Took the '08 in (46,000) for a normal service (car alerted) and recall repair here in Dallas.

I thought the $505.00 tag for an oil change, air and cabin filter and brake flush seemed a bit high, but it needed to be done so I just authorized the work.

Apparently, they were looking to pad a bit more. They called me back and said the front brakes were in need of replacement. $830!! I've had a lot of cars, American, German and Japanese. I've never been hit with nearly a grand for a single pair of brakes before!

Now, both times I was in the dealership, the place was a ghost town and just a handful of cars on the lot. Are prices like this normal everywhere or are they just killing their own customer base here in Dallas with horse s@!t like this? This was the first major service I've needed and the prices were staggering to me.

 

My first MINI was a 2006 R50. When it needed brakes, the dealership wanted almost a grand for all four wheels. Ultimately, I took it to a shop that specialized in brakes, and they did the whole job, front and back, for $750.

My second MINI was a 2010 R56, and the front brakes were replaced free of charge during routine maintenance. I traded it in before it needed rears done. Haven't needed brakes on my Countryman yet, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 

c

 

Back when I first needed brakes on my MINI, the dealership had quoted me $880. That was the moment I decided I would learn how to DIY it.

 

$550 for an oil change, new filters, and a brake fluid flush is absolute robbery. An oil change takes about a half hour maximum (even on MINIs with hard to get filter locations) and will cost about $40+- depending on the filter and oil you use. Cabin filter is above the passenger side footwell and takes maybe 2 minutes to replace....$20 maybe?

The fluid flush I personally do not have any experience with but can't imagine it taking very long or being too costly.

I know this post is a bit off topic (should be about brakes), but I strongly recommend doing oil and filter changes on your own. You get to know your car a little better and in return you save some money. Win - win.

As a side note: I did absolutely despised changing my oil filter on my r56. It's in such a poor location (have to remove coolant overflow reservoir and is about a foot down to the left.) and it was hard to gauge where the oil would drop into my pan below.

 

Well, I have no issues doing an oil swap myself or taking it to the many oil change places close to me. They charge a reasonable $65.00 for the turbo/MINI change.

The only reason I headed to the dealer was the Service Indicator and the recall repair. I laughed when the guy actually told me they CHARGE to reset the service indicator. LOL.

The brakes weren't even on the docket when I took it in. I was just curious if that was as out of line as I felt some of the other services were.

After this experience, MINI of Dallas will have one less living being in their lobbies.

 

$1000 for a brake job?? Do they use gold plated parts? For a grand you could get New EBC slotted rotors and green stuff pads.

 

Dealers will bleed you dry. I don't feel sorry for any of them being slow. It's plain and simple robbery.

The only thing I take my cars to a dealer is alignments.they seem to do it ok and are competitive priced.

 

On the topic of dealer rip-offs, I remember the time my car was at the dealer and on the lift for warranty work, and all four wheels had been removed and were on the ground, which I could see through the window. I asked that when putting them back on, they rotate front to back and back to front. They wanted to charge me! That was the last time the car was in a dealership for work.

 

Sounds about right. Freakin' thiefs!

 

"dealers" might not be a correct generalization

I took my 11 SOUL to the dealer for service yesterday.

oil change, multi-point check, 4 wheel alignment, cabin filter, they washed and vacuumed the car and I was in and out in 90 minutes. Less than $200

Years ago I bought a VW from a Miami dealer and they had many brands served out of one garage. I vividly remember a BIG sign on the wall

Service rates

Honda and VW $35 per hour
BMW $75
Delorian $150

yea - it was that far back but my point is ... one garage, same mechanics . . .

 

As you correctly surmised, you are being taken to the shed, but not by a lot.

New set of front + rear OEM pads should run you ~$100 per axle.
If necessary, rotors will add up to $50 * 4 = another ~$200.
You can spend more on performance pads and pretty rotors, but this is pretty much near the minimum: http://www.tirerack.com/brakes/search.jsp

1.5-2.0 hrs of labor to get it done. 2x that if it's the first time you are DIY-ing it. Assuming at least $100/hr labor, you are looking at a $600 job + markups.

Given that you volunteered to pay $505 for oil + filters + brake fluid change, it was not entirely unreasonable for the dealer to assume they could take you for another joy ride.

I would be more upset about paying $505 for $100 worth of parts and 2-3 hours of labor, then $830 for the brakes.

Time to learn to DIY !

a

 

Well, just to close out the thread, I thought I'd give the final recap.

I suspect you're right about the assumption that, if I was willing to pay for the service call, I'd be willing to pay for anything else. That was not the case for them. As I said, I will not be giving them further business, brake or otherwise.

