Brakes Question

I was recently driving on the highway at about 75mph. At some point I applied the brakes and there was no reaction, the brakes were essentially gone. I was able to down shift to a service area and then the brakes slowly came back. I took the car to my local mechanic and the price tag is $1100. He says that the rear calippers are messed up and need to be replaced. So the parts and labor comes to $1100. Does this sound right? I am going to have to do it because I can't drive the car without brakes...

It's a 2005.5 VW TDI with 110,000 miles on it.

Replacing calipers is non-trivial; the main cautionary item is to ensure that no air gets into the system, or that any air that does get in is quickly removed so that it doesn't back up into the ABS pump.


Even so, a reman rear caliper shouldn't be much more than $100, so doing both of them would be $250 or less, and $100 for rotors and pads. That leaves an awful lot for labor. I think you ought to find someone else. Or at least, a better explanation for a very high price tag.


And this assumes that replacement is required. What is really going on? If the mechanic is throwing parts at a problem without knowing what is really going on, then you'll spend a LOT of $$ without the problem being fixed.


Good luck,


PH

Brakes

This sounds like a lot like air in the system. I would first replace the brake fluid from the entire system, bleed it. If you have not done it every 2 years, it is time to do it no matter what. Then I would check the pads, rotors, calipers, etc.
Do the easy and cheap stuff first.

Something less than 25% of braking comes from the rear... so if you had no brakes at all there's likely bigger issues than just bad rear calipers.

I'd sure be inclined to get another opinion, if that's all your mechanic is recommending. Also the case if he wants $1100+ just for rear brakes.

Dats what I was thinking, more to it than bad rears.

Did you check the fluid level?

Not much can cause loss of all braking since the front and rears are different systems. Even loss of fluid should only cause reduced braking and increased pedal travel.

What did they feel like? Did you really push HARD?

Problem with power brakes is that some folks have never driven a car without them and don't know what they feel like when the booster aint working.

Thanks for all the responses.
I have used this mechanic for a few years now and have always found them to be fair. They said that the rear brakes are tied into the parking brake. Something caused this system to corrode which caused the rear brakes to get air into the lines. He said the rotors, pads, calipers, fluid etc. needed to be replaced. Unfortunately I live in New York City so it's not like I can start messing with the car in my free time. And I can't really drive around with failing brakes, so I just had it done.
If I had the time and space I would learn to work on the car myself like I do my motorcycle but I don't. I do not have a lot of money so this really hurts.
Thanks again for the advice.

Vince Waldon said:

Something less than 25% of braking comes from the rear... ..................................

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Hmm, my old 99.5 Jetta used rears 2 to one, and the fronts are not that much thicker. Just my experience (from new).
But $1100, you can price it yourself, 2 calipers, brake pad axle set, 2 rotors, fluid flush, maybe even parking brake cables. Plus labor and NYC prices.
I just paid $511 for my wifes 2011 CR-V, rear pads and rotors, one caliper, fluid flush.

BobnOH said:

Hmm, my old 99.5 Jetta used rears 2 to one, and the fronts are not that much thicker. Just my experience (from new).
But $1100, you can price it yourself, 2 calipers, brake pad axle set, 2 rotors, fluid flush, maybe even parking brake cables. Plus labor and NYC prices.
I just paid $511 for my wifes 2011 CR-V, rear pads and rotors, one caliper, fluid flush.

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I imagine the price is a lot more in New York City than other places? Just because of rent etc...

BobnOH said:

Hmm, my old 99.5 Jetta used rears 2 to one, and the fronts are not that much thicker. Just my experience (from new).

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I too go thru rear rotors/pads faster than fronts, however, look at the surface area of front rotor vs back, diameter of the front rotor vs back, and most important surface area of the pads themselves, front vs back.