$936 in labor to install Brake Booster Assembly w/ Master Cylinder?? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Aug 6, 2019
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Location
Seattle
Hey All,

The time has come to replace my Brake Booster Assembly (I've been getting the dreaded "dying seagull" noise intermittently). Anyway, I reached out to my local shop and got a quote for parts & labor to replace the entire assembly ...

The quoted cost for the assembly + brake fluid was $1,764 -- which seems about right based on what I'm seeing online as far as pricing of the assembly goes.

The quoted labor cost was $936, which caught me off-guard a bit. Not sure why, but I had been under the impression that the actual install was pretty simple / straight-forward.

Anyway, just hoping to get some insights from the Mud hive-mind as far as whether or not this is reasonable before moving forward.

(Oh, and I KNOW it's going to come up .... but I don't have the time, nor the desire, to do this as a DIY at the moment)

Thanks in advance all!
 
I don’t know what the book time is but figure 2 hours minimum for removal and install and another hour to bleed the entire system. Depending on their hourly rate, you’re looking at a minimum of $500-600 for labor. Shops don’t charge $50/hour anymore.
 
I don’t know what the book time is but figure 2 hours minimum for removal and install and another hour to bleed the entire system. Depending on their hourly rate, you’re looking at a minimum of $500-600 for labor. Shops don’t charge $50/hour anymore.
Yeah, from what I've been able to gather scouring the interwebs, it sounds like the book time (at least per the Lexus dealer) is something like 5 hours. So labor might be a little on the high side but nothing too crazy it sounds like.
 
That's a fair price. When I replaced my ABS module, I did the swap myself and paid a stealership to handle the bleeding for me – Saved a bit of cash that way.
 
Buy the rebuilt assembly online, look on MUD to see if anyone can replace it for you, i've done a couple of these and took me 2 hours at most. If you were in Northern VA i could replace it for you.
 
I'd say stay with OEM BRAND NEW unit.

DIY is not the option, so yeah, got to pay someone to do it and 500-600 be about right for this job. FYI: I did mine (year 2000) and did NOT go to the dealer or used any fancy electronics to bled the system. I did all by my self and brakes are excellent!
 
A competent tech thats done that job a few times can do the swap in a little over an hour- none will flush and bleed the brake circuit at all 4 corners unless you ask them to- so they top off bleed and button it up. The techs beat flat rate all day long on that job.

Figure out how to DIY save the labor cost and spend your $$ on a new OEM master assy.
 
I just did the replacement. I sent it in to get it refurbished with a new motor $650 with shipping new ones are close to $1500. Most time it’s the electric motor that fails. i have never done this before. Saw a YouTube video with Timmy the toolman
i would say about 3 hours total to remove and replace plus brake bleed. Very easy and straightforward. Only tool I needed to get was a offset flare wrench 10mm
 
Last edited:
Hey All,

The time has come to replace my Brake Booster Assembly (I've been getting the dreaded "dying seagull" noise intermittently). Anyway, I reached out to my local shop and got a quote for parts & labor to replace the entire assembly ...

The quoted cost for the assembly + brake fluid was $1,764 -- which seems about right based on what I'm seeing online as far as pricing of the assembly goes.

The quoted labor cost was $936, which caught me off-guard a bit. Not sure why, but I had been under the impression that the actual install was pretty simple / straight-forward.

Anyway, just hoping to get some insights from the Mud hive-mind as far as whether or not this is reasonable before moving forward.

(Oh, and I KNOW it's going to come up .... but I don't have the time, nor the desire, to do this as a DIY at the moment)

Thanks in advance all!
The dealership labor rate is probably minimum $220/hour. (We are $225/hour Chicago suburbs).
1 hour standard diagnosis time.
2.5-3 hours to replace.
.5-1 hour possibly added to work bleeders loose and avoid having to replace calipers.
So maybe up to 5 hours at $200ish per hour.
Nothing wrong with asking for a breakdown of the labor time. Maybe they are scared of the job and priced some "cushioning" in it.
 
Watch this video (he knows what he's doing): I followed his instructions and got the job done at home.

