Hi again. I just had my back brakes replaced and also the rotors. The shop owner said he had to replace the rotors because that is how the "new kind" of rotors are. I thought they could just be filed down, especially since the brakes have never worn far enough down to cause damage to the rotors. He told me it was the law, that they can't just put brake pads on in case I had a problem with the brakes. So I had them replaced since I know about what they cost. Then when I got the bill it was $260. I was only there for 1 1/2 hours, a half hour of that was waiting for the parts to be delivered. I paid it thinking that he was honest but a friend told me that I got overcharged. $18 went towards cleaning the parking brake and $28 was to just inspect the brakes, not for labor. Does this sound like a correct price? It's a 2002 Grand Caravan. Thanks!

I paid right around $200 4/5 years ago or so to have my rear brakes worked on only because I couldn't get one drum off. They replaced the shoes, all hardware, one drum and a cylinder. Took them 2-3 hours. $260 sounds marginally reasonable. Course it will cost different depending what part of the country you're in too.

Never heard that you have to have your rotors replaced because of any law. That is a new one on me if it is a law, but then again, I usually do my own brake jobs. And when I do that I get the rotors turned just to clean them up. The only time I have replaced rotors is when they were either warped, or to thin that they can no longer be turned. Most rotors have a minimum thickness number cast into them someplace.

I have never heard of any law like that either and I like to stay up on these things. The price sounds on the high side of reasonable. As for replacing instead of machining, if a new rotor is only a little more than machining cost it only makes sence to replace. Here we only machine the expensive ones.

$260 is too much? Not here in Ontario. Garages here routinely gouge the hell out of people and that would have likely been a $400+ bill. Very few shops around even have a lathe anymore. Replacing is cheaper and easier and faster most of the time.