mechanic

[redneck24]

Originally Posted by the_shocker

what do you guys think is a reasonable price to charge for:

front brakes and rotors
rear brakes and rotors
upper and lower ball joints
serpentine belt change

i drive a 2000 chevy S10. i'm trying to price out some local mechanics, not dealerships.

not dealerships. so you dont want the job done correctly, go to midas they will do a fine job.

[JohnnyD]

Originally Posted by redneck24

not dealerships. so you dont want the job done correctly, go to midas they will do a fine job.

Haha.... not dealerships probably because dealers don't supply lube before the raping begins. Dealerships expect you to just lay there and take it.

For example, I took my car to a dealership for some recalls. They gave it back to me along with a laundry list of things that needed replacing and a $2000 estimate. Took it to my mechanic who has done all the work on all my vehicles...

Taking out the un-needed replacements and the smoke test they wanted to do for the Evap leak that turned out to be my gas cap, cost me $1100 and months later the car still runs perfectly.

[luds]

Originally Posted by redneck24

not dealerships. so you dont want the job done correctly, go to midas they will do a fine job.

there are a couple options in between dealerships and midas.

[american spirit]

yeah,

i've been taking my truck to a local guy for oil changes and inspections. he quoted $1200 for front and rear brake and rotors, upper and lower ball joints, and a serpentine belt. i thought that wasn't a bad price.

he also replaced a transmission fluid pan on a chit ford escort for 100 bucks last year. no more leaks, so no problem.

gm dealer would likely be almost 3K or 4K, with lube for the rape job.

[Gary]

$ 1200 if a fair price, If I were to do all that, Id probably be in the area of 1500 or so. The BJ's on those ain't the easiest or quickest to do IIRC.

[JohnR]

Agree - $1200 is a decent price. That's probably close to the parets total at the dealer, not including labor.

I've seen both great and crappy dealers and the same for local shops. I also think it is far harder to find a hack at a dealer than it is at a local garage. That said, if you have a good local mechanic, in most cases it is something good to find...