"Book time" on two Honda brake repair items?

[NormanBuntz]

What happened to the original caliper? Did your mechanic keep it, or was it turned in for a core charge?
If you got rid of it, unfortunately you traded a superior caliper for a junk unit.

You will likely have issues with that caliper in the near future, unless you're lucky and got a decently made unit.

I kept the original Honda caliper. It looked every bit of its 18 year age, with the vehicle kept in a salty, seaside location. A new Honda caliper was $290, and my shop did not want to rebuild the original one. I bought a new caliper (Chinese of course) on Rock Auto. In hindsight, I could have gotten a remanufactured Honda caliper for $175 from hondapartsnow.com, likely a better option.

 

[D60]

I kept the original Honda caliper. It looked every bit of its 18 year age, with the vehicle kept in a salty, seaside location. A new Honda caliper was about $300, and my shop did not want to rebuild the original one. I bought a new caliper (Chinese of course) on Rock Auto. In hindsight, I should have spent a little more for the part.

I'm not sure where the middle ground is on things like calipers? It sure looks like most come out of a small handful of factories. There's obviously not an UltraPower factory so it's likely coming from the same place as the bottom ~80% of calipers.

It seems like it's either aftermarket or OEM with little in-between. Again, not sure if there's a verifiable middle ground?

 

[Mechanician]

I kept the original Honda caliper. It looked every bit of its 18 year age, with the vehicle kept in a salty, seaside location.

Keep in mind that "Book Time" doesn't account for this, so the ease and profit does vary, based on the locale.

 

[Donald]

DIY or pay up.

While I agree a reputable transmission shop can do a much better job that I could do rebuilding an automatic transmission, I am not sure a good mechanic can do a better job with brakes than I can do. And I am confident that the big tire shops that bang our brake jobs will not do a good a job as I do. Especially in the rust belt, where it takes time to clean (remove rust) and lube everything properly.

Do any use a sandblaster on the caliper bracket like Eric (South Main Auto) does?

Maybe less of an issue in the desert states where everything comes apart clean with no rust.