Brakes for 2007 Accord

[librarybrandy.livejournal.com]

I checked the tags, and can only find recs for tire places. With that in mind, if I need front brakes and rotors for a 2007 Accord, and I don't want to pay the $600 the dealership wants BUT would still like the luxury of stopping when I need to, are there local places I can go? Has anyone had brakes done at Arco Tire & Service, in Teele? They've patched/replaced a few tires for me and have always seemed quick, affordable, and reliable, and their website says they do brakes, but... are they good? Is there somewhere else I should go?

(Or, is $600 actually the going price for brakes + rotors?)

Comments

[geekpixie.livejournal.com]

We've had work done at Arco, and have friends who have had brake work done too. They are friendly, fast, and surprisingly well priced. Can't recommend them enough. And last time we got work done, we got a free frisbee!

[librarybrandy.livejournal.com]

A frisbee? That makes all the difference! I'll get an appointment Monday!

(Seriously, I probably will, though I'm being facetious about the frisbee.)

Friendly, fast, and reasonably priced--but they're good, right? Reliable work? Stopping's pretty important to me; it's on my short list of Things I Need The Car To Do.

[dakotakym.livejournal.com]

I've had brakes on one of my Jeeps done at Arco (and lots of other mechanical work over the years, as well), and have always been happy with the experience. They're honest, reliable, and do very good work. They've also been good about giving accurate cost estimates for repairs, and have been willing to discuss and explain whatever I wanted to know about concerning the cars. They're no-BS great people.

[koloratur.livejournal.com]

Arco is the best. They take real pride in their work, and in keeping costs down. I've been going there exclusively for a few years for my terrible little hatchback, and not only have they fixed things that the dealer messed up, they don't charge for a lot of little extras. Plus, as a woman, I really appreciate when a mechanic doesn't treat me like a dummy. When I had my brakes done, the mechanic actually lifted my car back up to do a show and tell because we were having such a spirited conversation about the evils of anti-lock brakes.

[librarybrandy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really appreciated it the last time I was there (for a flat tire) and he explained everything he was doing and made suggestions for the future. (Like, I'd mentioned that maybe I'd jettison the locking lug nut, because it's a pain in the butt to find the special key-attachment thing to get it off when I need to, and he shrugged: "You can go ahead and swap that for a regular one, but all it'll do for you is bring you back here for a new tire when that one gets stolen. Happens a lot around here, especially with Honda tires.")

I like that I've never been treated like an idiot there, despite knowing just about nothing about cars. I'm glad to know they're reliable, too.

[babstaah.livejournal.com]

Ditto to the above. I've had my brakes done at Arco on my 2005 Acura a couple of times. Great service, good price, and I can walk home and back.

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

Most shops here would probably charge 350-450 in my experience. You could call the dealers parts department and ask how much a set of rotors and pads cost for your car and that will give a ball park as to the labor they are charging. Or our could bring it to Fellsway auto and talk to Jimmy. Always entertaining and does work fast.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

I've taken my car to Hillside Auto on Broadway for all kinds of stuff, although not specifically brakes. They do a good job and the prices are reasonable.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

We always take our beloved Civic to Belmont Auto Repair (http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3715604173/belmont-auto-repair-belmont) and are totally delighted with Aram's work. That said, he is not always the most competitive in terms of pricing, but his work is incredibly reliable.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

ABJ does great work and has fair prices. I do most of my own work on my car, but if there's something I need a professional for, ABJ is the place.

[tehlunchbox.livejournal.com]

Autozone and do them yourself. Brake pads and rotors are surprisingly easy to do. You'll probably spend ~$200 in parts.

Or, I'd highly recommend Vinnie's Autosport by Lechmere. Vinnie is a great guy and gives the car a real look over, not just what you tell him to look at. so he'll find out if anything else is wrong. Also, his rates are somewhere around 75-80 an hour, instead of a stealership's 100-105.

Good luck!

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

I just did this work myself yesterday on my 1998 A4. It took $110 in parts and less than an hour of labor once I got properly started, BUT I spent about 4 hours learning things like "how do you deal with a wheel that's stuck on?" and "oh crap I got the wrong part" and some ways AutoZone is a real pain. Based on that, the "$200 for parts (at honest mechanic's markup) + an hour for labor" quoted below sounds quite plausible.

If you do want to DIY, here are some things:

- You can loosen suck wheels by driving back and forth on them after slightly loosening the lug nuts. Don't bother with other methods.

- Just buy the OEM-replacement brake rotors: don't, like I did, snap up a deal on an upgrade without understanding that it required more parts that made it not really a deal after all.

- AutoZone's inventory management is broken, as is their problem resolution, and the only way to successfully manage this is to ensure that you can see the parts in front of you before you swipe your credit card. I'm at the point of having to write them a lawyer letter for a fuckup that resulted in having 1 brake rotor in hand after being charged for 2.

Just order online from someone else (I used ecstuning, which doesn't do Honda) if you have the time.

[librarybrandy.livejournal.com]

DIY appeals to me in a lot of ways, but what I know about cars is basically "They have wheels and brakes and I feed it gasoline and it brings me places." Not to play the Dumb Girl card (because I hate that nonsense) but even a supposedly-easy thing like this is probably beyond my skills. You have no idea how proud I was the night I changed a tire by myself.

Stopping is a very important part of driving, so I don't really trust the job to myself.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Totally reasonable. I rationalized it as follows: "there are four brakes; I'm changing two. If I screwed up, I won't find out by being unable to stop, I'll find out by horrible noises or poor performance". If I'm still posting in a year, I was right :)

[pch1.livejournal.com]

We've always had luck with Ideal engine next to Sacco's/Flatbread. They have been reasonably priced and I appreciate the short walk from my home.

[lldald.livejournal.com]

Second this. Tim Hubbard (formerly of Fred Hubbard Gulf on Highland) at Ideal has always been straight up and honest, does excellent work, and has never given me a price that wasn't fair. Keeps my '95 Accord purring like a kitten.

[motmot22.livejournal.com]

I love Hondar House in Cambridge.

[meflaher.livejournal.com]

My friend just got her brakes replaced on her 2007 Accent at Chris' Auto on Highland right outside of Davis for $400. For some reason her tires were stuck on so tight it took two men and a heat gun to get them off. He didn't charge her extra for the additional hours of labor and totally talked her through work she will need in the future without forcing her into any decisions.