Brake Replacement 2001 Continental

[Lamf77]

I am not sure if people will comment on price quotes, but I could not think of a better place to ask.
I brought my 2001 Lincoln Continental to a local repair shop. It is a chain I will leave nameless for now............ok Firestone.
The car has about 90K in miles, I bought it at 68K 2 years ago.
I also asked for a quote on the front ball joints, I was told by the dealer when I got my oil change a few months back, they both needed to be replaced.
From this current repair shop (aka Firestone) in regards to the brakes, I was told I needed pads, rotors, cleaning, lubing etc. etc....grand total $700 bucks for front and rear.
They also told me the ball joints were ok, but it was a front suspension bar that was bad/loose. Another 218 bucks.
My biggest dilemma is with the brakes.
Does $700 bucks seem fair or too high?
A lot of money to dish out...so was looking for some helpful comments, advice.
Thanks!

 

[tonykring]

I recently did an all 4 brake job on my 2001 continental, If I remember correctly The parts cost me about $250 and I did all the labor myself. Add a 20% or more markup on parts plus 80-100 bucks an hour for labor and $700 sounds about right. The prices I paid are for ceramic pads front and rear and middle of the line as far as rotor quality. The cleaning and lubing should always be a part of any brake job. Rotors come with a layer of oil on them to keep them from rusting, but the oil needs to be removed hence the cleaning. Brake caliper pins and slides and other contact points need greased hence the lubing. Based on all that I say $700 is fair. My car has 160,000 miles and my ball joints were good as well. There is a bar in the front suspension referred to as a strut rod and I needed to fix the bushings on it where it connected to the lower control arm. The bushings were $6 a side and I did the labor myself again. My local shop wanted $350 a side for new control arms and I found a much cheaper solution. It all works great and my car has held its alignment well even on Michigans trashed ass roads

 

[john doe]

No 700 is to high. I got new front pads and rotors installed at Mavis for 230 last December. I called 2 other places before going to them, and they were quoting me around 400 for the same thing. Get 3 more quotes from somewhere else.

 

[roger200x]

Get your pads / rotors at Advance Auto or Auto Zone and do them yourself! Get the better grade pads too but not ceramic and you will be fine! I know that the GOOD Wagner gold pads from Advance cost me $72 for front and $70 for rear for my 2010 F-250 Superduty... and those are HEAVY DUTY brake pads over an inch thick. I can get Motorcraft for around the same price but I got a better deal than retail at Advance because my friend works there and they are the only lifetime warranty brake pad...

Places like firestone use the crappiest low grade pads they can buy and you get stuck with them squeaking and squeeling!

If you CANT do it yourself, take it to FORD and have them give you a quote. Atleast you will get genuine motorcraft pads which are actually good pads and a warranty on them and the labor! You cant beat the dealership for quality of work and parts... price - meh its a toss up.

I, personally, would NEVER let Firestone, Monroe, Midas, Pepboys, Valvoline etc etc touch my 96 Continental or my 2010 F-250! EVER.

 

[jcgriff2]

Firestone has had all of my business since I got my license ~25 years ago and the very few issues that crept up were taken care of immediately after a call to corporate HQ.

In 2009, they did $5,000 work on my 1999 Continental (then 55k mi) - new steering system, tires, rotors, brakes, fuel pump, egr, etc... which literally brought the car back to life. 70k miles now and running strong.

$700 is definitely in the ball park for the brake work.

Sorry guys, while I greatly admire you all that know how to fix cars, I've never changed the oil, so Firestone is best for me. I'll stick to easy computer issues that I know best, like the infamous Blue Screen of Death.

 

[john doe]

Well, places like that love people like you. Good luck with your conti, and post pics if you get a chance.

 

[roger200x]

If it requires a call to corporate its not good work... just sayin