[RogerSteels]

Just had new front discs and pads fitted to Audi A5 b8 3.0 TDI quattro . Asked for Audi parts and paid £230 for discs and £125 for pads , not including labour. Work was done by local independent. Does this sound reasonable ? Thanks

 

[Hassan]

£125 for pads seem really high, aren’t they along the lines of £60-£80 from main dealer/TPS?

Can’t remember how much discs are though.

But do give them a ring to see how much, but seeing as you’ve already paid, so don’t think there is much you can do.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SimonRoma]

Roger mate, would have been wise to ask these questions before you want ahead!! And given that Audi does not make brake disks or pads than you must always seek to purchase top quality parts like Bosch, Brembo and many more. Prices sound a bit high for an independent BUT all depends on what parts were fitted.

 

[RogerSteels]

Roger mate, would have been wise to ask these questions before you want ahead!! And given that Audi does not make brake disks or pads than you must always seek to purchase top quality parts like Bosch, Brembo and many more. Prices sound a bit high for an independent BUT all depends on what parts were fitted.

Thanks for your reply mate , I use the garage all the time for mine and my wife’s car and they’ve always been honest and reliable , so had no reason to think they’d overcharge me . It was only when I did a bit of research that I found the price he was charging me seemed a bit steep . I haven’t paid him yet , so I just need to find a way of asking him why they’re over double the price they are on line .

 

[SimonRoma]

Well it all depends, if you did not specify what brand you wanted then of course they are free to choose, and in general they will choose what is best for THEM in other words most margin. With my indi I always chat and agree on the brand that I want and he always then keeps the boxes to show me what he has used. OF COURSE the real sharks will always show you the same bag of bits that they changed (5 years ago) but the honest guys are honest......

 

[findalex]

Honest mechanics are hard to come by... at least here in the USA. It's too easy to trick or cheat the general public who don't know enough about cars.

If your guy or gal has been good to you over the years, I would just talk to him and say the next time you need some parts, let's discuss if there are quality OEM-quality parts he can use instead. Sites like FCPEuro is good at identifying which brands are used by Audi and which brands have a good reputation of OEM-quality.

 

[sayek]

Absolutely agree honest mechanics are hard to come by and its even worse if the customer has limited knowledge of cars. From my personal experience 20 years ago I now laugh how mechanics talked pure lies to convince me to hand over cash.
But I did find 1 honest mechanic eventually to service my dads car. The mechanic was even kind enough allow me to observe while he worked on the car and over the years I slowly learned how to service cars.

The price for Audi dealer parts seems correct. But as Simon already mentioned Audi do not manufacture the parts. Its 3rd parts with Audi logo. IMO you can't go wrong with Brembo and they would have cost less than half the price if you shopped around online.
But the real savings come when buying on Ebay. Many people buy parts but some reason got rid of car before fitting them. But you need to know exactly what part number for your car as there would be no returns.

 

[SimonRoma]

Wise works Sayek. I too have been taken to the cleaners in my youth and have slowly learned to identify good service guys and er crooks. The car world is FULL of folks who wanna make a quick buck, but if you look hard you can also find guys with a good reputation who care, and they wanna keep that reputation too. I service my own bikes which is great fun, and do the basics on my car and van too. In this way one starts to understand at least the basics so now I guess that I get ripped off less......