$1500.00 Brake Job!

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les snob tires. <--Notice I didn't capitalize :-)
Oh boy, I can smell a law suit coming..

I have spent several thousand dollars at my local les snob in the past year or so. I have three cars sitting in my driveway at this moment and all of them have brand new tires and custom rims on them.
When I drive in there, they should be huffing and puffing to help me out, I would think. My experience with them has been quite the opposite. This wasn't always the case though, this local store was once under different management and it was an excellent place. That manager (I think) has transfered to the Red Bluff store. Good guy, bald man! I don't remember his name, but he had always remembered mine.

First off, the prices are far too high!
My wife mentioned to me that the brakes on the truck were starting to make a raspy noise the other day. I was thinking "oh no", I hope the rotors are okay. When you start hearing that raspy sound it's time to replace the pads, if not then the rotors will go next (that's more expensive).

She took it in to snob tires and I received a phone call that morning.
I refuse to quote them to protect my own butt, it went something similar to this...

THEM: It's going to run you around $1500.00 sir.
ME: HUH? For a brake job? 1500?
THEM: You need all new pads, all new rotors, new calipers, and all new ball joints.
ME: WTF? Don't do anything, put it back together and park it out front. I'll pick it up.

Well I was already too late, the wife had already approved the brake job on the front. I'm not trying to make my wife sound dumb. She, like most females, has minimal knowledge of working on cars. They had replaced the calipers, the rotors, and the pads.
Total cost for "front" brake job... $420.00

Did the rotors and calipers really need replaced? I seriously doubt it.
The pads needed replaced, the rotors likely needed spun, 15.00 at Napa auto parts. I'm not going to continue ranting.. let me just say this. I believe that they just 'might' take advantage of females sometimes.

I did the rear brake job myself last night.
My wifes truck "Ford F150 4x4 5.4 triton V8" has disk brakes all around, this means that the front brakes and assembly are the same as the rear.
I found that the calipers and the right rear rotor were in fine shape. The pads were obviously in need of replacement, and the left rear rotor was pretty rough. I could have taken it to Napa this morning and had it spun for $15.00, but instead, since I was in a hurry, I decided to just buy a new one from Kragen Auto, so I did! $50.00. I also bought new pads for the rear, $24.00. The job took me 45 minutes.

My total for the rear brake job..... less then $85.00
Les Snob's total for the front brake job.... $420.00

I'm not claiming to know all there is to know about brake jobs. I'm an 'Industrial Mechanic', not an 'auto Mechanic'.
I'm not a 'veterinarian' either.. but I know a horses A$$ when I smell one.

I know, I'm being a crybaby. It just seems to me that they are over pricing parts and worse yet replacing them unnecessarily, thus taking advantage of people.. but maybe not!

I have several other les snob stories that I could mention right about now, but I will refrain from doing so because I want this blog to focus more on the positive things in life and less on the negative.

-John