Dealer service rep tried to pull a fast one.

So my wife takes our 2010 Hyundai in for some warranty work on the TPMS. They nicely give her and the kids a ride to the mall next door so she can kill time while the car is fixed. They call back a few hours later informing her that the car almost ready but they are recommending she have her brakes replaced ASAP. They say there is only 10-20% pad remaining and that she needs pads, rotors, and a brake fluid flush. This could all be handled that day for the low price of only $1,000. My wife declines their offer and says her husband will look it over. The other day I pulled the wheels to see what they considered "worn out" -

Yup, those are the fronts. The rears are even thicker. I even checked both sides of the pads. Nope, a good thick chunk of pad still left. I called the service manager and she and I will be chatting in detail today or tomorrow. I told them I don't want compensation, but I do believe they have a training issue. Go ahead and upsell engine flushes, I have no problem with that. I grew up in a shop, my Dad was a service writer, I understand that you have to make money on the extras. I draw the line at selling unnecessary services though. We will still take our car there for the warranty services, but anything outside of that will require a phone call to me for an explanation and approval.

That's ridiculous.

That's not a service writer issue. That's a tech recommending unneeded service to pad their hours. The advisor can't inspect every vehicle they write up and have to trust their techs to make valid recommendations. Then they sell them.

I'd recommend replacement. First off, when the friction material is the same thickness as the backing plate, that's when you say they need to be replaced. That friction material is thinner. I can't comment on the rears since there's no picture of it. The brake fluid flush is something few shops sell, and fewer folks buy, but again, it's good practice every 5 years or so. Your calipers and master cylinder will last longer if the old fluid, that has now absorbed water is replaced. The price seems high. This is a tech that's trying to make money, can't fault him for that. It sounds like he lived by the motto one of my vocational teachers taught me:
"Sell the customer everything damn thing they need, and not one damn thing they don't." I lived by that every day as a tech.
Seems dealership techs can't make anyone happy. I could see this thread being different had he not tried so sell the brakes: 'I took my car to the dealership. JUST LOOK AT THESE BRAKES!! He had the car in his stall for what, 2 hours and couldn't even be bothered to look at my brakes!? You can see them through the wheel spokes. I put my family in that car every day! What if they'd have crashed? What a worthless piece of....."

A woman with kids? Yeah, sounds like a target to me. Glad she wasn't taken in and had the sense to get a second opinion. Which is what ANYONE should do when faced with a bill like that!

$1000 clams for rotors, pads, and a flush?!?!?!? So much for korean stuff being cheaper.

$1000 only covered pads and rotors on the mustang back in 2003. (hence, why I have never paid for a brake job since)

DrBoost wrote: The price seems high.

I will buy your "damned if you do, damned if you don't" point - to some extent.

But the estimate is AT LEAST 200% of any reasonable professional retail (and probably 800% of the DIY), and all you say is "the price seems a little high"? C'mon. This is why mechanics get a bad name.

DrBoost wrote: I'd recommend replacement. First off, when the friction material is the same thickness as the backing plate, that's when you say they need to be replaced. That friction material is thinner. I can't comment on the rears since there's no picture of it. The brake fluid flush is something few shops sell, and fewer folks buy, but again, it's good practice every 5 years or so. Your calipers and master cylinder will last longer if the old fluid, that has now absorbed water is replaced. The price seems high. This is a tech that's trying to make money, can't fault him for that. It sounds like he lived by the motto one of my vocational teachers taught me: "Sell the customer everything damn thing they need, and not one damn thing they don't." I lived by that every day as a tech. Seems dealership techs can't make anyone happy. I could see this thread being different had he not tried so sell the brakes: 'I took my car to the dealership. JUST LOOK AT THESE BRAKES!! He had the car in his stall for what, 2 hours and couldn't even be bothered to look at my brakes!? You can see them through the wheel spokes. I put my family in that car every day! What if they'd have crashed? What a worthless piece of....."

The pads i run on the MX6 are only as thick as the backing plate to START with....

If that's only 10-20% of the pad left they must have been some damn thick pads when new!

Duke wrote:

DrBoost wrote: The price seems high.

I will buy your "damned if you do, damned if you don't" point - to some extent. But the estimate is AT LEAST 200% of any reasonable professional retail (and probably 800% of the DIY), and all you say is "the price seems a little high"? C'mon. This is why mechanics get a bad name.

Hold the phone.... It isn't the mechanics fault that who they work for dictates the parts price and what they are buying/selling through the service lane. I am sure, to some extent, that the OP is getting OEM parts, not the child labor garbage from the corner parts store, which is where the DIY is getting things. To top it off, you expect that guy to work for free?

I grew up in a shop, I understand selling parts and services to make money, but those pads are not worn out. That was my problem. They also tried to sell her another air filter even though they replaced it three months ago. I am fairly sure that if I started taking her car in for service the number of "problems" found would drop dramatically.

slefain wrote: I grew up in a shop, I understand selling parts and services to make money, but those pads are not worn out. That was my problem. They also tried to sell her another air filter even though they replaced it three months ago. I am fairly sure that if I started taking her car in for service the number of "problems" found would drop dramatically.

Bingo: It's the "taking advantage of the poor lady who doesn't know any better" game.

SWMBO's STEPDAD will do this to her on the few occasions we've had him do anything to our cars. (He owns a shop.) I've gotten in some pretty ugly arguments with him over it.

In the non-snow months I have to change my air filter about every three months. Depends on the area. Lots of construction dust/dirt and roads will necessitate early filter changes.

I usually change mine when the turbo starts sucking chunks of it in.

