On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 09:15:38 -0700 (PDT), rangerssuck
wrote:

The wife's car was making some rubbing noise from a rear wheel. I pulled of the wheel and found significant (structural) rust on the brake drum. I didn't have time to do this myself, so I took it to a local garage where they've done good work for me in the past.

I checked the price of drums & shoes on Autozone's web site (there's actually an Autozone store directly across the street from this garage), and figured an hour & a half for labor. It turns out that I was spot on with the labor, but he charged me almost exactly DOUBLE Autozone's price for the parts.

I gotta figure that he get's maybe a 15 or 20 percent discount on the parts, and I would have been OK with a 20 or 25% markup over list, but this seems kind of excessive. He's entitled to earn a living and all, but a hundred bucks to walk across the street?

It's been a long time since I was in the mechanic business, and I'm wondering whether this is the new normal?
Mabee he didn't buy from Autozone? Mabee it was better quality? 30%
is pretty standard in many areas, but on the high side in others.