Second, the 800+ was for the front axel ONLY. Not all 4.

And finally, when I arrived to pick the car up, the bill was more than $150.00 more than what was agreed upon. The cashier of course knew nothing so she had to call someone. He asked me "what did they tell you it was going to cost" and I shared that figure. He kind of huffed...and said, that seems low.

I pulled out my cell and explained I'd be happy to put the voicemail on speaker phone if he'd like.

He asked for me to wait a minute....went to a terminal...typed a bit, came back and told the cashier to print out an updated copy. It was magically what I was expecting.

While it could be a total coincidence that I had the other experiences and that a "clerical" error caused the bill to be inflated (more than $67.00 for the tire rotation), I suspect it was just the hopes that I wouldn't notice or say anything about the inflation.

MINI of Dallas. Inept.

 

Thieves

 

let's see, my dealer charges $135/hr for labor, so.......3 hrs times $135 plus $100 for parts.....carry the 5......wow, $505.

And to the poster who says "I've never done a brake fluid change but it can't cost much".........I've never done brain surgery either, but it can't cost much.......please.

I'm assuming the OP either doesn't have the skills, knowledge, tools or time to DIY, or he would have.

I also assume he would prefer that the job is done right, and that his brakes work properly after he gets it back?

And if you decide to take your car to Iffy Lube for the $65 oil change, all I can say is you get what you deserve. Every forum on the interwebs is full of stories of folks who did that and got stripped oil plugs, or stripped oil pan threads, plugs left loose, filters not changed, no oil put in or too much oil put in, wrong oil used, blown engines, cars dropped into the pit and damaged, kids joyriding and on and on and on. Let your conscience be your guide.

You make the multi-million $ plus investment into your business and let's see what you charge for your services.

Yes, you can DIY if you have the time, skills, tools and so on - I do - but if you can't then you get what you pay for. I hold shop days in my shop and the horror stories of guys trying to DIY stuff they don't understand would scare you to death.

I also frequently find the guys who complain the most about service costs on their cars are often guys who make $300 or more an hour themselves.

Bottom line, if you don't like their prices, don't use them, that's your choice as a consumer - no one is holding a gun to your head - even in Texas!

But make sure you get competent work and quality parts. Your dealer stands behind everything he does in his shop for 2yrs with unlimited mileage, does Iffy lube or Jorge's auto repair?

I would think the one place you would not want to cheap out on would be on repairs that could end your or someone else's life if they fail.

And to the poster who said you could get EBC pads and rotors - weren;t EBC the subject of a recent thread where their pad material was separating from the backing?

Point is only to make sure you get quality work and quality parts by a reputable firm that will stand behind their work, nothing more. But I gaurantee you they won't be cheap if they do.

 

I toss my BS flag . . . .

And if you decide to take your car to Iffy Lube for the $65 oil change, all I can say is you get what you deserve. Every forum on the interwebs is full of stories of folks who did that and got stripped oil plugs, or stripped oil pan threads, plugs left loose, filters not changed, no oil put in or too much oil put in, wrong oil used, blown engines, cars dropped into the pit and damaged, kids joyriding and on and on and on. Let your conscience be your guide.

The only times I've left an oil change with no oil in the car or some other problem was AT THE DEALER

My preferred QUICKY place brings me out to the car and shows me the dip stick b4 they ask for $$

Point is only to make sure you get quality work and quality parts by a reputable firm that will stand behind their work, nothing more.

that part I'll agree to until it bumps with DIY

 

TxCoop - you are right: $800 for one axle brake job is beyond ripoff.
Charging anything to rotate the tires while the wheels are off the car is just plane insulting.

Case closed.
*sigh*

a

 

Never EVER EVER EVER got to a dealer for anything that won't do for free!!! Geez!

 

In the future I have a good guy in Dallas that is a MINI tech that I can refer you to that will treat you right, and do the job right.

 

I just had my cabin filter changed and a brake fluid flushed and replaced in KC for 254 out the door while it was in getting my high pressure fuel pump replaced. I paid under 200 for my EBC Redstuff pads and new wear sensors and did the brakes myself. my rotors were still in tolerance so I didn't replace them. It seems to me that your dealer is a bit of a con artist to me!

 

Wow brake flush is $100 here, cabin filter is easy to do yourself($15-20 filter), oil change I pay $93 at Detroit tuned.

As for a brake job, I paid for my EBC green stuff from WMW, and rotors from Tirerack.com. All that with labor was $640.

So yeah, next time tell the dealer to shove it.