92 Regal rear brake caliper - need opinion

[Doc1647545523]

It's sad how some businesses take advantage of customers

 

An acquaintance of mine is in a tough spot. I'm sure you'd recognize his "type." He knows very little about cars but is quite smart in many tech fields, no parental support whatsoever, has been trying to live independently, work a full-time job, go to college. Basically he has no money and no one to fall back on.

 

He's the owner of the 92 Regal and has been taking it to a local Delaware shop for any work it needs to keep in running. It's his only transportation to work and to school, so he always waits on it until they get around to working on it ..... sometimes all day. The prices he told me they've charged him sound to me like they are double what it should be. Latest thing is that they said he needed new rear brake calipers. He couldn't afford their quote. He had a college friend who knew basics about cars and said he would help him change the calipers himself. With friend's help, he got the parts and successfully changed one caliper. However, he couldn't get the other side caliper bolt broken free. Took car back to his shop, and they realize that he's starting to work on the car himself ..... they tell him they want $160 to break the old caliper free and install his part.

 

This sounds ridiculous to me. Do you think I'm missing something? Recommendations on where the work can be done reasonably?

 

At this point, I'm willing to pay for the fix myself rather than see him pay a penny more to his current shop. Can someone hook me up?

[nurkvinny]

I'd day they just quoted him that to make him go elsewhere.

 

Was there more to it? Like installing new lines, or hardware, or pads, or???

 

Did he screw something up with the bracket that the shop has to fix?

[Doc1647545523]

You may be right, although he's been a "good customer" for them in that he pays cash and it sounds like they consistently overcharge him. He says no parts are involved in their quote. It was all labor, and all to install just the RR caliper. He said they told him they would need to use a cutting torch, and neither he nor his friend had one, so he felt pretty stuck. He says there's no other brake problem he's aware of or that they have told him about.

[nurkvinny]

I don't know man... 160 is only 2 hours. Time to fix someone else's mistake (especially if it truly took a torch), install new caliper, bleed system. It doesn't sound too outrageous to me.

 

I see where you're coming from, and I am almost always on the customer's side, and I feel for the kid. Good luck.

 

PS, if I had torches, I'd tell you to head over here. Although I also never had to use a torch (our shop didn't even have one).

 

PSS, sorry, I thought you meant he snapped off the bolt. He just needs a bolt broken loose?

 

Final PS - what was the car doing in the first place - that made them say it needed both rear calipers (which sounds like a parts hanger shop to begin with).

[BrianZ06]

That is ridiculous shit. That's what it is. If I was not so backed up right now because of the rain and he was close enough I would help him out. I hate to see someone taken advantage of that is having a hard enough time as it is. 160 labor and his parts for one wheel. What a joke. A shop with all the tools at hand will do this in 45 minutes with a coffee break.

[BrianZ06]

I have never seen where you have to use a cutting torch on a brake caliper bolt. I have broke some nasty one's loose with spray and a breaker bar.

[Cordell]

I wish I could just tell you to bring it to me, but I don't have final say in what gets charged to the customer. I'd really like to know why he needs calipers to begin with, most things can be fixed if you're not a lazy tech. I don't replace many calipers unless they leak, or have some physical damage.

Honestly though if someone brought me something screwed up I'd charge them a couple hours to get it apart. The $160 doesn't sound that far fetched to me but I don't know what excatly is going on with the car.

[Major_golf]

I don't know man... 160 is only 2 hours. Time to fix someone else's mistake (especially if it truly took a torch), install new caliper, bleed system. It doesn't sound too outrageous to me.

 

I see where you're coming from, and I am almost always on the customer's side, and I feel for the kid. Good luck.

 

PS, if I had torches, I'd tell you to head over here. Although I also never had to use a torch (our shop didn't even have one).

 

PSS, sorry, I thought you meant he snapped off the bolt. He just needs a bolt broken loose?

 

Final PS - what was the car doing in the first place - that made them say it needed both rear calipers (which sounds like a parts hanger shop to begin with).

 

that does not take 2 hrs 45 min at best. you can do all four brakes in 45min or less if you have a lift and all power tools like a shop would

 

 

that shop = rip off

 

pm sent doc

[Cordell]

I have never seen where you have to use a cutting torch on a brake caliper bolt. I have broke some nasty one's loose with spray and a breaker bar.

