Like the shoes your customer is wearing, once the soles wear out, the feet will take a pounding. Unfortunately, many car owners are unaware of how thin today s rotors are and how little pounding they can tolerate. In an effort to reduce weight and improve fuel economy, carmakers have taken the meat off wherever possible. Many are not even thick enough to be machined. Because they are so thin, the rotors also are subject to warping from thermal cycling and, most commonly, improperly torqued lug nuts.
Damaged rotors drive the price of a brake job up exponentially.
This is a service that should be done every two years or 24,000 miles, he added, but may be needed more often in some climates. Communicating the life expectancy of new pads also builds trust. If you explain that the cheapo brake job uses bargain-priced pads that will wear quickly and tend to squeal, but you use premium pads for that extra margin of safety, you will establish your professionalism. But like a lawyer or doctor, the customer trusts you to analyze the problem and offer a solution. Bob Weber is an ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician who writes technical and business management articles for the automotive service industry.