Just remember you get what you pay for. Sure, you may find some random guy who will do the work for $40/hr. But, will he stand behind his work? If you have had a good experience with this guy before, then I wouldn't complain. And ~$700, is my mind is low. If he said $250 for pads & rotors plus $120 for the wheel bearing, that leaves $330 for labor. Honestly, I do side work out of my garage for people I know, and I don't think I would consider doing the job for that.

I do all my own work, besides actually building my engine, so I would suggest buying some tools and learning how to do simple stuff. It will save you a lot in the long run.

 

OP. I am a service manager at a repair shop. I can unfortunately tell you that his price seems fair.

Around my area, shops are charging between $90-120 per hour. Also obviously there is a mark-up on parts. After all, he is in buisness to make money.

 

I'll tell you what's absurd, there's a Nissan Dealership close to me (Orr Nissan) which I went to the service department simply being curious to how much they charge for labor. When I asked one of the guys said they charged $160 per hour! I just looked at him then turned around and walked out without saying another word. Talk about ripping people off, it's a damn Nissan for christ sakes not a Porsche...

Which in the end made me no difference because I always do any maintenance myself, but damn I feel bad for people who bring their Versa's or Altima's in...

Dealerships can go to Hell.

 

Throw wrenches at him! Dance monkey boy, dance!
I paid 200 for each front bearing
Labour done myself 1.5 hr max!
At the same time hes pullin apart your brakes, fronts take 1.5 hrs max
Rears take 1.5 hrs max plus a bearing there too 1.5 hrs max
Total maximum hrs 6.
Front pads at list likely 75ish
Rotors. Each roughly 40 bux
6x85= 510
150 for front brakes
200 for front bearing
850 now Plus ur rear bearing price i already accounted for labour
Makes sense bro

 

^ QFT. On the bright side, you get some sort of a warranty since it's a shop.

It shouldn't have cost that much to get it done at a 2 man shop, but they told you up front how much it was going to be and you agreed.

BTW, $84/hr is on the low side for a "shop" and you won't find too much cheaper (can depend on locale). They don't make all that much in the end when you factor in rent, utilities, insurance, etc. Now, if you went to someone who works out of their garage or something, you should definitely expect about half of that for labor. However, if you go to these, there's usually no "warranty" and you have to watch out for the incompetent.

 

Why qft? Curious

 

Quoted for truth? I was agreeing with you, because that's exactly what happened.. imo. Then I just blabbered on after that, addressing the OP.

 

Sorry I really thought that meant quit fcking talking. Lol I was like dang what I say. Carry on

 

Someone's got to pay for your mechanic's $50,000 supply of tools (if he owns his own shop, this is a low-ball figure). If he was working off a flat rate system, then you probably paid less than a dealer would charge, especially if you bought new OEM replacement parts and not refurbished parts from Autozone or wherever. I do all my own work, but I've been spending on average about $1,200 a year on tools for the past 25 years and I restore cars as a hobby. Unless you want make the commitment to buy tools, and possess the necessary training to make an intelligent diagnosis when something goes wrong, you're better off just having a pro do the work for you. In this country, it isn't cheap to be a mechanic, and the payoff is horrible. A lot of people do their own work because of this, but without the proper tools and knowledge, fixes aren't always 100% and what you end up with is a 3,400 pound death trap.

 

 

Thanks for the feedback from all of you...

I payed up and now have my car back, so thats good.

From now on, however, I have decided I am going to start reading these forums more and work on my own car Not just to save money, but mainly because I am interested

Going to go roam the forum for some info on what basic tools to get for things like brakes and rotors for example.

Btw, I don't have a problem with taking time to learn how to do things... but one thing that seems daunting is getting under the car for certain repairs. I've been reading a lot about how to do it properly... but still unsettling to lay under a big piece of metal... anyone have this fear too lol? wish my parents house had pit in the garage. That is something that I could do (I live downtown so I will go to my parents house to fix car) I know my grandpa did back in russia

 

Yes you would save a lot of money by just doing it yourself. Make friends/find someone with some mechanical ability, buy a basic craftsman hand tool set, pick up a Haynes manual and off you go. You can learn a lot by doing things over and over. Good luck with your future endeavors

 

Next time definately DIY, this particular job was easy money for him. Just changed my hubs recently, and brakes are cake.

 

By the way, just get yourself some heavy duty jack stands; if placed properly, you're car's not going anywhere.

 

I just paid 950 for one wheel bearing/hub from the dealer @ $100/hr . I knew it was overpriced a bit but I needed the car done in a certain time (this is the only job I have not done myself).

I didn't trust any mechanics in my area so I had to take it to a dealer, the unfortunate problems of living in small towns in the midwest.

I also called different nissan dealers and in their system just changing the wheel bearing is a 4.2 hr job.

 

Car fixed! Lesson learned! Drive on!