$600+ for new pads and rotors?!?!?!

[sagirlie00]

dropped my car off at toyota today for the 75k maintenance....they called me about 4 hours later syaing i need front brake pads and new rotors all around....they'd do it for $600+. NO WAY am i paying that much...my dad and i just put on the back brake pads the otherday...so i told themi'd buy the pads and do the labor myself...since labor was 70.00 ....i was told to go to auto zone for the rotors....sound right to yall?? i havent checked into it yet; i wanted to see what you guys would have to say....what kind of rotors should i get? price range? hard to DIY?

[pnoygts]

Get some rotora rotors at sportcompactonly.com they seem to have good price gluck!

[jway83]

also check out buybrakes.com for brembo rotors. axxis ultimates are a popular choice for pads

[mkeomec]

This is the biggest scam they get you on. My camry needed new pads and rotors, and they quoted like $400 ($600 is just ridiculous). It's not difficult to do. The pads cost less than $15 and the rotors were like $30 each. so total, maybe $75 total. Take the wheels off, take off the screws that hold the brake assembly, drain some brake fluid, and stick the rotor and brake pads on. It might take a while if you've never done it, took us about 2 hours because we didn't know what we were doing, but dayum, $600!? Seems worth it to at least attempt a DIY. Check the rotors, usually they say you need new ones when you really don't. Mine had deep scratches in it, so i needed to replace those. You can also get them resurfaced, but it may just be cheaper to buy new ones.

edit: I also find it hard to believe you need new rotors all around, but only pads in the front? how the hell did the rear rotors get damaged if the rear pads are fine?

2nd edit: whoops, just read the part about you changing the rear pads, hehe. I don't know about the celica, but for the camry, the rotors were 10x easier to change than the pads, so I say go for the DIY

[casper8653]

I am going to atempt to change my rotors too, because the dealer quoted me 540, to change mine. What was that about draining some brake fluid, is there a write up for this?

[mkeomec]

I've only done the camry, so i'm not going to claim i know how to do this, nor do I claim that this is the only way to do, it's the way I got it to work.

When you take off the brake assembly, you can pop off the old brake pads, but when you put the new pads in, the brakes have to be in the "off" position, by that i mean not braking. The Brake fluid was "on" when we had the car jacked up, i don't know if there's another way to do it so you don't have to drain the fluid, but anyways, we had to, so we drained it before we could get the pads into the brake assembly to fit over the rotor. Once again, i don't know about the celica, but for the camry, there's a little screw that you loosen and then brake fluid empties out. You push on the location where the pads used to be to push out all the brake fluid, then you can fit the pads in and reassemble.

[sagirlie00]

i ended up buying new front pads and changed them myself...had a few ppl check my rotors for me to get some different opinions....they don't need replaced...maybe in a few months after i save up some money i'll have them resurfaced, but i aint buying new ones. I also found out the same day that my dads boss just bought a toyota dealership!! I'll be taking my car an extra 30 minutes out of my way to get GREAT deals now!!!! :headbang:

[X-EVIL-X]

i went 4 years on my stock pads. why would they toyota place say you need new rotors haha. i just changed the pads on mine cause they where pretty worn down.

[spaztikid]

yeah my car is 5 years old and just now needs new pads.... i'm gonna do the rotors while i'm at it.

[pnoygts]

Just ordered some rotora slotted rotors front and back at sportcompact for 285!

[hephaestus]

You could of got front and rear Rotora rotors for $225.

My back rotors disintegrated, once, years ago. I left my car at the dealership on my way back home one night. The brakes were so bad, that "Toyota" wouldn't let me drive my car off the lot after they told me about $600 for just the back and I said forget it I'll go somewhere else.

Instead of having my car towed and causing a big scene I just let them do it.
Scumbags

[vegeta4ss]

okay i changed my pads and rotors myself, and im not the most mechanically inclined.

have a hammer, cause stock rotors are stuck on pretty well...but dont use it to apply the new ones. They should fit really nice, and then once you tighten down your tire they will settle into place.

you dont have to drain brake fluid if you do not disconnect the caliper, your not paintin em are you? if not then I just used a couple zip ties and held it out of the way, or you can let it dangle, just dont let those lines come loose.

one last note, I did this at late evening/night over gravel. The rear pads have clips that hold them in place, keep an eye on them....I almost lost one to the gravel. Don't repeat my dumb mistakes, lol and it will go a lot quicker.

don't forget the bed in process

[Jesse IL]

FYI, it doesn't matter if its a dealership, Midas, CarX, whoever, the biggest scam in the world is brakes. With vehicle warranties getting longer and more comprehensive, people aren't making money on service like they used to. Brakes are one of their few opportunities to make money, so they gouge everyone. You have to figure, most people will never argue with a brake quote because the shop will pitch it as a safety related repair. They're preying on people's fears. Shops always try and sell rotors (and will toss on wheel cylinders on cars with rear drums and sometimes calipers) because they will mark parts up often 300%. The thing is, rotors are cast iron and 99% of the time don't need to be changed. Even if they're warped, rotors can be machined flat for about $15 each. All most cars need is a set of pads, which goes for around $80-$90 for front and rear. Shops can't make up the money in labor, because repairs are based on a book time (which is very realistic). So a shop might only get to bill you two hours of labor at about $80 an hour. If you paid the fair price for pads, plus two hours labor, a brake job would cost about $250.

