I am having my rear rotors and brake pads replaced at the dealer. I negotiated a price of $500 total. (That may not be cheap overall, but it's worth it because due to backlog I have been in a dealer loaner car for 2 weeks all thru the holidays).

Anyway, what is surprising is the price of each rotor is only like $65. I had heard that rotors are expensive for cars generally. I would expect Audi rotors to be extra pricey. Why are they affordable? Are they more simple than rotors on other makes and models?

 

i just bought rotors for my wifes exploder and i paid 85.00 each rotor, i'm not complaining about the price of audi rotors as long as they sell cheap, you can buy some better rotors from ecs tunning and they are not that much more and buy the better pads with less dust.

 

SHHHHH........they might hear you...............lets keep this under our hat, dont want them to get wise and raise the price for no reason!

 

I know, I meant to say I'm not complaining about the price. My friend was telling me that rotors are usually several hundred, and he has experience more with trucks and american cars, so we figured Audi rotors would be more expensive. I guess maybe it has to do with the fact that dealers are notorious for charging $1 for a part, and $1000 for labor to install the part. Maybe they make their money on labor.

 

Rear rotors are normaly le$$ than fronts. Calipers are the only pricey part when it comes to brakes. I got my rear brembo's for like $40 each+$40 mintex pads. It took about 3 hours and $120 total because i did the rear wheel bearings too. A simple DIY... I would never let the dealer do such a simple service at their labor costs!

 

There's nothing special about audi brake parts to make them significantly more expensive than other makes and models

BTW you're getting ripped off...

 

Not really. I put 3,500 miles on an '07 A4 loaner, and kept 3,500 miles off my car. If rotors are 130/pair and pads are 70/pair (roughly), and I actually only paid $450 drive out, then I paid about 250 in labor, which may be high but not compared to the saved miles. I only agreed to do the brake job when I realized this would be the case.

 

Saved miles? Ok... lets see. EBC pads $40, rotors 60 for both and you need a set of tools including an 8mm allen, 13mm socket and a vise grip. Either a cybe style $10 or a master rear brake kit ($20) may be needed to compress the piston.

So with $100 in parts and about an hour of labor you could've done it yourself.

 

Perhaps. But have you checked the rental price on a Ford Tempo for 2 weeks? How about a "premium" car? Depreciation attributable to adding 3.5k to the odometer? These are all things to consider. Also, in the parking lot of an apartment complex, and without jack or jackstands, I doubt I could have done it in an hour. My time is billed out at more than the dealer labor rate, so I am better off working another hour and paying someone to work on my car.

I used to change my oil in college when I had no job, but now it makes more sense to pay someone for many things.


Still, I am not discounting your point -- there is definitely a cash savings and satisfaction to DIY.