Apexcarver wrote: $1000 only covered pads and rotors on the mustang back in 2003. (hence, why I have never paid for a brake job since)

Jebus.....the only vehicle I have owned with expensive rotors was the Saturn. I replaced them with new GM parts for under $250 and a set of hawk pads for under $150. That car was an exotic compared to the hy/ki appliances.

In reply to Swank Force One:

Snow compresses.

yamaha wrote:

Apexcarver wrote: $1000 only covered pads and rotors on the mustang back in 2003. (hence, why I have never paid for a brake job since)

Jebus.....the only vehicle I have owned with expensive rotors was the Saturn. I replaced them with new GM parts for under $250 and a set of hawk pads for under $150. That car was an exotic compared to the hy/ki appliances.

OEM TL Brembos are $141.75 for each rotor and $217 for the pads. Throw in 2 hours of labor at $105/hour and you're at $750 for front brakes.

I'm curious what else they were trying to sell for that $1000. The reason I ask, is this wonderful website http://www.hyundaipartsdepartment.com/ shows list price for all the Hyundai parts. Looks like the Elantra/Touring/Sonata/Tucson front pads list at $68.08 for the set and rotors are $96.78 each. That's $280-ish with sales tax. To get to $1000, that would have to be 7+ hours of labor at $100/hour. They were selling something else. Even the more expensive SanteFe/Veracruz/Azera are only $111.06 for pads and $120.97 each on rotors. That's still only ~$380 with tax.

It wasnt by chance Hennessy Hyundai of Woodstock was it? Cuz ya know what Ive heard about them?

4cylndrfury wrote: It wasnt by chance Hennessy Hyundai of Woodstock was it? Cuz ya know what Ive heard about them?

It was the bag of d*cks special from Hennessey.

I look at brakes everyday and have to grab the salesman or mechanic to sell them to the customer. If I grabbed one of them for brakes that looked like that(assuming the inboard pads are the same), i'd be told to get my damn eyes checked.

Bobzilla wrote:

yamaha wrote: Jebus.....the only vehicle I have owned with expensive rotors was the Saturn. I replaced them with new GM parts for under $250 and a set of hawk pads for under $150. That car was an exotic compared to the hy/ki appliances.

OEM TL Brembos are $141.75 for each rotor and $217 for the pads. Throw in 2 hours of labor at $105/hour and you're at $750 for front brakes. I'm curious what else they were trying to sell for that $1000. The reason I ask, is this wonderful website http://www.hyundaipartsdepartment.com/ shows list price for all the Hyundai parts. Looks like the Elantra/Touring/Sonata/Tucson front pads list at $68.08 for the set and rotors are $96.78 each. That's $280-ish with sales tax. To get to $1000, that would have to be 7+ hours of labor at $100/hour. They were selling something else. Even the more expensive SanteFe/Veracruz/Azera are only $111.06 for pads and $120.97 each on rotors. That's still only ~$380 with tax.

I was using the term "mechanic" generically to mean "retail repair facility". Not specifically the tech. No, I don't expect a tech to work for free and shops have overhead and profit, too. No problems with any of that from me.

But you know that the shop isn't paying anywhere near list for the parts. And I - the world's slowest shade tree mechanic - can do a brake job in my garage without air tools or a lift in an hour per axle. So a professional should be able to at least match that throughput.

Mail that photo and story to the Service Manager and/or Owner.

C'ya.

Jones Honda of Lancaster wanted to do an alignment on the FWMBO's 15,000 mile 2012 Fit. They claimed the snow tires that I had put on were wearing oddly. That because I ran them until June of last year. No thanks.

Duke wrote:

Bobzilla wrote:

yamaha wrote: Jebus.....the only vehicle I have owned with expensive rotors was the Saturn. I replaced them with new GM parts for under $250 and a set of hawk pads for under $150. That car was an exotic compared to the hy/ki appliances.

OEM TL Brembos are $141.75 for each rotor and $217 for the pads. Throw in 2 hours of labor at $105/hour and you're at $750 for front brakes. I'm curious what else they were trying to sell for that $1000. The reason I ask, is this wonderful website http://www.hyundaipartsdepartment.com/ shows list price for all the Hyundai parts. Looks like the Elantra/Touring/Sonata/Tucson front pads list at $68.08 for the set and rotors are $96.78 each. That's $280-ish with sales tax. To get to $1000, that would have to be 7+ hours of labor at $100/hour. They were selling something else. Even the more expensive SanteFe/Veracruz/Azera are only $111.06 for pads and $120.97 each on rotors. That's still only ~$380 with tax.

I was using the term "mechanic" generically to mean "retail repair facility". Not specifically the tech. No, I don't expect a tech to work for free and shops have overhead and profit, too. No problems with any of that from me. But you know that the shop isn't paying anywhere near list for the parts. And I - the world's slowest shade tree mechanic - can do a brake job in my garage without air tools or a lift in an hour per axle. So a professional should be able to at least match that throughput.

That's not how it works. Jobs are done by the book time. Typically, the Mitchell Repair manual. brake jobs are generally considered a 2 hour book job throughout the industry.

The Service Dept doesn't buy parts from the parts dept then resell them to the customer. That's not only ridiculous, but redundant. The customer pays the MSRP set by the manufacturer, not the dealer. Us dealers don't get to make our own MSRP.... hence the "M" in that for "Manufacturer". Still, $68 for OEM brake pads is not bad IMO. You buy the aftermarket crap for $30-40 that may or may not squeal and may or may not turn your wheels black in a few days with excessive dust.

I still say there was more on that quote than just front brake pads and rotors.

To be fair, the S stands for "suggested."