Took my car in to my trusty mechanic for brake work (symptoms: bad squealing/shuddering and a weird growly noise). Along with pads, rotors, and calipers, he replaced the front (passenger side) wheel bearing and for that part charged me--gulp--$317.

I don't question his honesty--he told me there was no point in doing a tuneup or throttle service right now, and he's always been conservative on fixing anything--but he's not real Internet savvy, and I wonder if he's getting overcharged by his supplier and passing on the non-savings to me. I know he has to mark the parts up to make a fair profit, but oddly, neither FCP Groton nor IPD sells the front-wheel-bearing kit for the post-1988 700 series, so I can't tell how much it normally goes for.

If you're curious, I paid a total of $1089 (including labor of $300 at $70/hour) for everything--pads, rotors, 2 calipers, wheel bearing kit, oil change with Castrol and Volvo OEM filter.

How'd I do? Be blunt; I can take it!

Thanks as always.

John

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John--1992 745 with 174K miles "Olaf"