Similar to my thread of the guy I saw at Tire Kingdom with used Benz and engine misfire.
Bargain brake job at $4.5K
- Thread starter xspeedy
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Similar to my thread of the guy I saw at Tire Kingdom with used Benz and engine misfire.
Yup. I see it all the time. It doesn't take a genius to know why someone has a BMW that has been parked in the carport or on the side of a house with a tarp over the engine bay, for months, sometimes years.
I would have never guessed it was that quick. I do realize a shop can't keep a vehicle in a bay or on a lift for too long either while waiting on parts, but I would have said 2-3 hours at minimum. Parts shops must deliver one order at a time in many cases vs letting a few accumulate and make them all on a single run.
Sometimes, it takes longer to get a pizza delivered.
There’s a lot of people driving cars they can’t afford to repair.
If you can't afford to properly maintain a car, then you can't afford it.
My Cardiologist/Primary drives an AMG.
Genuine good guy, great doc.
I wonder if he knows?
Genuine good guy, great doc.
I wonder if he knows?
It seems a bit high priced for both dealer and indy.
https://parts.mercedesbenzofmiami.c...3-0l-l6-electric-gas/brakes--brake-components
https://parts.mercedesbenzofmiami.c...3-0l-l6-electric-gas/brakes--brake-components
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^I agree with this. You have to do some research on what you're thinking of buying. The reality is even having a shop maintain a more average car like a Honda or Toyota is pretty costly these days at shop rates. It stands to reason expensive luxury cars are gonna cost more to maintain - often significantly more.
Also as others have said, comparing a competent shop to Rockauto and DIY is totally ridiculous. The big thing you're paying for with a shop is knowledge you likely don't have, as well as a warranty. So of course that's going to cost a lot more than buying the cheapest parts you can find online and installing them yourself.
I've lived in many cities and had many good mechanics and shops maintain mine and my wife's (mostly average) cars, and I've gotten to know several mechanics beyond the business itself. All of them buy their parts through suppliers that deliver them - usually the same day. I've never seen a legit shop order parts from a place like Rockauto. Also one thing many here seem to forget, is that if the part the shop installs fails under warranty, yeah the supplier will replace it for the shop - but not the labor. This can be a real drag for a shop if say an AC compressor fails, or some other labor intensive to install item. The shop usually loses money when this happens. All this has to be figured into a shop's overhead. For the customer, they just drop off the vehicle and it's fixed again - but costs them nothing. Shops don't buy the absolute cheapest parts for that very reason, they want the repair to be successful so they don't have to do it again - on their dime.
I understand people not liking the high labor rates of shops - heck, I'm not always thrilled about them either - but that's the cost of doing business.
I think the video by Royalty Auto Service is pretty good, like the vast majority of their videos.
I'm never going to complain about how much they charge their clients for their services.
They are knowledgeable, and good at what they do.
The also have a fantastic warranty for their services, and they pay their techs well, and have to keep the lights on.
All that, and they're still half the price of the dealer.
What's there to complain about?
Oddly enough, I just did a complete Brembo brake replacement on my 2015 Cayman.
Pads and rotors, front and rear, all ordered from RockAuto.
I could have ordered the same exact parts from FCP Euro, and had them lifetime warrantied, but I didn't feel like paying double today.
And the price from RA was, honestly, amazing. How could I say no?
As for the comment about paying a shop for their knowledge and warranty, yeah, I can see that.
But its a brake job on a pretty standard car.
I've done a whole bunch of brake jobs over my 51 years on this planet, and this wasn't even the first one I've done on this Cayman since I bought it new back in 2015.
I don't need anyone to warranty their workmanship, when mine is equal.
On the other side of the coin, I just got back from Safelite, after having the windshield in the Cayman replaced.
That's a job I don't have the knowledge or tools to perform on my car, so I have no problem farming out that work to a qualified team.
And the cost to me? $0.
I have a $0 deductible on my insurance policy for glass coverage, and Safelite had to order the OEM windshield from a Porsche dealership in order to do the job. Total cost of the job according to the invoice I have is $1,569.48. The windshield cost alone was $1,144.45.
It was so nice driving home with a fresh windshield.
Almost as nice as a new set of Brembo Brakes.
I'm never going to complain about how much they charge their clients for their services.
They are knowledgeable, and good at what they do.
The also have a fantastic warranty for their services, and they pay their techs well, and have to keep the lights on.
All that, and they're still half the price of the dealer.
What's there to complain about?
Oddly enough, I just did a complete Brembo brake replacement on my 2015 Cayman.
Pads and rotors, front and rear, all ordered from RockAuto.
I could have ordered the same exact parts from FCP Euro, and had them lifetime warrantied, but I didn't feel like paying double today.
And the price from RA was, honestly, amazing. How could I say no?
As for the comment about paying a shop for their knowledge and warranty, yeah, I can see that.
But its a brake job on a pretty standard car.
I've done a whole bunch of brake jobs over my 51 years on this planet, and this wasn't even the first one I've done on this Cayman since I bought it new back in 2015.
I don't need anyone to warranty their workmanship, when mine is equal.
