So I took my car in for its 65K service and they stated they found a torn outer CV boot and that the rotors and brake pads have a little less then 50% left on them. They quoted me 410 P/L for the boot and 546 P/L for the front rotors/pads and 456 P/L for the rear rotors/pads. Are these good prices? I have only serviced this car at the dealer but I have been thinking about using independent as I have heard they are cheaper and don't seem to want to "screw you". Can anyone recommend any independent dealers in the St.Louis/St peters area? Any help would be great! thanks!

 

I don't know of any dealers in your area.

But I can tell you the CV boot and bolt kit is $16.00 and took me 2 hours per side at the most.( very greasy job though) and you need to remove the brake caliper and rotor to get to it so there should not be a lot of labor to reinstall the new parts since they would have to reinstall the old parts anyway ( maybe a little more for anti squeal and installing the pads). Dealers like to trick you that way.

Your entire job should not take longer than 4 hours labor plus parts. and it is not that urgent if you are right around 50% on your brake pads. You may not need new rotors if they are not warped (shaking when you brake)I didn't change mine. Audi protocol always suggests you change them but you definitely don't have to it depends if they are completely worn. I'll bet they are fine any you could get away with a new set of pads.

Those aren't prices they're phone numbers for his drug dealer.

Any decent shop can do that for you, It was not hard but the grease is very messy. All cars have CV joints these days. You can order the parts yourself from blauparts.com or ecstuning.com etc. usually the front brakes wear out 50% faster than the rear so you may not need rear brakes either.

 

for the response, I am not really technical in doing fixes on my car, the most I have done is changed a brake light so I would have to take it to garage. I know people do there own fixes because it saves lots of money but I would worry I would break something and then be in more trouble. The brakes are for sure not urgent but wanted to get the boot done sooner then later. Just never know who to trust with your car and who is screwing you and who is not...BTW I live in Missouri..forgot to add that

 

whats 'P/L'?

 

I hear you, if it's not your thing CV joints are a grimey job. Besides the tools would cost too much. It's a straight forward job any decent mechanic can do it. It just stinks the way they try to take advantage of people in this economy. You would think the stealership would hold themselves to a higher standard and include the brake labor with the CV joint boot replacement. What is the sense of saving you money on a CV joint failure by replacing the CV boot if they are stealing your money on the non existant brake labor anyway.

SAD SO SAD

 

Yea man, it does suck...people are for sure taking advantage of the economy issues so… I am going see what an independent dealer would cost me for the boot…sounds like people have made relationships with those independent dealers and they get good deals and no “screwing you” approach.
BTW -- P/L is parts and labor

 

Be careful. Not all Indies are honest -- Find a good one, treat him like a lover, and you'll live happily everafter. Get a bad one and you'll be sorry.

 

D'oh... I was thinking some kind of currency

 

I think I paid 200-250 for the CV boot at my old shop
I just did my rear brakes 2 wedks ago and paid
1hr labor at $69
120 for rotrors
81 for Hawks HPS pads.. and I did not shop around for pads, just had the shop order them
so total was $270

Last year for my fr brakes another shop charged me
180 for front rotors
140 for Hawks HPS front pads
160 labor (2 hrs)
$480 total but my current shop would have been cheaper

 

I just cant see paying $140 for one set of pads......