Dealerships Says I Need Brakes And Rotors At 22k

[salemsilver]

Just had snow tires put on today and my dealiership says I need all 4 rotors and brakes replaced. They quoted me at $750 to do the work.

I have 2 questions. 1) Has any else had to replace all 4 pads and rotors and this little milage? 2) Is this the normal price for that amount of work?

[1990LS400]

It is very, very unlikely that your car needs a complete brake job at 22K miles -- unless you drive like a total maniac. I can't believe pads on an IS would wear far faster than on other Toyota and Lexus cars.

The original factory front pads on my LS lasted until 71,293 miles. At that time the service writer told me that the original rear pads would need replacing "soon". Well, I just checked the rear pads last week when I installed my snow tires at 105,000 miles and it is obvious that the original rear pads will last until at least 120,000 miles. We get similar pad life on my wife's Toyota Camry and got similar pad life on my first LS I drove from new to 183,500 miles.

Pull a front and back wheel and visually check your pads and rotors yourself -- it's easy to do -- I do it every time I rotate my tires.

Even if for some bizarre reason the pads need to be replaced, it is not necessary to replace the rotors. Unless the repair shop's labor rate is unreasonably high, it is far cheaper to resurface the rotors. Rotors on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles can last a least a couple of hundred thousand miles.

If you verify that the dealer is trying to "take you for a ride", consider finding some place else to take your car. Don't burn your bridges with the dealer though - you might need them later for something like warranty service.

I once had a Lexus dealer tell my that my first LS needed a new $1,500 ECU just after the car's basic warranty expired. When I called a tow truck to have my car taken to a non-dealer repair shop for evaluation, the fix "magically" became a $15 battery cable.

[SailorDanH]

That is simply stunning! I don't understand how the physics even could work here...the rotors were depleted at the same (or greater) rate than the pads??? (assuming these are the original pads). I had the new low-dust pads put on mine (per the TSB) at 20,000mi. No mention from the dealer then about skinny rotors.

I would ask for your actual rotor thickness measurements from the dealer and the factory new measurement versus the min thickness requirement.

I have actually been LIED to by my dealership's service manager on more than one occasion. I have every reason to distrust this service department. Now when I have to use them, I make sure everything is documented.

I think you can get rotors for about $100 each, pads for about $50 front, $50 rear. So for $500 parts, leaves $250 service. That's about par for Lexus. I would question new rotors in the rear especially. The whole thing is preposterous.

[IS250_rookie]

Smells like BS to me.... way to early to do a complete brake job. Just look at them yourself. Also go over the rotor with your finger nail, it should run smoothly.

[SW03ES]

It is possibly you would need front pads at 22k if you drive hard, front pads never last me more than 40k. But all 4 at 22k? I'd get a second opinion.

Some Lexus dealers replace the rotors instead of machining them as a matter of practice.

[1990LS400]

... front pads never last me more than 40k.

Steve, that got me wondering if you have seen the condition of the old front pads after they have been replaced at 40K. Somehow I can't picture you flailing your ES to the extent that you get only 40K from a set of front brake pads.

I just now looked at the maintenance records for my wife's 98 Camry V6 which has the same 4-wheel disc brakes of the ES300 of the same year. I thought the front pads on the Camry have been replaced but they have not. The original brake pads on her Camry have about 103,000 miles on them. Her car is in the garage so I just now measured the thickness of the front pads -- 1/4". Amazing!

[SW03ES]

I didn't see them but I trust the service advisor that was caring for the car then, and based on my past history with other vehicles I buy that they needed to be replaced. We do a lot of stop and go driving here and traffic is really irratic.

The other question is at what thickness is their spec to replace them?

[bartkat]

The expected life of the 2nd generation high performance front pads is 20,000 miles. Some have gotten somewhat less and many have gotten more. It is one of the caveats in the owner's manual I believe. It's possible that if one did wear them out at that mileage and didn't replace them soon enough they could ruin the rotors.