On the other side of the coin, I just got back from Safelite, after having the windshield in the Cayman replaced.
That's a job I don't have the knowledge or tools to perform on my car, so I have no problem farming out that work to a qualified team.
And the cost to me? $0.
I have a $0 deductible on my insurance policy for glass coverage, and Safelite had to order the OEM windshield from a Porsche dealership in order to do the job. Total cost of the job according to the invoice I have is $1,569.48. The windshield cost alone was $1,144.45.
It was so nice driving home with a fresh windshield.
Almost as nice as a new set of Brembo Brakes.
If a person can’t afford proper maintenance on a European vehicle……. they should NOT be driving a fancy ride.
.
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There are many solutions in reality.
I'm sure there are some non compliant aftermarket steel rotors and pads that they can use that would be Walmart special price. If they don't plan to track them just slap those on while daily driving it.
If they want to push the car to the limit then yes they probably would need extreme cost pads and rotors, and they probably are expensive because of the economy of scale. Why not just buy a Camry to daily drive this and keep the car as a trailer queen? Or just put on the special brake before track day and swap them back to Camry rated stuff during weekdays commute?
I'm sure there are some non compliant aftermarket steel rotors and pads that they can use that would be Walmart special price. If they don't plan to track them just slap those on while daily driving it.
If they want to push the car to the limit then yes they probably would need extreme cost pads and rotors, and they probably are expensive because of the economy of scale. Why not just buy a Camry to daily drive this and keep the car as a trailer queen? Or just put on the special brake before track day and swap them back to Camry rated stuff during weekdays commute?
This ^^
I had Volvo customers, who could barely afford their monthly payments, freak out over the cost of repairs. Maybe consumers should do more research on the costs of maintenance before buying a car. This is the exact reason why I bought a S5 instead of a RS5.
Thankfully, i can do any and all work myself aside from painting.
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Most all European vehicles have always had a reputation of being ridiculously expensive to maintain and repair. This has only gotten worse as the decades have passed.
I used to look at Mercedes lease turn ins as you eliminate off the lot depreciation and when they turn it in 1-3 years if anything is bad the dealer will bring it back to par and slap a Mercedes pre-owned certified warranty on it. Last one I bought was a 2015 model in 2018 for like 25k with 28k miles on it I believe. So I definitely paid under 55%-60%+ of the original sticker price for a car with only 28k miles and a certified warranty on it. I drove it 3 years and sold it so since dealer reconditioned it from original 3 year owner and I only kept it 3 years myself I basically just did oil changes and a set of new tires and right before I sold it I tossed a new die hard battery in it and did new brake rotors/pads on it from FCP as much cheaper than the dealer. If you can do the work on them yourself or have friends that can or can find an independent cheaper shop ya trust not so bad but if taking everything to the dealer looks good on a car fax but your wallet will definitely be lighter. I'm older now so my Mercedes wrenching days may have ended in 2021 as happy with my Japanese made turbo CX-5.
Maintaining a Honda is definitely cheaper than a European car. Full set of Brembo rotors and pads from RA for our daughter's 2009 CR-V cost $361.32, with $58.98 being shipping from two locations. I went with Brembo-branded, as these are actually manufactured by Akebono, and they had all four corners available to order. I wasn't going to cheap out since our granddaughter is about to get her license and will be driving this car. Getting the same parts for my Audi I had would have cost 3x-5x.
As @bladecutter mentioned, Royalty Auto provides an incredible warranty, so the parts they source are what they've learned are reliable. From their website:
OUR WARRANTY: Most car, van, SUV, and light-duty truck repairs and services are covered by our industry leading 5-year/50,000-mile limited parts and labor warranty. Commercially used vehicles, brakes, and associated labor have 2-year/24,000-mile limited parts and labor warranty. In all cases, the warranty expires when either limit is met, time or mileage.
As @bladecutter mentioned, Royalty Auto provides an incredible warranty, so the parts they source are what they've learned are reliable. From their website:
OUR WARRANTY: Most car, van, SUV, and light-duty truck repairs and services are covered by our industry leading 5-year/50,000-mile limited parts and labor warranty. Commercially used vehicles, brakes, and associated labor have 2-year/24,000-mile limited parts and labor warranty. In all cases, the warranty expires when either limit is met, time or mileage.
I dont advocate for any person to buy a brand new Volvo since China bought them out but Volvo does lifetime warranty on their parts that you buy and have installed at the dealership.
It's great that Volvo is willing to do this, but being the manufacturer, they have a lot of control within their ecosystem. Also, they build in margins similar to FCP, in that you're paying for lifetime warranty somewhere.
I give kudos to an independent shop like Royalty Auto for giving warranty well beyond the warranty he gets on the parts used. Any parts outside of their warranty period, but within his, he has to eat the replacement costs. It's part of the way he's chosen to do business.
I used to own an electronics repair shop. You need to find a balance of what's fair to customers and what's fair to your shop. When a customer gets good service, but thinks "I may have got it cheaper elsewhere ", and you as the shop owner thinks "I probably could have charged more for that", you'll probably do business again. It's all about being fair, which is a rarity in today's world.
For that price I would have expected new calipers.