I brought my wife's 06 TL into the dealer because she was complaining about a noise. Turns out she needed new brakes and rotors. I wasn't thrilled but was OK with it. Dealer just called me back and said they were having problems getting the rotors off. This was due to my parking brake being rusted out. I was told these needed to be replaced also at a cost of $850. The dealer couldn't give me a reasonable explanation of how it could have happened but insisted that it would not be covered under warranty.

My thought is if something goes wrong with the car that the dealer claims they have never seen before, that something was wrong with the car to begin with, or this wouldn't have happened. I'm no car expert, so I was hoping for some input here on if this is reasonable, and if not, what my recourse is. Thanks,

 

Do you never use your parking brakes? That's the only time I ever heard of them being inoperable because of rust... With that being said, the parking brake shoes are $11.62 at this dealer, so I don't know why they want to charge you $850 to do the parking brakes. You'd figure one hour of labor + parts, but I digress...

 

Thanks for the info.

I would say the parking brake was rarely used. It never would have gone more than 4-6 months without being used.

The dealer told me they were having trouble getting the rotors off. Maybe they are trying to make up for some of that lost time by charging more for the parking brake shoes.

 

You would think if the parking brake was not engaged and rusted in position, it wouldn't effect the rotors coming off... Now if they were engaged and rusted.... Ask them if this price includes new rotors... Because it sounds like they are trying to rape you.

And even then, I checked that same dealer I linked to earlier. The rear rotors are only $75 a piece...

 

The $850 for the shoes doesn't include the $650 they are charging me to replace the pads and rotors. While this is considered a reputable dealer, they seemed very slow this morning. And I wouldn't put making an extra buck past anyone these days.

In the meantime I called Acura to see if they could get involved, and they said they would open a case to look into it.

 

Occasionally the parking brake adjusters rust solid and the shoes can't be adjusted. If there is wear on the inside of the rotor hat and the shoes reside inside the lip, it would be difficult to remove the rotors as the shoes can't be adjusted, but not to the tune of $800.

It's just a shame you, or a friend can't fo the job for you. It burns my tail when I see the dealer charging that kind of money, probably $110-$125/hr.

A few years back the Nissan dealer stated that my daughter needed a new IACV for her Maxima, $1100. I purchased a new unit and installed it for $189. Better in my procket rather than theirs. I could go on and on with the horror stories.