Since I seem to be on a price kick lately, I took my Audi 4000 in for a free midas brake inspection last week, and walked away with a $1,200 estimate. In my estimation, this was way out of line.

Some items of interest included:

$39.99 for new wheel cylinders (each) -- I paid $15 each.
$57.99 for front pads -- warranty item.
$43.99 for front rotors (each) -- I paid $25 each
$88.99 for new drums (each) -- saving for next brake job in 2 years
$51.99 for rear shoes -- warranty item.
$29.99 for tie rod end -- I paid $14
$35.99 for a ball joint -- I paid $15
$69.99 for strut inserts (each) -- warranty item, but, the same exact strut at Pep Boys sells for $32.99 each. I could have gotten Boge Turbo Gas for $100 for the pair.

I think the total breakdown was somewhere in the neighborhood of $750 for brake work and $450 for suspension work.

Doing most everything myself, and using good mailorder parts houses (Adirondack and others), I should be able to bring the job in at under $225 out of pocket. Add another $100 for two new tires, and the car should be good to go for some time.


That's not to say that I didn't have any adventures while doing the job. I am up here with only my "travel tools" and I could not get one of the top strut nuts off using hand tools. So, I drove the car to the nearest service station for a quick go at it with an impact wrench.

First the guy tells me that the spring will grenade through the fender if he hits that nut with an impact. I tried to tell him that the strut mount holds the spring together, and the top strut plate and nut merely serves to keep the strut assembly from falling out the bottom when the car is on a lift. He wouldn't believe me, so I removed the strut nut and plate that I had loosened on the other side of the car and held them in front of his disbelieving eyes.

Then, he wanted to charge me $10.00 to hit the damn nut with an impact wrench. Turns out, I am way more stubborn than that nut. As he was rounding up his tools, I told him to forget it. I hit the next service station and had the nut off within a minute or two of pulling in. (after I again had to demonstrate that the spring would not grenade through the fender).

I'm tellin ya, i should write a book on my Audi experiences.

-- tom

 

I hear ya. Midas is the biggest ripoff I have ever seen. They charge you for that exhaust, but tell you later pipes aren't included in the warranty. If you know what you are doing, it's definitely the way to go.

 

get brembo brakes!