 
My independent toyota mechanic in Torrance CA charged me $406.12 to replace mine in my 4th gen 4Runner this past December.
I supplied the OEM part.
These brake boosters are failing on many Toyota vehicles and any decent Toyota/Lexus mechanic whose been around the past 10 years should've replaced a lot by now.
 
I just did the replacement. I sent it in to get it refurbished with a new motor $650 with shipping new ones are close to $1500. Most time it’s the electric motor that fails. i have never done this before. Saw a YouTube video with Timmy the toolman
i would say about 3 hours total to remove and replace plus brake bleed. Very easy and straightforward. Only tool I needed to get was a offset flare wrench 10mm
Who did you send in to?
 
I’d like to see the list of parts put into a rebuild and near term life span of said rebuilt master cylinder. Beyond the motor, wasn’t aware of much else that could be rebuilt
 
Yeah, from what I've been able to gather scouring the interwebs, it sounds like the book time (at least per the Lexus dealer) is something like 5 hours. So labor might be a little on the high side but nothing too crazy it sounds like.
Competent shops and techs should be getting paid around $200/hr, IMO. It costs around $100/hr just to pay for bare minimums of a shop, min wage, insurance, consumables, some capital investment (tools, lifts, etc...), etc...
I should look into being a mechanic. This is a 2 hour job tops. $936 /2 = $468 an hour. that is w brain surgeon labor costs
I think folks have a hard time converting DIY hands on time into professional shop time. In my small business start-up ventures, this is always way more difficult than it initially seems. The preparation, admin and logistical costs are often bigger than the more obvious parts/labor costs.

In a professional shop, you're paying for the time to prep the bay, pull the car in, do a quick initial check, prepare consumables, prepare parts ahead of time, hopefully read through the process a time or two even if they've done it before (humans are forgetful creatures), etc...

In a DIY setting you're doing all the prep "off the clock" and you usually consider the job "done" before anything is cleaned up, tested and ready for what would be a "customer pick up".

I pulled the booster assembly on my 06 when I bought it to clean it out and freshen it up. Pretty sure that job took me around 6 hours all in, including a thorough bleed. If someone in a professional setting was completing all tasks involved with that in under 2 hours I'd be concerned.
 
I should look into being a mechanic. This is a 2 hour job tops. $936 /2 = $468 an hour. that is w brain surgeon labor costs
Buy a shop, lift, liability insurance, thousands in tools then decide what a good rate is. Being in business is very expensive.
 
Cost of everything is high now, everyone wants to have higher pay naturally cost pass down to consumer.

DIY and shop is two different ball games. For a professional shop that do it right, it takes time and passion. The biggest thing is liability/ lawsuit. To do it properly, there is no way to get it done is 2 hours.

That being said, the labor the shop charge is on the high side, shop a couple more shops, I would advise to replace the complete master cylinder assembly instead of brake booster only.
 
Yea...everything is expensive now. We get what we vote for!

Its just a shame that we have allowed car makers (by rewarding them with our dollars) to design and build such overly complicted and expensive systems.

Brake boosting and hydraulic brakes are 100 year old tech.....why did they over complicate it? Why did they add an expensive failure point on a 'rugged' land cruiser. Lame.
 
Yea...everything is expensive now. We get what we vote for!

Its just a shame that we have allowed car makers (by rewarding them with our dollars) to design and build such overly complicted and expensive systems.

Brake boosting and hydraulic brakes are 100 year old tech.....why did they over complicate it? Why did they add an expensive failure point on a 'rugged' land cruiser. Lame.
I find the LC is WAY too expensive to maintain. So may things to keep an eye for, perhaps, we expect LC's (20+ years old vehicle) to be perfect over any other car and throw parts just to make it perfect. I have replaced more parts in the my 2000 LC in pat 5 years compared to parts together in my 92 corolla and 97 4R. I cannot believe I had to replace the fan blade in the LC because it snapped and destroyed the radiator: I have NEVEr seen such a case in any of my other toyotas.

Owning an old luxury vehicle and expect it to run without repairs is unimaginable. When I bought mine, I knew the time and money (I do all repairs except the recent trans rebuild) has to be thrown at it. The brakes in LC are not just simple hydraulics. It got those crazy sensors and electronics. The LC 70 series is so simple we don't get it to the USA.
 

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