New Project - Now it seems like I'm getting taken advantage of

[TrevorK]

So I recently purchased a new project car, a 1960 Coupe.  The car is a non-running project that I bought for $2800 and I'm now in the process of getting it shipped from Connecticut to Calgary, Canada.  In the process of getting the shipping set up, I found out the brakes on the car weren't functional.  Shipping a car with no brakes is quite a bit more expensive (and perhaps not even possible) and so I had to have the car towed to a garage in CT that I'd found on the internet. 

So now the exciting part - The garage has looked at the car and is quoting me around $2000 to replace the wheel cylinders and the rubber hoses in order the get the brakes functional!! This seems like an incredible rip off to me and is about 4X what I expect to have to pay in order to get the brakes working for transport. 

Here is the breakdown of their estimate:

$198 - Fill and bleed master cylinder (this has already been done)
$10 - Brake fluid
$130 - towing
$296 - Labor to install front brake hoses and wheel cylinders
$375 - Labor to install rear brake hoses and wheel cylinders
$311 - 4 wheel cylinders
$317 - 4 brake hoses
$117 - Additional fluid, cleaning solvent and supplies
$95 - Freight
$100 - Miscellaneous
$126 - Sales tax

TOTAL:  2075

In addition, the estimate is based on "no complications" and could even be higher.  This seems very high and like I'm getting hosed. The difficulty is that I'm so far from the car and need to have the brakes working in order to transport it, so this garage really has me over a barrel.  I don't really want to get into having it towed to another garage and maybe spending more money on this car. At some point, it probably is cheaper to fly to CT and rent a truck to haul the car back.

Also, I priced out the parts locally and they were quite a bit cheaper than what I'm being quoted (as well as no freight to pay and parts usually cost more in Canada).

Thoughts? I've wondered if it's an option to just do the rear wheels to try to keep the costs down.  I don't really want to spend as much on wheel cylinders and hoses as I did for the whole car...

Trevor

[Dan LeBlanc]

Trevor, that is way too expensive.  Maybe try Jeff at Willington Cadillac to see if he's able to help you out.  He's in Connecticut, might be close by, could get the car, get the brakes functional and the transport could pick it up.

I'm sure their price will lower substantially when you tell them you're having it towed out of there, too.

[Dave Shepherd]

Get it to Chestertown, NY, my shop, if the booster is good, 1200.00

[62droptop]

are they throwing in a jar of lube for the old sphincter too?

new cylinders should be under $50 a piece,even at a large mark up

a few yrs ago ,i bought a car in england, i call for towing estimate to move the car 73 miles to shipping company to ship to canada, they quoted me over $800

figured i was screwed and could take advantage of me
had the car moved for less than $50
get a second opinion for sure

[Dan LeBlanc]

Set of four new wheel cylinders from Kanter is around $125.

[Eldovert]

Trevor,
There should be plenty of transporters that can move dead iron..trouble is,time is of the essence now. You need to get it out of the shop before "storage fees" kick in. If you can't get one of the local members to help out you should have the car towed to a local secure storage facility until you sort out the transportation.
Cheers,Pat MacPhail

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day Trevor,

Where in CT is the car.   Don't mention any actual specific location , but a general one.

But, I have towed many vehicles in various stages of condition, and I was even involved in getting some "decrepid state of repair" vehicles (Cadillacs) for a trip to Montana from CT, and only one of these had only a park brake that worked, and no problems.   The Trucks winched them on, and towed them away.

Granted, using a car carrier that wants to be able to drive the car onto the carrier wants brakes that work, is the cheapest, but there are other ways of getting around it.

The other way is to make a vacation out of it and do the "Road-trip" and have fun getting it yourself, with a few friends.

Bruce.

