Cost of brake job

[babyduke]

2009 Lexus ES350

Got a brake job for all wheels yesterday.  Front wheels included new rotors and back ones for pads only.  Went to my trusty mechanic and paid $520.  Was this a fair deal?

 

[gbhrps]

babyduke,

Yes and no.

It depends on how badly worn your front rotors were, and how long your brakes have gone without maintenance.

Typically I pull my brakes apart once a year, and clean and lube the slide pins and the brake pads, and check the rotors and the caliper piston movement. It takes me an hour and a half of my own time in my garage at home. It might do this for 4 years in a row before I need to change pads, or maybe change the front or rear rotors in year 5 or 6.

The constant maintenance never allows the parts to get so far gone as to rust and seize. At that point everything may need replacing, maybe even the calipers, and the cost could be $1000 or more. And if you live in a high humidity area where they salt the winter roads, the repairs come more frequently than this.

So without actually seeing what your brakes were like, its difficult to say for sure, but if you've neglected them, it doesn't sound unreasonable.