 

I have, heating up a stuck bolt will make it come out much faster and easier then penetrating oil without as much risk of breaking it off. Nothing wrong with using a torch in the proper manner.

[BrianZ06]

Torch for heat yes but cutting torch to cut bolt no. Yes I have heated up many rusty parts and it does help sometimes. I just have a gut feeling they are taking him for a ride and making it sounds like a hard job for them to do when it is not.

[Doc1647545523]

Thanks for the advice and the emails. I'm going to follow some of the suggestions and try to get this taken care of for him Saturday.

 

I realize that you can't give a firm estimate without seeing the car in person, and I wouldn't hold any shop to a price if they got into something more involved than had been agreed.

 

This is just one example of the way the shop's been charging him ...... none of the repairs he's described to me should have cost the prices he says he's been charged. I give him credit for trying to learn how to do some of the basics himself.

[nurkvinny]

Maybe they quoted $160 as a worst-case?

 

Who knows.

 

If the shop was a known, repeated rip-off, why in the world did this kid keep going back? To be Devil's advocate - again - if someone tried fixing their own shit, messed it up, then wanted it fixed, I'd estimate high too.

 

So... why does he think he needs both calipers replaced?

[Doc1647545523]

I think he's finally getting wise. He actually thought that cars were just super expensive to repair. He didn't know what the average CR user knows.

 

If you don't grow up around people who know about cars and you don't have some guidance from friends, you're not going to be very well-prepared to navigate the car repair jungle.

 

The same can be said about computers, medicine, law. Most of us relied on our parents to help with major negotiations in purchasing things we hadn't yet learned about. This guy didn't have the advantage of having parents around to look out for him and to teach him. I think he's only about 20 and he's accomplished a lot, considering where he started. He just needs a little guidance on cars right now.

[nurkvinny]

You just have a soft spot for 20th century Buicks.

 

Good luck to him.

[3.1cutlass]

Just to answer the questions about the calipers, they are known of the w-body cars to stick badly. One of mine did it a few years ago and I just went ahead and replaced both to get it out of the way.

[Doc1647545523]

Again, thanks to everyone who posted advice and especially to everyone who PM'd me and offered to help him with the brake problem.

 

It all had a happy ending: MD TRANSMISSION in Delaware inspected his brakes, heated the bolt and removed it, replaced the caliper, bled the system, and had him happily on his way in less than an hour at a charge of $50, less than one third what the other local shop said they would charge.

 

He now knows one honest shop he feels comfortable going to for simple repairs/transmission work.

[Patterson]

Again, thanks to everyone who posted advice and especially to everyone who PM'd me and offered to help him with the brake problem.

 

It all had a happy ending: MD TRANSMISSION in Delaware inspected his brakes, heated the bolt and removed it, replaced the caliper, bled the system, and had him happily on his way in less than an hour at a charge of $50, less than one third what the other local shop said they would charge.

 

He now knows one honest shop he feels comfortable going to for simple repairs/transmission work.

 

 

+1 for MD. Great guys.

[AWW$HEEET]

Id say people RARELY need new calipers, they just need rebuilt usually. Not hard either. Hydraulics are simple to work on.

[Reed44]

I have yet to see a shop that rebuild calipers. They just get remanufactured ones from napa or who ever they get parts from. Glad to see the guy found a honest place to go to. Shop labor charges are ridiculous, and the mark up on parts and tires

[acklac7]

lol Ryan Reed...Figured you were on here. Caliper repairs are physically impossible

[BrianZ06]

Again, thanks to everyone who posted advice and especially to everyone who PM'd me and offered to help him with the brake problem.

 

It all had a happy ending: MD TRANSMISSION in Delaware inspected his brakes, heated the bolt and removed it, replaced the caliper, bled the system, and had him happily on his way in less than an hour at a charge of $50, less than one third what the other local shop said they would charge.

 

He now knows one honest shop he feels comfortable going to for simple repairs/transmission work.

 

Some heat, some wrenching and the job is done. Simple 45 minute job. Like I said that place that wanted 160 was making it more then it was. Glad he got it done and for a very fair price.