A man is going viral on TikTok after walking through what he says was a surprisingly positive experience getting a brake estimate at Firestone. But people aren’t sure the deal was as good as he believes. Patrick Charles (@patrick_charles_ii) says the visit came with a bit of a learning curve. He didn’t realize there was a rating scale for brakes, and while he’s still not sure what the top of that scale looks like, he did learn one thing: It doesn’t go into the negatives. Then he shares where his car landed. “I am at a zero and a one.” That was for his back brakes. Up front, things weren’t much better, though slightly less urgent. He says those came in at a three and a four. Based on that, Charles says he was told not to keep driving the car and started preparing to get the work done. The estimate for replacing both front and rear brakes came in at around $900 “just for the brakes.” While he was already there, he decided to tackle another issue. He says he plans to replace two tires as well, which he estimates will bring the total closer to $1,400. Despite the cost, Charles says the experience itself stood out for the right reasons, especially the transparency around pricing. Tell us what you think! View Comments “Cheers, Firestone, for printing me out this nice little itemized paper,” he says. As of this writing, his video has pulled in more than 2,700 views. What Is The Brake Scoring System? What Charles is talking about isn’t a universal grading system so much as a shorthand shops use to show how much life your brakes have left. Most of the time, mechanics are measuring brake pad thickness. New pads usually start somewhere around 10 to 12 millimeters. As they wear down, that number drops. Once you get into the four- to 6-millimeter range, you’re getting close to needing a replacement. Around three millimeters or less is when most shops will tell you it’s time. Some places translate that into an easy-to-read scale for customers. Instead of just giving you measurements, they’ll assign numbers or color codes to show where things stand. That’s likely what Charles saw when he was told his brakes were at a zero and a one. At that point, you’re essentially at the end of the pad’s life. If you keep driving on them, you risk grinding down to metal, which can damage the rotors and turn a routine brake job into a much more expensive repair. That also explains why Charles was told not to drive the car. The front numbers being slightly higher tracks, too. Front brakes usually wear faster because they handle more of the load when you stop, but depending on driving habits and conditions, the wear can vary. The bigger takeaway is that those numbers aren’t random. Rather, they’re a simplified way to show how much material remains on the pads and how urgent the repair is. Viewers Encourage DIY Repairs Although the price of Charles' he brake pad replacement is just above what CarTalk reports is the national norm, people in the comments zeroed in on the price he was quoted, with many saying he could cut costs by handling the brake job himself. “Brakes are actually pretty easy, you can totally do it at home! Also, AutoZone will loan you the tools, I borrow a European standard socket set when I do them on my Volvo,” one person wrote. “Noooooo. You can do these yourself, trust me,” another wrote. “My partner and I regularly work on our cars, and brakes are among the easier jobs to do.” “If you order the parts yourself, it’ll take maybe 2-3 hours tops for someone unfamiliar with changing brake pads to do it yourself, and be significantly cheaper,” a third person added. Others said that, even skipping the DIY route, there are cheaper options than the quote he received. “My brakes cost $30 and $50 to put the pads on. The rotors were like $25. Stop getting ripped,” one person wrote. “I think you need to find another mechanic, $900 for a brake job is ridiculous,” another said. “You should be only paying around a maximum of $500. And that’s still steep.” “900 for brakes is absolute insanity unless you’ve got something bizarre going on,” added a third person. “See how the rotors look. Chances are you can just swap pads on everything and call it a day.” “Brakes with labor should be around $500 or less,” a fourth commenter echoed. “Never go to Firestone.” Motor1 has reached out to Charles via a direct message on TikTok. We’ll be sure to update this if we hear back from him. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team