Brakes - Rotors And Brake Pads

[Uma]

Am seeing that when I apply brakes, the steering wheel vibrates a lot. Also since few weeks I am seeing Brake signal appearing.

So I went to Midas to get an estimate and they gave it as close to $800. Am very new to car repairs so wanted to get an idea.

Can someone please tell me if this is too much or OK.

Midas told me that they will be changing rotors and brakes pads on both front and rear.

Thanks in advance !

[gbhrps]

Uma, I just did my wife's 97 myself, and purchased all new pads and rotors, front and rear, from our local Toyota dealer. (the Toyota Camry and Lexus ES300 are the same car essentially) The parts, with a 15 % tax here in Ontario, Canada, came to $560, roughly $400 USD. It is possible that from a Lexus dealer they may have cost even more. The parts are genuine Toyota/Lexus parts, guaranteed to fit and last just like your original parts did. Midas will use generic aftermarket rotors and pads, that may not be up to Toyota standards, and may not last as long, or perform as well. Considering the price Midas quoted you...it seems a little high to me, but could be accurate, based on whether they run into problems, and whether or not they are going to put in new emergency brake shoes on your rears. The other thing to consider is that your present rotors may just need to be turned on a lathe to true them up, meaning you could get away even cheaper. Then again that all depends on what state your original rotors are in. They may be thick enough to turn or too thin already. Turning a rotor is about a quarter of the cost of a new one. That could lower your costs quite a bit. Hint: get a quote from your local Toyota dealer to see if Midas in in the ballpark, and ask what the costs are if they can turn your old rotors. Best of luck with your pocketbook!

[steviej]

The pads and rotors from Midas may not be Toyota OEM. That may make a difference in the performance/sound/feel that you are used to.

Here is an alternative: you could buy Toyota/Lexus pads and rotors wholesale on the web. Try IronToad. They have done well by me so far.

Then have an independent mechanic or Midas do the job. You will only have to pay labor to them since you brought the parts. If you feel good with Midas, see if they will allow you to bring in the parts. On a side bar, don't be surprised if Midas or the independent deliberately takes their time to bump up the total labor costs since they will loose some markup profit on the parts.

steviej

[SKperformance]

only go to toyota for a part if lexus isn;t close as the price should be the exact same if they match

the rear rotors on camrys are not the same depending on years

[mburnickas]

Here is my view:

if the wheel only vibrates why change the rear? If you feel your legs and !Removed! shakes then it is your rear brake. If only the steering wheel shakes it is only your front.

The OEM parts, rotors I would say are like $70 for the both the pads are like $45. So I would say $370 to $400 is the parts price & that is RETAIL for parts. Try to find a friend in the parts business since wholesale would be about half that.

Example: I had a front pass flat tire the other day and the retail price was $120 plus tax, balance etc at two tires place. Called my friend and his price was $49.87 mounted, balanced etc & out the door. Just call a few people it will save a lot and evey one gets their "cut" so they are still happy. I guess I need to get into the tire business.

Lastly, I would do it yourself. Just remove tires and you will need a 10mm 6-pt socket, I think, (3/8 drive). It should take you MAX I hour to do all. That is putting lube on correct spots and some never-neize behind the rotor mating surface.