peteyjr Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Just upgraded my brakes this weekend. After much review on these forums I decided on Hawk HPS pads , DBA 4000 rotors , stainless brake lines and ATE super blue fluid. Unfortunately I headed over to Pepboys by my house on Saturday in order to have my ride ready for an Autocross on Sunday. They quoted me $89 for each axle for the install of pads/rotors. $80 for the first brake line then $25 for each additional (doing the 4 corners) The extra $ for the first was for bleeding which was not mentioned. Total estimate was for $ 380 (tack on tax and shop fee's?). To make a long story short they called me at work and said they needed to tack on another $ 100 for 1) flushing the system and 2) bleeding the brakes. On top of that they mentioned I had 1 quart of oil, and missing the oil cap ???? they wanted to fill my car with oil and charge me for an oil cap. I said okay to the cap (maybe I forgot to replace it in my weekly checks) but told them to hold putting in oil as I was sceptical of the claim. When I got to the store I noticed they had charged me twice for the Bleed. They removed $50 from my $509 bill. I checked the oil and it was on the low end of the dipstick (yea I knew it). The clincher was the Liter can of ATE superblue which looked 3/4 full. My question is HOW MUCH FRICKIN FLUID WILL A FUID CHANGE REQUIRE???? I questioned the service guy and he said " I dunno" , "check the bleeder valve and see if it comes out Blue when you get home. At that point I stormed off. Now I don't know whether to go back and complain. I checked the reservoir and it looks blue. Still wondering if they really flushed the system. Any input from others that have changed out their fluid. BTW the brakes are much better than before and worked like a charm at the autocross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05gtlimited300 Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 to completely flush the system and change to a different fluid it wouldve required all of the superblue and maybe more. i would definitely check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyan Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 and that's why pep boys suck ass for service work.... one of my best friends got one of the iffiest alignments from a pep boys... Mike SoCal Duck Hunters Club - Unit 52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugo L. Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 This is why you should do the basic work yourself, and stuff you can't do alone (such as flushing the brake system), you let a decent shop do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteyjr Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 I agrees, always do the work myself. Had the need for next day track event and had to work that day. My distrust for mechanics grows. BTW called local Subaru dealer today. Asked how much the stock system takes with a flush and he said about half a pint. Maybe I was a little premature to point my fingers. Anyone else do a Brake fluid change ? amount used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnetic1 Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 You dont need the whole can of ATE if youre good, but definitely at least half for a full bleed. Free Sonax Cleaner Deal http://www.brakeswap.com Carbotech, Hawk, PFC, DBA Rotors, Motul, Wilwood, Castrol... Great service. No bumping required ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Im just gonna go ahead and say it. You are a f'ing moron for going to pepboys to get any kind work done to your car. 99% of the time, the mechanics working in the service dept of these autostores are the worst you will ever see. And the service writers are out to take every last dollar from you. Unless you got a friend you trust at a local garage, take it to a dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownBoy Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Seriously...those are dealership prices. You might as well have gone there. PepBoys/Walmart/Jiffy Lube, etc. are all NEVER supposed to touch cars. EVER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05gtlimited300 Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 pep boys is good for oil changes and tires. once you get into more tricky stuff like brakes, i wouldnt trust the pep boys "installers" who are hired with a minimum of 3 months shop expierence and no certification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteyjr Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 Nothing very tricky about brakes. Dealer to install brakes ? yea right. I guess I'm stupid for taking my brakes where i know the manager. Problem was a different manager was there this weekend. Usually the service manager (Jose) is sharp and honest and I know him pretty well. Mechanics there are ASE certified but subcontracted out. Regardless never again. Just glad I got my brakes done as it rained hard and had to do a semi-emergency stop on the highway at high speed. Cars were getting pelted by nickel sized hail and everyone freaked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownBoy Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Nothing very tricky about brakes. Dealer to install brakes ? yea right. I guess I'm stupid for taking my brakes where i know the manager. Problem was a different manager was there this weekend. Usually the service manager (Jose) is sharp and honest and I know him pretty well. Mechanics there are ASE certified but subcontracted out. Regardless never again. Just glad I got my brakes done as it rained hard and had to do a semi-emergency stop on the highway at high speed. Cars were getting pelted by nickel sized hail and everyone freaked. Pads can be done at home. No problem. Fluid changes, rotors, lines, etc. can all be done at home. But most people don't want to buy the tools necessary, or attempt it. I didn't:lol: But, if your dealership is cool with "modding", then I don't see why you should go to another shop. The dealerships aren't always the end-all best shops, but I mean, if other shops are charging as much as dealerships...why not? I only take my car where I know someone there...and only when they are present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniStiGuy Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 I did my pads, rotors at home and its pretty much just like any other car I've done other then honda's. let me tell you though.. omg the front caliper was a pain in my ass since I didn't look over the instructions to just pivot it up. I took it all the way off and so I was trying to put the pads into the caliper, balance it, and put it back on... after about 15 minutes of trying this I was like screw this so I went and found the directions and from there on its like less then 5 minutes to change out pads. I can do a whole brake job including rotors in about 1 -2 hours now. OEM HID's Rx330 Retro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitetiger Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 ASE certified means nothing. All it means is you passed a written standardized test. you can get ASE certifed without ever having touched a car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Petey, You don't have listed where you're located. But here in HR of Virginia we often have install days where between 10 and 30 people show up and help each other with installs. Some of us have tools but others have knowledge and sometimes you just need another person to hold the end of the cat-back or depress the brake pedal. Maybe you should see if your local area has some of these. Most of them here are started and posted by NASIOC. but all of the Subie owners help each other out. We did 3 or 4 spring installs as well as exhaust and up-pipe and a few other things last Sat in 100+ heat. If I don't do it myself then I have some help of friends to do it and then the dealership and never Pep Boys. But as been stated Brakes are easy. If I'm going faster than you, Move Right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Pep boys i feel bad for anyone who brings the car there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteyjr Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 I live in South florida where there are few LGT's around let alone Subaru dealers (closest one is 40 min away). I have a shop about 1/2 hour away that I trust that does EVO's and STI's but the problem is logistics. They helped me fully mod My WRX . Usuallly I do the work myself but time constraints are a factor. In the end the Pep boys deal wasn't so bad. I spoke to Jose the manager this week. He clarified that the mechanic at the time was telling me the car was a quart low (seems I didn't understand him). The fluid was properly flushed and changed (I had them check it out). They gave me a $ 50 gift certificate for my pain and suffering. The brakes are pretty awesome, Now that they are bedded in the car stops like a charm. Pedal feel is vastly improved and much more linear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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