Car Repair Question

• tk421

  

  Any OC car gurus can help, I went to the local shop for brakes and they quoted me $530 on brakes/drums/rotors plus labor, tax, etc. for a 2002 Neon. Is this a reasonable price or a ripoff?
  
  Also, I have a slow leak in the transmission pan and gasket probably, any idea what I'm looking for when I take it tomorrow? Thanks.
• wes_mantooth

  

  Seems high. I use promo codes from advance and to that kind of stuff myself.
• tk421

  

  I definitely not a car person, so I won't be doing it myself.
• Heretic

  

  I remember paying like $400+ for a full brake job when I had an Eagle Summit 10-12 years ago. But I think part of that was because everything was more expensive with that car because the parts weren't American. After that, for any repair I needed done, I just bought the part and some beer and had a friend do it.
• wes_mantooth

  

  tk421;945106 wrote:I definitely not a car person, so I won't be doing it myself.

  My advice is to buy the parts and take it to a mom and pop shop...have it done for like 120 bucks in labor. I can help you buy the car parts...give you some promo codes. I bet you save yourself around 300 total
• wes_mantooth

  

  all your parts add up to less than $100.
  
  
  All I would do is go to advance auto parts site...
  
  1 find your drums
  2 add two of them to the cart
  3 checkout using the promo code RAF7JA1102, these drums should be around 85 before code.
  
  
  then start shopping again....
  
  1 find pads and rotors...should be around 86 bucks together
  2 add them all to the cart
  3 checkout again with the same code.
  
  I do this all the time with advance...I just select to pick the stuff up at my store.
• gorocks99

  

  wes_mantooth;945120 wrote:all your parts add up to less than $100.

  That's a little crass, I bet I could get $50 for his kidneys alone.
• wes_mantooth

  

  gorocks99;945123 wrote:That's a little crass, I bet I could get $50 for his kidneys alone.

  lol....livers are the high dollar item
• gorocks99

  

  wes_mantooth;945129 wrote:lol....livers are the high dollar item

  not mine. shit's probably no more valuable than a '93 Escort after college
• THE4RINGZ

  

  I guess the bigger question is, how much are you willing to spend on a 2002 Neon? Depending on mileage and condition you might just be throwing good money after bad, if the transmission is leaking and is an expensive repair it is probably time to evealuate a new car.
• baseball4

  

  tk421;945106 wrote:I definitely not a car person, so I won't be doing it myself.

  That's too high. Buy the parts from a local car parts store, look on the internent and/or YouTube and learn how to do it. It'll save you money now and in the future. They make videos that are fully detailed and you'll be able to do it in your own garage with no problems.
• tk421

  

  Don't have a garage, don't have the tools.
• rydawg5

  I think that you are getting an okay deal for taking it to a shop. Remember, you are paying $100/hour to pay for labor plus twice as much as you should pay for parts. You'd probably get as good of a deal going to a dealer. Just ask them if they can do $500 out the door and they probably will.
• Belly35

  

  tk421;945099 wrote:Any OC car gurus can help, I went to the local shop for brakes and they quoted me $530 on brakes/drums/rotors plus labor, tax, etc. for a 2002 Neon. Is this a reasonable price or a ripoff?
  
  Also, I have a slow leak in the transmission pan and gasket probably, any idea what I'm looking for when I take it tomorrow? Thanks.

  
  That a little high but if you trust the guy and he does good work (and you can't do it) find a someplace else to take
  
  The transmiission.. have the bolts around the pan tightened first and add a bottle of stop leak..
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  I'd quit being a girl and buy some tools and do it myself since it's not exactly brain surgery.
• GoChiefs

  

  rydawg5;945642 wrote:I think that you are getting an okay deal for taking it to a shop. Remember, you are paying $100/hour to pay for labor plus twice as much as you should pay for parts. You'd probably get as good of a deal going to a dealer. Just ask them if they can do $500 out the door and they probably will.

  
  If you're going to a shop thats charging you a $100 an hour, I suggest you find a new shop. Theres plenty of good shops that charge in the $60 an hour range.
  
  IMO, $530 is way too much. You can get it done much cheaper.
• oberhaus

  

  $100 an hour for a passenger vehicle is outrageous. Thats what most shops charge to work on commercial trucks.
• dlazz

  Yeah, that's a bit much. I'd expect $200-350 tops to change brakes at a place.
  
  If they quoted me at $500 I'd tell them to fuck off.
• sleeper

  

  LOL @ paying $530 for that.
  
  You need to stop buying stuff from other people. Why buy bread when you can make your own? You can replace your car with a bike you've built yourself so you won't need gas. Hell, you don't even need books, write your own!
  
  I think its pretty ridiculous that people that are perfectly capable of doing stuff themselves outsource that work to others who are more qualified and have the tools to accomplish the task.
  
  But seriously, $530 for that is too expensive. I bet you could get it for $100-200 cheaper easily.
• tk421

  

  Just called another place and got a quote for $380. I haven't taken it anywhere yet, just trying to get prices.
• Belly35

  

  Call your local high school auto shop they do stuff like that for cost of parts
• ZWICK 4 PREZ

  

  sleeper;945941 wrote: I think its pretty ridiculous that people that are perfectly capable of doing stuff themselves outsource that work to others who are more qualified and have the tools to accomplish the task.

  You're not qualified to work a wrench? I guess that's not too surprising.
• GoChiefs

  

  tk421;945956 wrote:Just called another place and got a quote for $380. I haven't taken it anywhere yet, just trying to get prices.

  That's a little more reasonable.