[Dj_Sojourn]

I paid $520 for my brakes/rotors....

Powerslot fronts/rears and Hawk street brake pads all around. I did all the work myself, the price was for parts/shipping. It's really easy, the only thing I did wrong was taking my calipers all the way off. I was painting them so I wasn't all that bothered by having to bleed the brakes later. it was much easier to paint and clean them off the car. Don't forget if you do pull them off, you'll have to bleed your clutch too since they work off the same reservoir.. Good luck

[lilcoop_69]

^^ yup... i got almost the same setup.. check my thread with pics... but im runnin trd pads.. but i only have the fronts done.... GT<---... so i need to convert the rears later... but yeah, 600 for stock crap is crzy... just upgrade to bigger ones.. you won't regret it... believe me....

[SNIPACE]

FYI, it doesn't matter if its a dealership, Midas, CarX, whoever, the biggest scam in the world is brakes. With vehicle warranties getting longer and more comprehensive, people aren't making money on service like they used to. Brakes are one of their few opportunities to make money, so they gouge everyone. You have to figure, most people will never argue with a brake quote because the shop will pitch it as a safety related repair. They're preying on people's fears. Shops always try and sell rotors (and will toss on wheel cylinders on cars with rear drums and sometimes calipers) because they will mark parts up often 300%. The thing is, rotors are cast iron and 99% of the time don't need to be changed. Even if they're warped, rotors can be machined flat for about $15 each. All most cars need is a set of pads, which goes for around $80-$90 for front and rear. Shops can't make up the money in labor, because repairs are based on a book time (which is very realistic). So a shop might only get to bill you two hours of labor at about $80 an hour. If you paid the fair price for pads, plus two hours labor, a brake job would cost about $250.

I'm glad someone said it because I was going to say the exact same thing.

[gts_00_18s]

i went 4 years on my stock pads. why would they toyota place say you need new rotors haha. i just changed the pads on mine cause they where pretty worn down.




:hide: I must be braking wayyyy too much...lol. I go through brake pads about once a year.... :) . I think i need to upgrade the pads i use...cause if you guys are getting 4 years to my one...i'm getting screwed.

[oONoGoAutoOo]

FYI, it doesn't matter if its a dealership, Midas, CarX, whoever, the biggest scam in the world is brakes. With vehicle warranties getting longer and more comprehensive, people aren't making money on service like they used to. Brakes are one of their few opportunities to make money, so they gouge everyone. You have to figure, most people will never argue with a brake quote because the shop will pitch it as a safety related repair. They're preying on people's fears. Shops always try and sell rotors (and will toss on wheel cylinders on cars with rear drums and sometimes calipers) because they will mark parts up often 300%. The thing is, rotors are cast iron and 99% of the time don't need to be changed. Even if they're warped, rotors can be machined flat for about $15 each. All most cars need is a set of pads, which goes for around $80-$90 for front and rear. Shops can't make up the money in labor, because repairs are based on a book time (which is very realistic). So a shop might only get to bill you two hours of labor at about $80 an hour. If you paid the fair price for pads, plus two hours labor, a brake job would cost about $250.


good info!

[sagirlie00]

i have a 2000 gts that i just bought in february...the guy that owned it b4 had never changed the pads and they still had about 25-30% life left on them when toyota told me i needed new ones....i went ahead a bought them (stock) and changed them myself...hopefully they'll last 5 years like the originals

[SNIPACE]

Brakes only last as long as your style of driving permits. If you downshift instead of pressing your brakes, especially on the highway, not only will you be a safer driver, but you'll allow your pads to last a little longer.

I still have the stock pads and I've had my car since April of 2000. The car was built in Dec of 99. I used to drag race the car on the drag strip too. Anyway, if you just know how to slow your car down without always pressing the brakes, they'll last longer.

Plus, you won't have other experienced drivers cussing you out for pressing your brakes when you have no need to on the highway. My $0.02

[Auto[BoT]_GTS]

dude i have had my car for about 4 also and...i did alot of canyon driving and heated them up when they were newer.....and still on the original pads.......but i need to change them now....