Ok, last year my brakes seemed to be wearing out, though I drove for a week with them like they were since that week was very rainy and I chalked up my lousy brakes to it being wet all that time. Next week after that the brakes stopped just as poorly so I took the car to Les Schwab. They told me that my brakes were 80% gone (obviously) and that I needed all new brakes/rotors/pads/calipers/brake lines, to the tune of $2,200. I have a Mercedes so I know that this was total BS and all I really needed was fresh pads and rotors and confronted them about not doing the obvious move and slapping on new Benz rotors and pads on the existing components, and they said they can only work on brand new parts and since I got a Mercedes, they don’t keep my parts in stock and they would have to special order them in 6-8 weeks time. Later that same weekend I took the car up to Goodyear Tire and Auto and they had no trouble at all putting new Benz spec. pads and rotors in with the existing components all in that same day, the car stops beautifully (even a year later) and it was only $600 for all 4 brakes.
What kind of crap was Les Schwab trying to pull on me? If they thought I was going to have them tear out my Benz brake system for some no-name parts that would still take them 2 months to get shipped to them, they were dead wrong. My car has ABS and I am sure their parts wouldn’t do a damn bit of good. Is it me or should Les Schwab just stick to selling tires? Just because I own a Mercedes doesn’t mean I must be ripped off each time I must do car maintenance….
They picked the wrong guy to pull it on though. I know whatever wack brand of no-name non OEM brakes they pieced together would be no good vs. actual Mercedes service parts, like Goodyear installed. Goodyear had them delivered the same day and they were from OEM suppliers.
Mustafa, I don’t go the the dealerships or the chain garages either, I go to a little indie mechanic who only works on Mercedes cars, and the only reason I went to Goodyear was for the fact they were open on the weekend while that Benz only mechanic is just open Monday-Friday.
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March 30th, 2011 at 8:07 am
This is how they make money…They will think you are dumb enough to roll out long dough…Most people that drive MBZ have the money to dish out…They thought you were a sucker…I try to do my own brakes so I don,t get burned by idiots like the ones you described?
March 30th, 2011 at 8:35 am
It takes me a long time to find a good mechanic.
I only choose among the small independents. Generally, these are older guys and not a kid right out tech school. Garages, most of the time, are like good restaurants…look for the cars in the lot. If there isn’t anybody there…chances are…they stink.
The guy I go to now has the interpersonal skills of a porcupine. One day he just grunts at you, the next time you can’t get out of the shop because he wants talk your ear off. I’ve got kids and whole fleet of cars. A couple are nice (like yours), my kids…theirs are hoopties. They take them to college. I haven’t has any downtime from any of them in 3 years.
Stay away from the franchise garages: Schwab, Firestone, etc. There’s one journeymen mechanic in there and 9 kids who just got out of tech school.
I go to Lou’s Auto Service. I know that means nothing to you, but it’s an example of a small independent. The franchise garages, you’ll get a new car one screw at a time. They can’t diagnose for beans.
Good luck with your frustration.
Mustafa (aka. Moose)