To think I'm being ripped off?

[Karmaisabitch]

Need front & back brake pads & discs changed on my car before DS arrives as I want to ensure my car is safe.

I've just rang a garage & they've quoted £400, £400 for parts and labour??! Is that right??

[PinkSnowAndStars]

Sounds close to what I paid last year with an MOT as well. Depends what car it is I guess!

[MrsTarzan1]

Sounds ok to me!

[PotteringAlong]

Yes. And regardless of your child scenario, if the breaks on your car are not safe, please don't drive it.

[PurpleAlerts]

Try Quick fit- they do a free brake check/ I have always found our Local Quick Fit very helpful and not out to rip you off.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

It cost me £90 for that for two wheels so seems expensive to me.

[RJnomore1]

Oh good lord don't go to kwik fit. Where's your quote from? Best thing is to ask round for a small local garage that people you know who know a bit about cars trust.

What make is your car?

[TheWitTank]

Sounds about right (worked for years at a garage). What car do you drive?

[TheWitTank]

Also advise to steer well clear of Kwik Fit. We spent a lot of time repairing their "work" on customers cars or redoing what they claimed they had done- but hadn't.

[TheWitTank]

Average labour rate of mechanics is between £50 (which is cheap) and £100 an hour dependent on if it's a dealership/local/experience.

[Atticmatic]

Sounds about right.

[ShoeEatingMonster]

I paid about that for the same

[SoupDragon]

My local Kwik Fit are a bunch of thieving tossers!

It sounds a little high but I've only had front or back done, never both together so perhaps that is skewing my thoughts. I'm sure it was around half that for the set I had done last and that included chiselling off and replacing the locking wheel nuts as I'd lost the key nut.

[GasLightShining]

Just had a quote for the same from local garage. Can't remember if it is £300 or £350 but Halfords were £100 more expensive

[TheWitTank]

It is dependent on what you are driving too. A set of discs for a BMW wouldn't cost the same as for your Ford KA for example. I used to buy all the parts at the garage and could pay anything from £20 to £120 for a set.

[Foureyesarebetterthantwo]

I also say don't go to Kwik Fit, my husband is a bit clueless about MOT/cars and they persuaded him with a discount voucher to have one when it wasn't due and then found 'lots wrong' with it even though it wasn't due for another 6 months that cost a fortune to fix. Utterly dodgy, had to pay it to get the car back on the road.

I would ring round a couple of places so you have an idea if this is reasonable, I go to a cheap local garage but I've been going there for many years, it's not the easiest to get to but I trust them to do it properly, it wouldn't cost £400 there.

[DrivingMeBonkers]

Don't go to a dealership, go to a word-of-mouth independent trader. that shouldn't cost the thick end of 400 quid.

I've just had all my breaks, bearings, brushes, shock absorbers and I asked for the wiper blades to be changed, a full service and MOT, and that was £397.

And that's London prices.

[StickyMouse]

You don't need disks every time you change pads. Shop around?

[greenmidgetgems]

Shop around and ask for a complete breakdown of the cost into parts, labour and VAT.

I've just paid £370 for full service, 3 replacement bulbs and both front pads / discs. Service was £185, bulbs were £24 so pads / discs and all labour was £161. That's Northern Ireland which is probably a bit cheaper than mainland UK though.

[Karmaisabitch]

I've a citroen C2.

I can buy parts for £100 online so maybe go to a mechanic who wants to earn a bit of extra cash??

[IndigoSister]

I've just had my back ones done, £150 from local garage. Dealership quoted £200+

[wettunwindee]

I think you need to find out exactly what's been quoted for the £400

I can buy parts for £100 online

No you can't. Not 4 discs and 4 sets of pads. Just for the pads perhaps. That would sound about right.

Not sure what you mean by a mechanic who wants extra cash.

Replacing 4 discs and pads is fairly time consuming although not that difficult.

[Karmaisabitch]

Euro car parts sells brake discs & pads as set for £50.00

[wettunwindee]

but you need 4 of them.

4x50=200

HTH

[notfromstepford]

For brakes all round that sounds about right to be honest.
The problem with Kwik Fit is that the company put immense pressure on hitting targets and getting the "mix" right so it's not just £x a month they have to achieve - it's £X a month that consts of 20% brakes, 20% tyres etc.
That's why my DH left - he wasn't prepared to rip people off just so he could hit target and get his product mix right. He wasn't popular with the management but his customers loved him.

[happyelf]

We buy the stuff online and dh fits. No way it's £400 for those parts for a c2. Try a small independent. We just got quoted £850 for a new exhaust from Kwik Fit, Arnold Clark quoted £450 and small independent did it for £365