Hey, so i've had my car now for 3 years and am starting to notice that its not stopping as much now. So i took it to the dealer awhile back to get an oil change and they also checked my brakes.

They said that am gonna need to get it changed soon but it would cost $400. My question is in most cases what do they do to replace the brakes? is it just brake pads? and why does it cost so much for just the front brakes?

 

I dont know i never have the dealer do maintinence on my car ever. Its either done by me or an outside shop. Most cases youl more than likely end up paying more money for maintinence at the dealership. But if its just brakes, im sure you could get a better deal at a brake shop localy. If not head on down to autozone and replace your own pads not too hard should cost too much either.

Theres also plenty of DIYs on scion life that show you how to change out your entire brake system. Thats what i did i spent $500 on stage 2 brake kit from Dezod and just ended up putting on myself one weekend, gained some basic mech. exp. and saved some money and had way better brakes than the oem replacement youd get from the dealer. Just somthing to think about. Laters

 

The dealer would do the exact same thing that you would if you were to follow the DIY. Heres what you should do to save money, and gain some basic mechanical knowledge. Buy OEM pads if you like the feel, brake dust level, bite etc. If not find some good aftermarket pads (Axxis, EBC, TRD's etc) and follow the DIY. I did mine in less then 30 minutes. That includes lifting the car on jackstands, removing the wheels, removing the pads, replacing them, and putting the car back down on the ground. On a scale of 1-10, id say this is a 2.5

 

the dealer will also resurface the rotors.

 

There is no reason to ever pay $400 for a brake job. Even completely new rotors and pads all the way around will be less than $200 for quality stuff. You can probably get the OEM parts cheaper than that even... And really, unless you're doing any autox or track stuff, you might as well stick with the OEM stuff. Works just fine.

Don't be fooled by any of the "drilled/slotted" rotors - you won't notice a difference unless you ONLY want them for looks.

 

my dealer said 190 for the fronts on a xb2 and Midas has a great deal also!! Plus I dont think that Midas will bs Ya Mine did not!!!

 

Don't kid yourself. They will.

The deal they offered may have been OK - but then they'll try to sell you everything under the bright yellow sun when they get you in there.

 

Midas charged me $200 for rotors replacement before. and $100 for alignment. I think they are over priced.

 

r1concepts.com i got drilled/slotted rotors (for looks), but have oem ones as well and def aren't that much for all 4, and you can get pads at autozone for i want to say like 20-30$ and from the DIY's i've seen here, they dont look that difficult. and i'm sure there are scion people in your area that can help you out as well if you dont want to try it, or hesitant about it

 

at my work we cut the rotor's and put new pad's for 129.99

 

I went with these rotors from Dezod:

http://www.dezod.com/pd_dezod_motors...tc_05_pair.cfm
http://www.dezod.com/pd-stoptech-tc-blank-rear.cfm

Not incredibly cheap... but they're just blanks and have held up well for the beating I give them. I've had them on for about a year and a half. Still look good.

Even these Stoptech "OE" ones would be more than adequate.

http://www.dezod.com/pd-stoptech-oe.cfm
http://www.dezod.com/pd-stoptech-oe-...tors-tc-05.cfm

 

i heard bad things about midas and brake jobs. so no for me on that. But DIY is really easy. There is a DIY with pix on SL that makes it really easy.

 

yeah if you really have any sort of know how with much of anything... even including playing with lego's when you were a kid, you can change your own brake pads.

 

and why even bother paying for cutting/resurfacing the old rotors? For the same amount you could just replace the rotors/discs with new ones! Why rehab something already used? Never understood that, you'd have less material which means you'd have less ability to remove heat. Which a rotor is just a giant heatsink anyway.

Definitely read the DIY and get a friend to help ya. If you go slow you can do it yourself and trust me, a lot of those "technicians" at those shops out there really do not do a good job. Why would they care? It's not their car.

 

The Mitsubishi stealership wanted 600 to do all 4 rotors/pads on my moms car, im gonna be doing it instead for about 300. The actual replacement is easy, just gotta take your time. I usually dont charge that much for labor, just the parts mostly. :D So If you want Pm me, and either I can do them, or I can help you do yours :D

 

The entire StopTech OE replacement or Premium stuff is an excellent choice for the person whom just wants to replace stock components with quality components.

The OE are near identicals to the stockers

The Premium off some bling to the setup by having coated hubs and veins to hide unsightly rust and such.

Both are excellent choices!