[62droptop]

did someone say road trip??
i love me some road trip, specially when retrieving an old car is involved
those have been some of my best vacations
you may also need a broker as you need someone to bring the car across the border, unless you have the car shipped to montana or north dakota and pick it up there


i agree  with others, find another shipper, i had a car train shipped a bunch of years back from edmonton to toronto,non runner, no brakes or floor ,barely rolling, there was a couple hundred $$ non runner fee

even if it casts a couple hundy more for shipping better than many thousands for repairs just to have it towed

[TrevorK]

Thanks everyone for all the replies (and for confirming what I knew to be true).  The car is currently in Wallingford, CT, so about 2000 miles from where I live. As much as I'd love a road trip, it's too far to drive there and back (plus I don't have a truck big enough to pull it).  As well, I've already paid the shipper the fee to ship it.  I actually paid an additional fee for a "non-op" but even with this extra fee they require the car to roll, steer and brake.  They were going to look at flat-bedding it for an extra-fee, but because of the distance I figured that option would be a whole lot more expensive, which is why I've gone down this road to try and get the brakes fixed.  I thought maybe $400 or $500 spent on the brakes now was better than spending the money on more expensive shipping and then having to do the brakes later anyways (plus I thought, it's a small town so mechanics' rates should be lower - Ha!!)

So I've I e-mailed Jeff with Willington Cadillac - he thought the car could be shipped non-running for a reasonable fee.  If anyone knows a trucking company that will ship a non-runner from CT to Calgary for a reasonable fee, I'm all ears. It actually took a bit of work to even find a company that would take a non-operational car - most need them running for when they cross the border so they can go on an off the truck.

I've now e-mailed the garage to respond to the quote - I think I want to try my best to keep on good terms. I really don't want to be dealing with a guy who wants to charge for storage or puts a mechanics lien on the car.  I basically said I'm sure they would do a great job and I appreciate all the help he's given me, but I just can't spend $2k to get the brakes working (I'm still shocked by that price - not even for a complete brake job, just the wheel cylinders and hoses!!)  I've suggested that maybe I could have the parts shipped to him from Kanter (and mentioned they sell a set of four cylinders for $125 and hoses for $36 each) and asked if he could charge just the labour to replace either the front or the back cylinders and hoses.  I also mentioned that I'd contact the shipper on Monday morning to find out exactly how much more I'm looking at for shipping a car with no brakes, in case it's cheaper than getting it fixed I may just have to bite the bullet.

By the way, does anyone know what the book cost would be to replace the rear cylinders and hoses? I'm not sure what his hourly rate is, but it looks like his estimating about 10 hrs to bleed the master cylinder and replace the cylinders and hoses, which seems about 3 times the amount of time it should be.

Trevor

[Steve Passmore]

As others have said her Trevor, you are being ripped off, and by the shippers too. I have bought several cars from the US and had them shipped here to England, I have only ever bought one that was a runner, the others have all been off the road for decades and have always been winched on a truck and transported to the docks with never a complaint, they have had frozen engines as well as brakes. Your transporter must have a multi level vehicle, I can see a problem with them if you cant drive it.

[harvey b]

Hi trevor,I know what your going through?,i live in PEI and have brought many american vehicles home,i was lucky and had a local trucker that would pickup my vehicles and bring them home to me. Your car does not have to come off of the trailer to cross the border?,all they do is verify that the vehicle matches the title paperwork,you have to have your I's dotted and T's crossed when the vehicle arrives at the border,You can look at the H.A.M.B. Forum for a shipper,there is a section called the Hamb ODex,a couple are listed in there that have pretty good reviews,also look at the AACA site there are a couple there too,another option is U-Ship,you post a load and they will bid on it to get a load.I think your best bet is to ship the car to somewhere handy the Alberta border and do the border crossing yourself,a lot of companies dont want to cross the border with a vehicle.  Good Luck.  Harvey

Harvey Bowness
Frenchfort PEI

[Dave Shepherd]

M/c all wheel cylinders and hoses andd a full bleed, no brakes shoes or hardware, barring any unforseen problems is a days work 6hours for sure, there is no book time for an old car unless you have the old Mitchell guides, dealers these days do  charge 100/hr, my shop in upstate NY is 60/hr.