Bargain brake job at $4.5K

[xmanjeff]

thats where you the advantages of owning a non specialy vehicle , vehicle that average 200k to300k units of sales a year, chevy or ford

 

[GSCJR]

From what I have been reading, quality isn't great either for the NAPA branded stuff.

The quality has been good, no issues, but I was surprised to hear they no longer stock non-coated rotors; overnight only.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

If you can't pay cash for it, you can't afford it when it starts to eat. I've seen some nice clothes/jewelry wearing crybabies at the service writer's desk BEGGING for wear items to be covered under warranty because they couldn't afford the repair AND the monthly payment.

That's why I see so many late model, high end vehicles rolling on no name Chinese tires.

 

[bdcardinal]

I get they need them right away, so they have limited options, but most anyone would take a whole set at $700 over a single steel rotor at $1200. I'm sure they are getting a wholesale price from wherever they source parts from.

And profit is not a 4 letter word. Most shops will either charge the listed MSRP on the invoice or mark it up whatever percentage they feel comfortable with.

 

[D60]

Because they're the same guys who swear slightly different weight gear oil grenaded a BMW diff in a matter of hours, that's why.

 

[dubber09]

I watched that last night. They make a valid point that the extreme depreciation of a car like this, probably impacts the affordability of maintaining it the right way. That car was probably over $100k new. Current value for a clean '20 AMG GT53 is in the $52k area. So a $9k brake job represents almost 20% of the value.

Inspired by @xspeedy, I looked up brake parts for this car, on FCP Euro. They didn't list rear pads or rotors. Front pads are $387 for genuine MB. They didn't list Brembo. Brembo front rotors are $414 ea. Genuine MB are over $1800 each. Sensors are less than $10 each, unless you go genuine MB. Then the rear is $24 and front is $11. Genuine MB rotor set screws are $11 ea. Febi screws can be had for $2 ea.

Assuming rear rotors and pads would be no more than front, total for parts would be about $2500.

Beautiful car, and I'm sure it would be amazing to drive. So proper maintenance would be a labor of love.

That $52K would become $40K if the car still needs brakes, and back to $52K with good brakes.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

Shops aren't going to buy from RA usually. They will use a local supplier or a jobber where there is a warranty offered with no hassle. You also can get same day delivery.

They might, but would still charge full retail+.

 

[rijndael]

Shops aren't going to buy from RA usually. They will use a local supplier or a jobber where there is a warranty offered with no hassle. You also can get same day delivery.

Right. And to avoid potentially counterfeit stuff, as well as to avoid getting the wrong part after waiting 3 days.

 

[bdcardinal]

They might, but would still charge full retail+.

Maybe for a repair where the customer doesn't mind waiting. I know anything in our shop we want out same day or overnight.

 

[gman2304]

An older lady that drives an older S class Mercedes often comes to the park across the road from my house. The rear of the car is way higher than the front and has been this way for a year or so and I’m thinking expensive suspension problems. I saw her about a week ago and she’s now driving a 10 plus year old Porsche Panamera. Bless her heart, I hope it works out for her.

 

[andrew_j]

Both. RA has the front rotors at $250 ea and the rears at $100 ea. For Brembo. Didn't see Brembo pads there but some other premium ones are $100 for both axles. Parts for all Brembo shipped and with tax shouldn't exceed $1500. That means $3K just for labor. At $200/hr, that is fifteen hours.

Sheer guess they got dealer parts or OEM and their labor rate is half of dealer. Not sure I’d use RockAuto for new AMG, maybe FCP auto parts.

 

[Hall]

I roll my eyes every single time someone compares shop pricing to DIY + Rockauto parts....

 

[Hall]

That $52K would become $40K if the car still needs brakes, and back to $52K with good brakes.

There's an MB dealer from the Cleveland OH area on TikTok, FB reels, etc and he posts a lot of clips going over details of trade-ins. Pretty much every single time he brings up brake jobs, how this trade-in needs a brake job before they'll put it back up for sale and they have to deduct this cost from the value. It's primarily MBs that he's referring to but he'll do the same with a Honda, Toyota, etc and act like he needs to reduce the trade value by thousands for those.

 

[dubber09]

I watched that last night. They make a valid point that the extreme depreciation of a car like this, probably impacts the affordability of maintaining it the right way. That car was probably over $100k new. Current value for a clean '20 AMG GT53 is in the $52k area. So a $9k brake job represents almost 20% of the value.

Inspired by @xspeedy, I looked up brake parts for this car, on FCP Euro. They didn't list rear pads or rotors. Front pads are $387 for genuine MB. They didn't list Brembo. Brembo front rotors are $414 ea. Genuine MB are over $1800 each. Sensors are less than $10 each, unless you go genuine MB. Then the rear is $24 and front is $11. Genuine MB rotor set screws are $11 ea. Febi screws can be had for $2 ea.

Assuming rear rotors and pads would be no more than front, total for parts would be about $2500.

Beautiful car, and I'm sure it would be amazing to drive. So proper maintenance would be a labor of love.

That $52K would become $40K if the car still needs brakes, and back to $52K with good brakes.

There's an MB dealer from the Cleveland OH area on TikTok, FB reels, etc and he posts a lot of clips going over details of trade-ins. Pretty much every single time he brings up brake jobs, how this trade-in needs a brake job before they'll put it back up for sale and they have to deduct this cost from the value. It's primarily MBs that he's referring to but he'll do the same with a Honda, Toyota, etc and act like he needs to reduce the trade value by thousands for those.

Not doubting that, one of the senior managers at work sold her MB due to it needing a brake job, nice newer car, but she wasn't willing to pay for the job, really makes no sense to me, she lost money selling it and then again buying another car.

 

[The_Jeff]

Are there really caches of these brake parts in every major city? Could I roll in in my AMG and get same day service?

I'd figure they'd have to overnight it through Rockauto, as any other vendor would also not carry the parts locally.

 

[Pew]

Could be worse.

 

[xspeedy]

Because they're the same guys who swear slightly different weight gear oil grenaded a BMW diff in a matter of hours, that's why.

Lol. Yeah, I can’t believe they thought non-BMW fluid is what caused that diff to look like it was run with sand in a day. I generally like the channel and have learned a lot, but that and this one have me scratching my head about them at the very least.

 

[Chris142]

No shops use Rockcauto. Too hard to warranty something plus it takes too long. Don't forget that a shop has to mark up the prices to stay open.

 

[Chris142]

I roll my eyes every single time someone compares shop pricing to DIY + Rockauto parts....

That's because they have no clue how things work.

 

[Chris142]

Are there really caches of these brake parts in every major city? Could I roll in in my AMG and get same day service?

I'd figure they'd have to overnight it through Rockauto, as any other vendor would also not carry the parts locally.

As long as we order stuff by 11a from worldpac it's same day delivery. Usually by 2p