I can never tell if a mechanic is ripping me off.

[drozmight]

The other day I went and had my brakes looked at because they were scraping (which ain't no good). Sure enough, the discs are torn up and he's all, "Yeah, there aren't any front brake pads anymore...    :'(. So I need new discs... he tells me they're like $120 each, and I'm like, "the fuuuuck they is, really?" Plus I need new pads blah blah. That and he's all, "We need to flush the brake fluid too water got into the system." Oh plus labor costs...

So at the end of the day I felt like I had been bent over and fucked up my ass.

Thing is I donno if I got ripped off or not. I don't trust mechanics really, but they know a lot more about car shit than I do, and I mean, what are you gonna do.

So I got:

two new calipers! @ 119.5 each!
two new rotors! @ 59.95 each!
flush of the brake system @ 59.95!

Then they were saying something about the power steering, and I said, "yeah flush that shit, it's been pretty unresponisve for two years." So they flushed that for $89.95~~~! Worth it though because it feels so god damn responsive now (hey it's for safety, and driving at 100mph+).

Plus the labor ( :'( )

[BlueTsunami]

My father is a mechanic and I've had to endure countless hours hearing mechanic speak.

Basically, when your brakes wear down it leaves the bare metal pad. This pad ends up scrapping agains the actual drum and rotor and causes it to be uneven. They end u having to recut/finish the inside area of the drum/rotor since worn brakes make uneven divits that cause the brakes to pulse (when they shouldn't).

As far as the flushing. Who knows, thats always a crapshoot . Like skimming off the top.

I'm not sure about the calipers though....that sounds iffy

[Phoenix Dark]

Whenever you go to a company mechanic watch out for that. Basically it's like if Gamestop employees charged you for your game, and at the same time charged you for some random game pre-order you didn't want (and didn't know about). So you might go to the mechanic for breaks and an hour later he'll say "lol I'm still working on the breaks, but in the meantime I changed your oil and fixed the car axis..." Mother fucker I DID NOT pay you to do that

[drozmight]

Usually they come in and say, "Here's what we're gonna do hombre," before they do it. In fact I think they're supposed to.

Then you sit and watch Short Circuit on VHS in the waiting room.

Edit: That is until an old lady comes in and asks if she can watch NW Cable News. It's not like you can tell an old lady to fuck off.

[MrAngryFace]

Shut up dude! Im spending probably 1000 in car repairs this month.

I too have driven my breaks to scraping. I had to e-break for 2 days till I had the money when I was living in AZ

The new tires were kinda what got me last repair run. This weekend its struts n shocks annnd maybe a new front windshield and professional tint on all 6 windows.

[drozmight]

Shut up dude! Im spending probably 1000 in car repairs this month.

I too have driven my breaks to scraping. I had to e-break for 2 days till I had the money when I was living in AZ

The new tires were kinda what got me last repair run. This weekend its struts n shocks annnd maybe a new front windshield and professional tint on all 6 windows.

Ooo, tinting's nice.

What's a strut? I know what a shock is... I think. Maybe they're one in the same.

[BlackMage]

$119 for Calipers is bullshit

[Scurvy Stan]

Call around and get some quotes before you go.