John Cadella said:
I got charged $700 US in Connecticut for front and rear brakes, tire
rotation and engine flush. is this a reasonable price for a dealer?
Hi John. Unforutnately, it wouldn't surprise me. Dealer labor rates
are VERY high. Outside of warranty work, I tend to use the dealer
only to do engine stuff where there very focused knowledge and factory
training justifies the premium.
However, for relatively straightforward most-cars-are-about-the-same
stuff like brakes, cooling, suspension, tires, and oil changes, third
parties get my business. Tire rotations and oil changes can be done
by any teenager. Tire balancing takes a little bit of attention to
detail, but isn't rocket science. For brakes suspension and cooling I
look for shops hiring current, ASE-certified techs and try to line up
a tech with the ASE cert. commensurate to the work I need done.
A quote from CarX on a set of front pads was $180 recently. I opted
to do it myself for teh $30 cost of pads and the reassurance of some
good folks round this forum.
Best Regards,