How cheap can you do a full front brake replacement

[OneForTheRoad]

I had a summer job working in a tractor garage (and other agricultural hardware) in 1974 and 1975.... does this count?

(Best summers of my life )

fare enough .

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Dieselman returns in a different guise!

Oh hang on, DM used to give us interesting and informative posts as well as sarcasm.........

Get to the point.

 

[DSM10000]

Get to the point.

 

[pembssurf]

Honestly this whole thread needs to go. I regret all of it!

 

[E55BOF]

What you really mean to say is: Oh, FFS! I'm inclined to agree with you.

 

[oldguy57]

All I see is a light hearted opening post showing what savings you can make if you or a mate can do the job yourself, and asking (again light heartedly) in effect if anyone had beaten the price. Nothing whatsoever to get uptight about.

 

[Darren1717]

Wow.
I’ve got to the bottom of this thread and forgot what the original post was about!

 

[DSM10000]

Wow.
I’ve got to the bottom of this thread and forgot what the original post was about!

Interweb prozac

 

[AltonAnt]

Pedant alert.
‘Cheap’ is a measure of quality not price and brakes are the one area you shouldn’t compromise on quality

 

[Rory]

So I’m just about to get my S204 (AMG sports brakes) full front disc, pads and wear sensor replaced for the grand total of £149 plus a pack of beers.

Genuine Merc brakes from Mercedes of Edinburgh and fitted by a mate in work in his coffee break.

Mercedes wanted £469 for the same job to be done.

To be fair, the MB price is bonkers. It's only a few years ago they had fixed price of £299 and a couple of years ago the dealer I used said £469 and I only had to give the service advisor the slightest look and he immediately said £300.

Got them done at the indie I use, but he was a very similar price. I've seen an indie in Bradford mentioned a few times who apparently will do them for £200.

 

[steveq]

I recently bought Febi disks and TRW pads for the front of my C Class for €70 online (about £60 Stg) and fitted them myself.
It did take a few hours of my time to fit them though -- I took coffee breaks while doing it rather than doing it in my coffee break !!

 

[paul73mt]

Had the C350 fronts done (with sport package) last year had disc pads and wear sensor. Parts were I think £160 from MB and then 45min labour so worked out to be just under £200 inc a VAT receipt

 

[pembssurf]

Bonkers prices indeed, and obviously people must pay it because the workshops are full. If I had to I would do it myself but would need to borrow a piton windbaxk tool and a torque wrench bar.

 

[Behold81]

You should be charged 1-2 hours labour at most for a pad change plus parts. any worthwhile garage will charge 70-100 to fit at most. if not look for another. As to cheap vs expensive on doing them. I know it is brakes but actually a 10 year old could change pads safely. people over worry on working on brakes themselves when its one of the hardest things to get really wrong.

Personally I would never pay to have my pads done. whether I can afford it or not. But I get some are not able to do it due to ailments or space at home.

 

[steveq]

You should be charged 1-2 hours labour at most for a pad change plus parts. any worthwhile garage will charge 70-100 to fit at most.

That is probably true for brake pads only but changing the disks as well adds to the parts costs and the labour.

 

[Behold81]

That is probably true for brake pads only but changing the disks as well adds to the parts costs and the labour.

It will add to parts cost. but its really not a lot extra labour. Fronts I would personally say is not extra time. rears can be a pain if a drum handbrake. although as long as it backs of smoothly total extra time for 4 disks less than 1/2 hours labour at most.

 

[a111r]

Five years ago (W123) I did the front discs, OEM pads, one flexi hose and rebuilt both brake calipers for under £50.
Using Ebay NOS bargains.

 

[Behold81]

Five years ago (W123) I did the front discs, OEM pads, one flexi hose and rebuilt both brake calipers for under £50.
Using Ebay NOS bargains.

Callipers rebuilds are so easy. But many shy away from them as it’s brakes. But you either fail miserably by punching or rolling a seal and you will know or it will be fine. Safety is not likely to be an issue here.

£20 for seals and a bit time to do them.

 

[HITECH]

I Managed to do my back brakes 2 years ago. Disks, pads and shoes £70. As somebody said previous. Cheap parts are no use but in this day in age it comes down to saving pennys and doing what you need to do to make ends meet and keep your transport on the road. Adjusting the shoes was time consuming. I checked them today and theres nothing left of the shoes. Completely worn down. Few mm left of the pads aswell and the back plate needs replaced now coz the spring hols to hold the shoes on have corroded enough to be useless and spring cant catch on them anymore. While Im waiting for complete set of new pads. disks and shoes I managed to wedge a hard bit of plastic behind the corroded sping hole on the backplate and get a self tapper thru the shoe and gripped into the plastic. Very pikey ok lol but it works and is completely safe until new parts come. Already got a new backplate here. Also I aint removing the whole back hub and suspension to replace the backplate. New one I got is a good one and solid and really thick and rigid so I will grind out a slice of it to slide into place without having to remove all sorts of suspension/drive shaft parts. Then there will be the joy of adjusting handbrake at the shoe adjuster & adjuster under the seat which is always time consuming to do until u get it perfect and spot on but well worth it. A question i need to ask and if anybody isnt into replying in here i will make a new post asking. Does anybody know in the EPC where I can find them plastic clips that hold the centre handbrake cable in place under the car. Ive gome thru the EPC and struggling where to find them so I can get a part number and order them.

 

[Allybassman]

It's an easy DIY job if you have good quality jack/axel stands and a selection of basic hand tools. I enjoy working on my cars and i'll be servicing my new (to me) C Class when needs be.

Yes they're brakes and are bloody important. But if you buy OEM discs and pads, you can save big money by doing it yourself.