Hey, Honest Bob: I got a $1576 Brake Job On A Volvo At Steamboat Brakes and Alignment In Colorado And Towed To Another Mechanic

As many of my followers know I will write about other things that interest me from time to time. This is such an occasion.

My nephew, Rupert Maybolt, my brother's step son whom he adopted, was at a wedding in Colorado when he noted a loud squeal coming from his 1979 Volvo 242. He called his mother who told Rupert to take it to a shop and get the brakes repaired.

Rupert called "Steamboat Brakes and Alignment" and Bob said he could fix em and get em back on the road. When Rupert got the call about the brake job from Bob, he was told the total price was $1576 and all that needed to be done was to bleed the brakes and to come get it.

Well my nephew was stunned, why the high price for disc brakes all around, he quickly looked up all the parts on the internet and the parts for brake pads, rotors, calipers, and other incidentals was $350 shipped. He asked me to call and talk to Bob, which I did.

I listened to Bob say he charges what he charges because "I live in a resort Mt community and my overhead is much greater than yours in Tennessee." I was not sure if by overhead he means his shop rent or his lifestyle, but I suspect it was the later.

I asked what sense did it make to put a $1600 brake job on a $1000 car and Bob's reply was "I have done more to a rusted out Ford F-150 for a crazy local in Steamboat.

I was not soft on Bob, and he took offense and demanded cash only for the job and then said he was unable to bleed the brakes as it had a broken actuator with a crack in it and it leaks! Said we could get the car and tow it away and it was in storage at $30 a day until it was picked up.

Now I do not claim to be a mechanic, but it seems Bob has missed his calling too. Rupert drives in a Volvo with brakes that stop it to Bob at "Steamboat Brakes and Alignment" and Bob does $1576 of his magic, missing the actuator problem until he has called for his cash, and refuses to fix the car, gets mad at insults from Uncle Jack, demands cash, will not take a check since stop payments orders have been used against him over and over in the past. His admission!

Bob, do you think you did Rupert and his Volvo and his mother right?

In Tennessee this is called unsavory business practices and is reserved for scoundrels and higher level politicians.

It would not suprise me to learn Bob was once a politician before his jump into mechanical enterprises.

If you are ever in Steamboat and want your car repaired find another Bob, this one is a real piece of work or perhaps a 1979 volvo with disc brakes all around is his limit. We all have our Waterloo's.

Jackson Delano Maybolt