(dislike the term 'stealership')

dealer:


average shop:


maybe you don't care about the fancy surroundings but they're not cheap to own/maintain. also, a brand dealer has a manufacturer to answer to in addition to the customer, more paperwork, more computers, much, MUCH more equipment, etc.

i don't go to my dealer very often either, but i don't begrudge them the higher prices or call them names. they're good folks with different business demands/requirements/objectives. i go to a 'plain' repair shop too, run by a guy who worked at my dealer for 10 years, so he knows what he's doing, and because his overhead is way lower, he can charge me less.

 

you're not odd, you just own a very old car, as a student don't have a lot of money, and prefer to spend your money on android devices.

 

Non-ceramic disc brake rotors can only be turned (resurfaced) if enough metal remains on them, measured with a micrometer (as called for in the service/repair manual) for it to be safely done without making them too thin. What happens with a lot of metal rotors is that they warp, or get out of round, with repeated heavy use and heat buildup. When that happens, you feel a pulsation in the brake pedal when you step on it, particularly at cruise-speeds as the wheels spin faster. That happens because the pads/caliper wobble along with the out-of-round rotor it is gripping, transferring those forces to the brake pedal and the car's structure. If severe, it can wobble the steering wheel and the whole front end of the car. A number of factors, including the quality of the metal alloys used in the rotor, how heavy the brakes are used, and how well the rotor is ventilated to keep cool, determine the resistance to warping.

When the rotors are turned (resurfaced), they are mounted on a machine similiar to a metal lathe, spun, and a special metal-cutting blade shaves cuts off the unevenness of the warped metal, leaving a smooth, even surface. With some vehicles (Hondas used to be notorious for this) the rotors also have to be cleaned and washed, by factory-requirement, in a special solution. Obviously, since the shaving process takes off actual metal, this can only be done a certain number of times before the rotors are too thin and have to be scrapped and replaced with new ones. Many newer rotors, because of weight/cost-saving issues in brakes as rotor diameters have grown larger, have only enough metal in them that they can be safely shaved once...then then have to be scrapped and replaced with new ones.

Whether it is cheaper to shave or actually replace rotors, of course, depends on a number of factors....the aforementioned amount of metal still left on the rotor, the shop's going hourly labor-rate, how long it actually takes to do the job and the complexity of disassembling/reassembling the brakes, whether the shop charges by actual time spend by the technician on the job or by a list of charges based on an (estimated) hourly rate/time, no matter what the actual time spent. Other factors include whether the shop pays its techincians strictly by the job or if they receive a straight salary no matter how much or how little they do, and of course, whether or not the car is still under warranty and if the warranty covers brake-wear or rotor-warping (not all warranties do). For warranty work, of course (warranty work usually has to be done at official dealerships), the shop is directly reimbursed by the factory for its time/labor and parts.

 

I take my vehicles to the dealer because at a minimum I know they will stand behind their work if something goes wrong (at least at my dealer) and it really isn't too expensive if you do some of the easy stuff yourself like cabin and air filters. If there is something that may not be covered under warranty, since they look at my service records and see that I take my vehicles there for the service, I have been goodwilled certain things that may not have been provided.

 

I think the key thing is to take your car to someone you can trust. I have heard of bad experiences from both dealers and independence shops.

 

theres never been a truer word spoken.trust is the key.