So after 6 years and 85k miles, my original brakes were ready for replacement. I replaced the brake pads and rotors so hopefully I get another 85k miles!

I honestly could not believe how easy it was to swap rotors and the pads. You just remove 5 lugnuts, 2 caliper bolts and 2 bolts holding the rotor to the hub and reverse the process.

A nice power tool helps significantly to get the bolts out, but otherwise, this was the easiest brake job I've EVER done on a car. A big thank you to Toyota for making this car so easy to work on.

 

Agreed. I love being able to have my dash in pieces in a matter of minutes. Toyota does pretty well keeping things simple, effective and relatively cheap.

 

Toyota has always had the reputation of being easier to work on than other brands. Changing oil, that dreaded messy job, is easy thanks to the drain plug being forward and reachable under the engine. At my old job at a car audio shop, whenever a new model Toyota came in, we would kneel down at the front bumper and then get our arm under the engine to find the oil plug. In most cases, it was center, right at the front. Unlike Honda, where it was center, near the firewall!

 

Thats basically how it is to change most rotors now a days. I had a older 3000gt and thats how they came off. They didn't even have to bolts holding the rotors on, just a love tap from a hammer and they popped off. That was the something with my buddies RX8 when we changed out his rotors also.