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On 18 Nov 2002, at 9:04, Soltysik, Penne wrote: > I'm looking to have my brakes fixed on my 71 squareback. The pedal goes to the > floor. The car sat for 3 years, but was fixed by a VW mech who is excellent but > is located pretty far from my home. He said everything was running up to speed > and I picked the car up just about a month ago. The brakes stopped working > about a week ago and this other mechanic, who many of my friends trust and use, > told me this is what I need: > > 2 rear wheel cylinders > a master cylinder > 2 front rotors > > He is quoting me $1,000. Does this sound accurate? HE's telling me the > parts are hard to find for a type 3, etc. I agree that this is high and it also sounds like he is taking the approach that he will just replace all the easy (and high profit) stuff and you'll go away. It is clear that he has not bothered to actually try to figure out what the problem is. I don't get a good feeling about this guy. I suspect the friends who recommended him don't drive old VWs. Contact your previous mechanic. He may be farther away, but he will probably do a more reasonable job. My first guess is that the problem is due to NONE of the items above, so that once he does all this work he will then demand more money to actually fix the problem. It is more likely that you've broken a brake line somewhere and all your fluid has leaked out. You need to take a more active hand in this. Be your own mechanic at least as far as trying to figure out what the problem really is. Writing us was a good first step. Now, have you looked at the brake fluid level? Check BOTH sides of the reservoir. Look under the car where it is parked; do you see a puddle anywhere. Is there a big wet spot under the carpet around the pedal cluster? Brake lines are cheap, but the labor to install the long center main line is rather expensive but should still be under $100. The most expensive brake job I ever did cost someone $600 and they got a LOT more than the parts above out of it. That was, by FAR, the most expensive brake job I ever did. To be fair, however, that was at least 10 years ago. This new mechanic is either trying to get rid of you or just ripping you off. Let it be the latter. BTW, where are you located? Perhaps there's someone on the list who can help, or can at least recommend a better type 3 mechanic in your area. One last thing: When you send a message to the list on a new topic, you should delete all of the previous message from it and change the subject line to something appropriate to your question. This allows the topics to be clear and keeps list threads from getting confused. Now that you've started this thread with this old subject line, however, I'll leave it alone. - Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <type3-off@vwtype3.org> For more help, see http://vwtype3.org/list/