Just thought I'd mention my recent experience on my 2001 RX 300 AWD. At 43K, the rear brakes were pretty much worn out and need to be replaced. I refused to do the $390 brake job at Lexus, and just bought the pads there and had a local mechanic replace them for $80 + $75 for the pads. The rear rotors were fine, though the lexus dealer said they should be resurfaced and were the primary cause of my vibration while braking. That turned out to be inaccurate.
The front pads are still the original ones and have nearly 30-40% life left in them but the front rotors had warped at 39K. Resurfacing the front was just a temporary fix (90days) and made the braking a little mushy. The dealer finally replaced them under warranty after my 3rd visit and a test drive with me in the car.
The only other comment to add is that my mechanic mentioned that the Lexus dealer really torqued the hell out of the lugs. He said, if the rotors had not warped yet, their over-torqing (sp?) would have definitely warped them, as they did on the front. I have since had those re-torqued as well.
My 2 cents
