flexible brake lines

[melvin guyer]

Hello All,
As the one who started the discussion on replacement
of frayed flexible brake hose lines, let me update you
on my repair experience. I had taken my '91 Audi qt 20
valve to the local boutique German car repair center
in my town for replacement of the power steering pump
(a story I will save for a later posting). The
mechanic took me on a tour of the underside of the car
and gravely pointed out the frayed rubber coverings of
the flexible brake hoses on all four wheels. Grave
danger he warned, need to quickly replace them. I gave
the go ahead to order the necessary parts and a few
days later took the Audi 200 in for the brake line
work. The final bill was as follows:
Parts. 
(2) 441 611 707 brake lines=$163.98
(2) 8DO 6115D brake lines=$75.98
6 units of brake fluid=$27.00
(1) Fenk 312 Brake line=$9.99 (a short solid metal
line showed some surface corrision)
Labor 5 hrs @$90/hr=$450.00
Total: $759 (there were some incidental other parts)

Now, this turned out to be a bit more than I had
expected, since I had gone to this shop because they
are reputed to do fine wrork and at a bit less cost
than the local Audi dealer. I am not sure if the
urgency with which the mechanic recommended the hose
replacement was warranted, (was it like the guys who
come to your door in Autumn and tell you that you need
a new furnace, right now, or the Docs who say that you
need a arterial stent immediately?) but I didn't want
to delay what might have been a safety problem. So, I
paid the bill and was advised as I left that the
mechanic had just detected a "rear cyclinder head
freeze plug Badly Rusted" problem, and that I better
bring the car back soon for that work, or I'd be
marooned on some back road in winter (expected labor
3-4 hours). I do like driving the Audi, but sometimes
think that the Dealer and some of the independent
shops see it coming and and think of it as an Audi
401k.
mel


mel guyer


		
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