Brake Pads = New Rotors?

So here's my question. My '05 GT Wagon just hit 54k miles and the brakes are starting to wear down so I figred I'd go ahead and change them now since it needs to go to the shop for an inoperable CD player and sticky parking brake.

 

I called two dealers and both flat out refused to just change the pads unless they machine the rotors. This means I'm looking at $650 for a 4-wheel brake change. A third dealer told me, sight unseen, I needed new rotors and would have to order them (A $1000 brake change).

 

I'm a trusting sort of guy, but this just strikes me as a bit suspicious. Do I really need my rotors machined on a 2.5 year old car?

 

For anyone familiar with the Baltimore area I'm dealing with Valley Motors, Russel, and Heritage.

You can pick up some OEM rotors from Centric for like $65/rotor and some decent pads for ~$100-200 bux and brake fluid for like $10bux. You and a friend can bleed the brakes and voila you're done. All for should take you a few hours on a Saturday.

I guess I should word it this way... does a car approaching 55k miles need new / remachined rotors, or are they just trying to pry more cash out of me?

Depends on whether they are warped or not. If so, then it's not such a bad idea.

 

Search for the vacation pix, and check the required thickness the rotors should be...and if they are not that thickness, then they may need replacement. But, you can get them done cheaper...and since you are in MD, there's a few tuners that could help you out. They are there, just search for them...they will be better than dealers.

Hell, if I was local, I'd do it for a case of beer for you (if you supplied the parts of course).

I guess I should word it this way... does a car approaching 55k miles need new / remachined rotors, or are they just trying to pry more cash out of me?

 

They didn't say new, just cut/machined. Take the rotors off. Pep boys will even the rotors for less than 20.00

 

@55k, yeah the motors at least have to be evened out/cut. Doesn't have to mean new rotors though.

man, if that was true, I would have gone through 8 more sets of rotors.. I've already burned through more than 9 sets of front brake pads on my GT (60,000+ miles, but that's because I do track driving).

 

If they are your original rotors, you could probably get another 10,000 or so miles on them SO LONG as your rotors doesn't have a lip to them. If they are worn that thin, machining them wont help because you are actually shaving off more material.. I would just buy new rotors anyways since it's more cost-effective that way.

I agree with sutter2k and Saul_Good. If you are somewhat mechanical you can do pads and rotors yourself with basic tools and a set of jackstands. If you only have 2 stands I would do the fronts first and the rears later. You really MUST turn the rotors at least, but this is fairly cheap. I would say $160 for good pads like Hawk HPS and $60 to turn the rotors, $220 total.

If braking is still pretty smooth, rotors are probably not warped, you should probably be able to reuse them. If not, they are not THAT expensive if you search online....

The fluid change is a little trickier, really a 2 man job, and one of you should have done it before. If the fluid has not been changed yet, I would DEFINITELY do this as well. Fluid is fairly cheap, $10 to $15 for a bottle.

If you are not mechanical, any garage can do this, Midas or whatever. Should be cheaper than the dealer.

have the rotors re-surfaced, only costs $8 per at Pepboys. get new aftermarket pads...hawk or endless are popular choices...price could range from $200-$400 depending on type. spend the rest on beer

If you don't have brake shake, just change the pads. I've had rotors ground on three separate occasions from three different places, and in all three instances they came back ruined/unusable. Now if I have shaking I just replace the rotors rather than fooling with machining.