Super expensive brake job!!!!
07-29-16, 09:18 AM
#1
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Super expensive brake job!!!!
Hi all, stopped by my friendly Lexus dealership in St Louis this morning to take care of minor warranty stuff. Asked them to check rear brakes. They recommended new pads and turning rotors, and saying pads at sensor level. Since I have loaner and am with kids at 6 Flags all day, and don't want to face sensor replacement too, I asked them to do the brakes. It's an eye-watering $395!!!! I could have have declined their recommendation but ....
I will be a little more proactive next time and not box myself into this situation again
I will be a little more proactive next time and not box myself into this situation again
07-29-16, 09:59 AM
#4
Pole Position
Thread Starter
Yes, only turning rear rotors and replacing rear pads!!! I was hoping to do this at an Indy place near home and was hoping there was a bit of pads left. I didn't want to take a chance with having to replace sensors too.
07-29-16, 10:07 AM
#5
Lexus Test Driver
Mine was all 4 corners.
07-29-16, 10:33 AM
#6
Pole Position
Thread Starter
I wonder if the Carista app can tell me how much pad remains. What's the purpose of the sensor if it can't measure thickness?
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07-29-16, 11:01 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
$395 for turning the rotors and replacing pads on one axle from a Lexus dealer is cheap IMHO. My dealer quoted me $375 just to turn my front rotors without replacing the pads. I declined.
You need to find a good independent mechanic to do that sort of stuff, or just understand that you're going to pay a big premium to have them done at the dealer out of ease.
As for the sensors, they do not measure pad thickness. All they do is illuminate the brake light telling you the pads need replaced when they come in contact with the metal rotor.
You need to find a good independent mechanic to do that sort of stuff, or just understand that you're going to pay a big premium to have them done at the dealer out of ease.
As for the sensors, they do not measure pad thickness. All they do is illuminate the brake light telling you the pads need replaced when they come in contact with the metal rotor.
07-29-16, 11:22 AM
#10
Lexus Fanatic
I don't really agree with that at all. Anybody that operates a business sets pricing that covers their overhead, provides the profit margin that they want or need, and that the market will bear. None of us get out of bed in the morning for free right? We're all trying to make as good a living as we can right?
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
Last edited by SW17LS; 07-29-16 at 11:27 AM.
07-29-16, 11:46 AM
#11
I don't really agree with that at all. Anybody that operates a business sets pricing that covers their overhead, provides the profit margin that they want or need, and that the market will bear. None of us get out of bed in the morning for free right? We're all trying to make as good a living as we can right?
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
I agree with you on most of it, but... sometimes the price difference for the same end result is not worth the luxury stuff in-between... They do exagerate on some things...
07-29-16, 12:01 PM
#12
Pole Position
I don't really agree with that at all. Anybody that operates a business sets pricing that covers their overhead, provides the profit margin that they want or need, and that the market will bear. None of us get out of bed in the morning for free right? We're all trying to make as good a living as we can right?
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
They have customers happy to pay their prices. All you have to do is look at their dealer satisfaction ratings to see that by and large their customers are happy. So, if customers are willing to pay, and they leave satisfied, how are they "stealing"? An operation like a Lexus dealer has huge overhead, the building is expensive to design, construct, heat and cool. Insurance to cover the value of what they're working on is expensive. Loaner fleets cost money. They hire more experienced staff which costs more. All those perks and putting greens and cafes, etc etc cost money. So yes, work done there is going to be substantially more expensive than something done at the corner garage that has none of that overhead, but none of those perks. Yes it will cost more than service at a Toyota dealer who's overhead is less, profit margins are less, etc.
Its a luxury experience, and luxury costs money. A hotel room at the Ritz Carlton costs more than a hotel room at the Holiday Inn. Both have a comfortable bed, pool, good locations....is the Ritz Carlton "stealing" by charging more when they have customers willing to pay and who leave happy?
What you have to do as a consumer is understand what the cost differences are, and make an educated decision about where you want to have your vehicle worked on. Is the ease, luxury experience, loaner, etc of the Lexus dealer worth the significant cost difference to you? Perfectly okay if its not, but that doesn't mean the dealer is unfair for charging what other customers will pay...thats business...
For me its relative. I will pay more for the dealer to a certain degree. For instance the 20k service, Lexus was $219, my independent guy was $149. For $70 I will take the loaner, not have to be driven to worker sit around for 2 hours, etc. I was quoted $375 for a brake rotor machining. I know I can get new rotors and pads for that from my independent, so I declined. Had they offered to do that for $150? I would have accepted because it was there already and I don't want to be bothered. I'm not complaining about the dealer overcharging though, because they probably turned 10 sets of rotors that day for $375 each...so godspeed.
For the 30k service on my GS the dealer was $550 and my guy was $250. Thats a premium I won't pay for the dealer. $300 is worth some inconvenience to me. $50? $70? $100? Probably not.
So for me it depends.
And I understand that you shop around a bit and put things in perspective, but many don't and they're being taken advantage of quite a bit.
So I don't think they're stealing, nor do I blame them for capitalizing on a very specific market - a market of people that are willing to pay more, believing they're getting more. When they aren't.
I'm all for paying for more...getting high quality...piece of mind, but there's other ways to do that. Just my opinion.
Last edited by Doublebase; 07-29-16 at 12:05 PM.
07-29-16, 12:06 PM
#13
Pole Position
Thread Starter
$395 for turning the rotors and replacing pads on one axle from a Lexus dealer is cheap IMHO. My dealer quoted me $375 just to turn my front rotors without replacing the pads. I declined.
You need to find a good independent mechanic to do that sort of stuff, or just understand that you're going to pay a big premium to have them done at the dealer out of ease.
As for the sensors, they do not measure pad thickness. All they do is illuminate the brake light telling you the pads need replaced when they come in contact with the metal rotor.
You need to find a good independent mechanic to do that sort of stuff, or just understand that you're going to pay a big premium to have them done at the dealer out of ease.
As for the sensors, they do not measure pad thickness. All they do is illuminate the brake light telling you the pads need replaced when they come in contact with the metal rotor.
07-29-16, 12:15 PM
#14
Money! I have two friends who have way more millions than they can ever spend. Neither of them would pay a dealer that much extra just so they can enjoy their amenities. When I worked at the dealer most customers were middle class and would not even consider going anywhere else. It's all over the board. No different than going to Nordstroms for $250 jeans. Some will most won't. Dealers don't steal. They just bump everything double or more to pay for their wow factor.
07-29-16, 12:29 PM
#15
I also disagree with the term "stealership" and agree with Steve on his thoughts. Here are mine. I go to both the dealer and an independent shop. My indy guy is obnoxiously cheap. I mean sometime I feel like I'm stealing from him! But he's not close to my home or my work. I drive out to his shop, it's a bay in a warehouse with no extra parking if his 3 assigned stalls are taken. There's also no waiting room and I need to either get picked up or walk half a mile to the mall and hang out till he's done. If I go to my dealer I drive right up to the front door to speak with an advisor then I get to wait in an air-conditioned waiting room with Wifi till my driver takes me to work. When the work is completed I call back my driver and get picked up when I'm ready. SO at the end of the day if it's a small job and my schedule is busy I pay for the price of convenience. Any larger job I see my indy guy. Same as dining at Ruth's Chris vs. buying a rib-eye cap at Costco.