ToyotaLexus

last Friday, I dropped off my RX at the Lexus dealer. the service advisor
advised me that I needed new brake pads for front and rear. They have
worn down to 2mm(front) and 3mm(rear)... I had expected this, since it's
been a while... however, he also told me that the rotors also needed to
be machined.... The total bill was $610. (the parts cost for the front and
rear brake pads were only $90)

Did my Lexus dealer charge me too much for something that one mechanic
completed in 1.5 hour? (arrived at 1pm and was out the door by 2:30pm)


by comparison, my sister recently had the front AND rear brake pads and
rotors replaced, as well brake fluid flushed, on her old Mercedes AMG C43
(that's 8 Mercedes pads and 4 Mercedes rotors, new MB brake fluid).
It was done at a Mercedes dealership. The total parts and labor cost
was only $520.

Kaydee

well you're forgetting parts...but it still shouldn't come out to that much...maybe somewhere in between 300-400, but then again...it's called stealership for a reason

Lexiss_sc430

iTrader: (2)

in short YES


That job should have cost you less than $150 with OEM parts, less than $120 if you used aftermarket parts.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

A typical aftermarket shop would charge something like this: $70 flat rate for installing pads and turning the rotors on the car for the front, and $90 flat rate for installing pads and turning the rotors on the car for the rear... then you have pad selection - you could have gone with the OEM pads if requested for the same price you paid from the dealer, or you could have gone with a stock compound Wagner pad for $60 an axle... On brake jobs, dealers don't appear to have a flat rate, they go by book time, which is up there for a brake job...

19psi

we charge 2 hours per axle to replace pads and turn rotors, so that would be 4 hours total labor. i don't know what your dealer charges per hour for labor but lexus here charges $105, so that would be $420 for labor plus parts. pads were $90 so that would be $510. hmmm check your invoice, it should be all broken down for you.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Yup... as I said, dealers typically charge based on the labor hour book, versus many independent shops have a flat rate they charge for a front or rear brake job...

benzo555

iTrader: (11)

dang thats a steep brake job you got.. but if you're not inclined to do it then I guess you have to pay.. Its not hard to do either!

olddog

iTrader: (2)

for $610, they machined the rotors?
chances are your rotors could have gone on fine with just the pads.....
had they replaced the rotors and pads for $610, i would consider that unjust.
But replacing pads and machining rotors for $610 is plain highway robbery.
i can install rotors and pads on my GS400 in a little under 1hr...1.5hrs at most. And that was in the cold.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

As an industry, we always machine rotors. It is good insurance to keep new pads quiet and working properly. If we were to just pad slap the brakes, there is a much better chance they will come back with squeaking, squealing, etc.

Also, although I agree that those prices are quite high, but they are based on manufacturers labor times to do such pieces of work. You could install rotors and pads in an hour and a half all the way around, but it'd be a stretch to get all 4 rotors turned, cleaned, and serviced properly - this would include cleaning the hub mounting surfaces, cleaning and lubing the slide pins, bleeding the brakes and cleaning off the abs reluctor wheel if applicable...

ToyotaLexus

I've used this same Lexus dealer for many years. They also have very
reasonable prices. (reasonable compared to the Toyota dealers around
this area) For example, oil change with Mobil 1 5W-30 only costs $49,
which includes 4 quarts of Mobil 1, a Toyota filter, and labor... plus a
free free hand wash & interior cleaning. Michelin SUV tire prices were also
lower than the Costco warehouse two miles down the road. Not to
mention that they have the cheapest price on update navigation DVDs
in the entire US(as far as I know).... only $179 for the '08 DVD.

However, I've never gotten a full brake job like this before, so I guess
I was shocked by the $610 price. I supposed it more than made up for
all the other low-cost items in their service dept??? I guess next
time I'll just have to spend more time in the customer lounge and eat
a few gallons of the free all-you-can-eat Haagen-Dazs ice cream to make
up for it... They have a better lounge than the MB lounge that I take my
MB to... What other Lexus dealer has eleven Panasonic 65" 1080p plasma
TV in one room?

d-cannon

The ones that charge $600+ for a brake job.

ToyotaLexus

exactly what I was thinking.... I guess I contributed to the cost of the
massive eleven-screen 65" plasma TV wall in the customer lounge.

19psi

slapping pads is fine for your personal car for a quick turn and burn brake job, but at the dealer, we have to make sure the customer doesn't come back with squeeks, squeals, etc. slapping pads will result in that sometimes because the surface of the rotor and pad aren't bedded together like you would have if you had a fresh rotor surface to go with the new pads.

if the customer comes back, we have to take it all apart again, except for free this time and fix the squeek, which usually means the rotors have to be machined anyway,s o it's best to just do it right the first time so the customer isn't put out and i don't have to work for free...

FlavesLex

iTrader: (1)

They didn't over charge you, just RAPED your wallet... They can do all the necessary steps to make sure the brake job is done correctly, but the dealer charges per hour and you can rest assure that they didn't use that much in parts..

The job is done, you Live and you Learn.

plex

iTrader: (11)

That dealer bent you over with no vaseline and used water instead..........