I finally walked out of a car repair shop over their hourly rate

I took my 2015 Honda to a shop in Austin last Tuesday for a simple brake pad swap, and they quoted me $185 per hour for labor... I was floored. The mechanic actually said "that's just the going rate around here" when I asked why it was so high. Am I wrong for thinking $185 an hour is a total cash grab for something that takes 45 minutes?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_daniel18h ago

Hold up though... $185 is steep but check what the actual market rate is in Austin right now. My guy at a dealer in Dallas charges $165 and that's considered reasonable for a shop that actually stands behind their work. That 45 minute job you're talking about includes them actually test driving it after, checking the fluid, probably torquing everything to spec. If you find a shop for $100 an hour good luck getting them to warranty anything when those pads start squealing at 5000 miles. The real question is whether that $185 includes the diagnostic fee if something goes wrong later, because cheap labor usually means cheap results.

noahwood13h ago

Right on the money about the warranty part. Learned that the hard way when a "budget" shop in San Antonio used cheap ceramic pads that warped my rotors within 6 months. Ended up paying double in the long run to get everything redone at a proper shop. The test drive thing is key too most people don't realize a good mechanic is listening for weird noises and feeling the pedal before they hand the keys back. $185 might sting now but a proper brake job that doesn't squeal or vibrate is worth every penny. Have you had any luck finding a shop that gives a written warranty on their labor, or is it all just the handshake kind of deal?