Club 80-90 Forums

Hi everyone - hoping for a little advice. I've been quoted £250 for changing the front brake discs, pads and hoses on my 1982 T25 by a professional mechanic - labour only, not including parts. He charges £50 an hour so is telling me it took 5 hours. I could be wrong but that seems like a lot. Any thoughts? Thanks

It's not that difficult to do yourself. How mechanically minded are you?

He’s already done the work unfortunately. I just fear I’m being ripped off and am wondering whether to challenge him when I collect the van tomorrow. Can it really be 5hrs work for a professional mechanic?

Well, good luck with that. I very much doubt he will budge on the price. If he says it took 5 hrs then how can you argue with that?

Could see if something like autodata? Lists the book time for changing, allow a bit extra for problems etc.

If it’s significantly less than the 5hrs he is quoting you could politely ask what problems he encountered for the job to take X amount of time over the expected.

You mentioned hoses, maybe the system needed bleeding, takes a bit of time which may have added to the time, I have not changed discs but sometimes they do stick or the calipers are a pain, he may have had an issue there, just ask if there were any problems he encountered.

It’s not out of the way to be honest, , calipers can be hard work to get off, Brake pipes can shear off replacing hoses , etc etc

The price is pretty fair

bearings in discs too

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VAT, if charged, will bring it down to a reasonable 200 quid for labour. Two hours' per side is about right. My local garage in Thanet charges £55.00 per hour. If he's done a good job then no complaints.

No point looking at auto data, it’s 35+ year old van , not a new car , it  could well have taken longer than that if just one side was "awkward" , only needed a sticky calliper or a pipe union issue to change a one hour job into three.... methinks you prob need to give him a little more credit , and frankly , he’s done it , too late to argue now .

brockleymoss wrote: ↑02 Sep 2020, 17:52 He’s already done the work unfortunately. I just fear I’m being ripped off and am wondering whether to challenge him when I collect the van tomorrow. Can it really be 5hrs work for a professional mechanic?

Prior to the work, did he give you a fixed price and timescale (quote) before doing the work and you agreed, or did he give you an estimate?  Subtle difference.

Did he give you the cost of the work after doing it?

Perhaps a little bit steep pricewise, ask if there were any problems involved causing the time taken...

5 hours doesnt sound too excessive when you take into account what was the condition of the pipe fittings etc .bleeding the system blah blah .
You've had it done , so pay up.

Mocki wrote:No point looking at auto data, it’s 35+ year old van , not a new car

Completely agree, just suggesting if it said book time was 3hrs for example it would give a base to work from. As everyone has said with complexity of age etc then with allowance for this could easily add an extra hour a side.