Alright..
Only the brake pads needed replacement, why shotgun my brakes all the way to the caliper? First he points to the rotor. "Can't just slap pads on, feel this?". Ok, its grooved and worn down in the middle of the rotor. So what. "That will wear your pads out fast, wasting your money. 2nd set they gotta go". Ok, then pull off the rotor, turn it. "Waste of labor, less metal to cool during braking, brakes warp, pedal shakes. Don't bother". Huh? Ok. What about the caliper? "see that? It sticks. You can get away with it but you'll be back sooner than later". Huh?
I trust the guy so moving on.. "One reason why its cheaper this way, speed. Back away please". Ok.. he sets the torque on his air gun, gets some grease out, moves the boxes close, glasses down, eyes the clock, and wholly shmolly its like watching a pit crew. After approx 5 mins its all gone but a brake line. After 10 mins its mostly back together, he pauses here and there to grease and fiddle with the brakes. 20 minutes later its all back together.
"No, its not OE, its middle of the line stuff. Raybestos. Half the price, but its all new, and will last longer than one new OE part and a bunch of old OE parts combined. And your labor is only one hour because I'm not fooling with new and old parts blending them to work together. Whats the biggest money maker for shops? Brakes. I could sit here for 3 hours turning your rotors, cleaning and greasing bolts, bleeding old calipers for $300. What does that get you? Used brakes. I gave you new brakes, see you in 50k".
Thanks, that pumped me up! I was eating up brakes every other year with my job. I was DIYing akebono pads. He was wight. My last shotgun brake job he did lasted almost 3 years, 60k in down town traffic.
So, depending on the labor, sometimes shotgunning is the answer, especially brakes. But he doesn't shotgun across the board, it depends.