaced on front and rear brakes. Rotors new pads calipers and the quote was 2600. The repairs were done and. I ended bringing the van back because the drivers side rear wheel was making noise. It was beacause the pad or rotor was slightly warped so it was replaced but the tech noticed a burning smell and one of the hoses wasn't working so that was another new bill that brought the cost up to 3000. I took a 10 day trip through mountains etc and within a week returning the brakes go right to the floor. We take it back and it is the rear brakes again. This time it is the brake pump not working. Now we are up to 3500 in brake repairs. Does this sound legit. Had we known it was going to be this much money, we would have purchased another vehicle. The brake pump is used because they don't make the part anymore. Does this sound legit?

Wow that's high? I think it was about a little over a year ago. We had (14 GC) ours done at 55k and it cost a little over $500! We only had to have Pads and rotors replaced. Great Lake rust and salt !

 

[fat_cracka]

My DIY cost a few years ago for rear pads, coated rotors and calipers from RockAuto, $214

 

[Flip7]

Even buying quality parts, I'd calculate no more than $250 per corner (wheel) and probably add another $50 per wheel in labor. So that's $1,200 and you could even pad that with taxes, "consumables" and other charges, like hazardous waste disposal fees some shops add. Bottom line, I don't see how anyone could charge more than about $1,500 and call themselves honest. Brakes are gravy money for repair shops.

 

[BillGrissom]

By "brake pump" do you mean "ABS pump"? That bolts to the "ABS block" so if used they should have gotten all of that. Your story reminds me of when I went to a Brake-O in Atlanta in 1987 with my 1969 Dart. They found an outer wheel bearing had spun in the hub, to ruin it. Their "fix" was to put a new drum on the bad hub and told me "you can replace that part yourself" then charged me something crazy like $350 (about $1600 today). I went to 4 junkyards by bus and couldn't find a Dart/Valiant with 9" drums to get another hub, so had to drive it back to TN with the bearing race loose, since just home for the weekend from a summer job. I finally found a hub in that small city in TN so fixed it myself, and I continued to fix everything myself from then on. The only other time I took the car to a shop, the ASE mechanics couldn't even diagnose the problem (carburetor idling lean), making guesses like "needs a valve job" without even checking compression. Useless grifters who just take your money.

Oh yeah, another time I took a Chrysler RWD transmission to an Aamco in Atlanta to be rebuilt after I found the rebuilt one I was about to install wasn't correct (later year). Aamco told me they had nobody on staff who could rebuild a transmission. Took it to a Cottman who supposedly rebuilt it, but didn't solve the problem I complained about (drain-back overnight, i.e. "morning sickness"). Perhaps they just washed the outside.

 

[shuswap]

I also was ripped off by a 'reputable' trans shop. I / we agreed I would pay $250 extra and they would give me a trans with all new parts, instead of one they just reassembled with whatever was req'd. But they had my trans ready in 2 hrs, which I called out as only doing a re and re. They refused to do anything further and it failed, as I expected within 30k km. Never again, Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
I later located a GM mech who set up his own shop at his home and invited me to come look around and meet him. Heard nothing but good stuff about this fella for years now but I've yet to have another trans fail and I re and re 4 litres of fluid every couple years , which has so far kept everything working very nicely.
AS for brakes, the Rabetsos Element 3 pads and rotors have done very well in 3 of the vehicles I operate. I'd certainly use them again when the time comes. They aren't the cheapest but overall I think they are pretty decent and most of the others I have installed over the years have developed pulsing or hard/soft spots that ruin the braking 'experience' for me.