Warning: this article may offend an unscrupulous corporation.
Just Brakes is a company that has made a name for itself across the country by promising to replace all four brakes on your car for just $99.88.
So how could any company make money charging less than $100 for front and back brakes?
INSIDE EDITION went undercover, taking cars to some Just Brakes locations near Fort Worth, Texas. We wanted to see what would happen when we asked for the $99 deal.
After inspecting the brakes, we got some bad news.
In one case we were told by the Just Brakes mechanic, "We really should get in here rebuild these calipers, because they will cause problems."
Our undercover researcher, like most people, had no idea what a caliper was...but it didn't sound good.
The mechanic then told us, "Honestly, it's not cheap, I'm not going to lie to you, but it needs to be done. The calipers for the back are going to be $109 for the pair; Calipers for the front are going to be $120, plus the pistons, which will be a total of $645.83 plus tax."
All of a sudden that $99 deal turned into a repair costing hundreds of dollars. But how could we know if those added repairs were really necessary?
What Just Brakes didn't know is that INSIDE EDITION had the cars thoroughly checked out beforehand.
A Certified Master Technician and another expert from AAA -Texas told us that these cars needed nothing more than brake pads and shoes, exactly what is covered in the $99 deal.
"You're sure that when we took that Ford in there, it didn't need these?" asked INSIDE EDITION's Chief Investigative Correspondent Matt Meagher.
"It did not need the calipers rebuilt or the pistons replaced at this time," said the tech.
We then brought a different vehicle to another Just Brakes in the Fort Worth area.
We told them we wanted the $99 deal.
A half hour later, there was more bad news. Again it's those dreaded calipers.
"Your left front caliper is sticking on it. It's not releasing these pads off the rotors," said the Just Brakes mechanic.
"What's sticking?" asked the undercover researcher.
"Your calipers," he repeated.
We showed our hidden camera footage to the master tech.
"The caliper is sticking. That can happen, right?"
"Yeah, it can happen, said the master tech. In this case it was not happening."
"It was not happening in her car?"
"No."
This time, it cost more than $300. Again, the cost was well in excess of that $99 deal.
Just Brakes, which is being investigated by Texas's attorney general, declined to do an on-camera interview. However, they did ask INSIDE EDITION to allow one of their experts to examine the car parts their mechanics had said needed to be replaced.
The Rightardia staff has had similar experiences with Just Brakes in Florida and we do not take out vehicles to this company anymore.
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1 comment:
This is really disappointing to know. Is $99 just the value of our lives these days? By the way, I want to offer you a 100% success guaranteed solutions for your auto repair business. You'll be surprised at what you can do too. Good luck!
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