After 2 weeks on vacation, I came back home and saw my car sitting in the driveway remembering it needed a front brake job. I drove with my father up north so we didn't have 6 cars where there's really only parking for 4. I've always done most of my own car repairs. I live at home and my parents have a 2300 square foot pole barn with a car hoist in it. Before that I would work on the ground in the barn and let me tell you, the hoist is a literal life and time saver. Anyways back to the story of why you should learn to fix your own car for most repairs and how much I saved today by doing this myself instead of letting a shop do it. Also, keep in mind that you don't need a hoist and a 2300 square foot pole barn to do your own brake job. You can do it with a couple of jack stands, a ratchet set, a C-clamp, a little know-how and the necessary parts. This repair started like any other repair, getting the car in the air, dismantling the brake caliper, and taking the rotors off. I get to the rotors and see that they needed to be replaced as well. The brake pads were wearing unevenly as well, the slide pins were seized so uneven pressure was being applied, so the backside of my drivers side was bare metal which destroyed the rotor. So me being the individual who absolutely hates spending money, already irritated enough, hears my buddy say "Jake, you're not gonna wanna hear this, you need a wheel bearing on the drivers side." Sure enough, it's bad so tack on another $130 for the replacement bearing. Great, just what I wanted to do was spend over $200 on car parts after being off for 10 days with no PTO. Get to the parts store, get all the stuff we need for $283.20. Now here's a trick, if you own a company, set up a commercial account at O'Reilly's, it saved me a couple bucks and the more you buy the better your discount. Then it was back to the shop/barn to finish the repair. My buddy finished the wheel bearing while I did the brakes, lubed up the slide pins and boom, done in a few hours. Now at a shop, it would have cost me a fortune. If you go to www.repairpal.com and put in a 2004 Buick Park Avenue and select brake pads, and rotors, the estimate is $458 - $630 for just the brakes and rotors! Now add the wheel bearing and it's from $272 to $421 for just one side! That's insane, I just did it in a barn with a friend for $283.20 plus $2 for an energy drink in a couple of hours. This is why doing your own car repairs is a must for FI. Instead of spending $730-$1021, you can do it yourself for a fraction of the price.
Until next time,
OnTracktoFI
