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Car Forum / Toyota / Toyota Cars / July 2009Expensive front brake pad repair
I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my 2005 Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at $345-$370. Am I getting raped? They tell me I have 3mm left on the pads. W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) > I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my 2005 > Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at $345-$370. > Am I getting raped? They tell me I have 3mm left on the pads. > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) I suppose it all depends on how much of a brake job you want or need. The shops have to do the whole thing if they are going to guarantee their work. Brake pads rotors/drums change the brake fluid adjust the parking brake etc. Or if everything else is up to standards you could change just the front pads and go another 30K miles or more. >> I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my >> 2005 Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > parking brake etc. Or if everything else is up to standards you could > change just the front pads and go another 30K miles or more. It must be that darned lifetime guarantee. Thanks for the info FatMoe. W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) >>> I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my >>> 2005 Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) Most parts you'll buy in the FLAPS (Fr. local Auto Parts Store) already have lifetime warranties. Chances are the Midas (yuck) or Meineke DON'T include labor. Look up parts online. I bet pads are ~$25-35, and rotors are about $45 each. The rest is labor (and, Peace of Mind if you don't know how to do brakes...) A good mechanic is hard to find, even at the dealer (they're like independent contractors actually). So ask for references, but pad swaps shouldn't be more than $50-60 at independent shops. It may be time to get new brake fluid exchanged. I'd use Castrol GT LMA (Low Moisture Activity) or Valvoline Synthetic. ~$8 per quart. On Jul 30, 4:18 pm, "Christopher M." <no-spamcm_ano...@hotmail.com> wrote: > It must be that darned lifetime guarantee. Thanks for the info FatMoe. > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) > I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my 2005 > Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at $345-$370. > Am I getting raped? They tell me I have 3mm left on the pads. > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) If you went to the corner and bought parts to service the car yourself, the pads would run throgugh the register at about $50 and rotors would ring up at $50 each, and you would need two, for a total parts cost of $150, give or take a little. Odds are good that you do not need rotors, cutting your parts outlay to $50 for front brake pads. Midas buys the same parts as you, or maybe even worse, and gets a volume-discount so they pay probably $100 for the same stuff, perhaps a bit less. I don't know how Toyota's pricing structure works, but I'm not alarmed at the numbers they are giving you. I don't begrudge them making money either. If you are able to install brake pads, then you can save lots o'money on regular maintenance, such as brake work where all that is done is to install new brake pads. If you have no clue about the service, you can pay Toyota or look in the Yellow Pages for an independent Toyota Garage. I would not (that's NOT) go to Midas for anything. pads are a relatively cheap part of it so get the "real" Toyota pads. I had the ceramic front pads done on my 02 Highlander at 60k and had "independant" do it - all parts/fluids were delived by the local dealer and price was about half of dealer. we changed all the fluids, belts, hoses as I lived in Redding and its very hot there. I believe total was under 600 - ATF and coolant were a pretty good hunk of it. ron Most dealers that change out the pads and re-surface the rotors should be able to do that for about $250. So the Toytoa dealer wanting to charge you $350+ is out of line, especially on a small Corolla. Independents should be able to an axle with $50-60 labor plain pad swaps. So if your rotors are fine and do not need work, then look at about $100-120. I read one owner posted that Toyota uses a cheap version of Akebono cermaic pads, with only EE friction rating. I'd get aftermarket Akebono ProActs with FF rating at about $50 per axle. See rockauto.com. If your rotors are good (no deep scores or warpage and are within thickness limits), then there is no need to do anything to them. Resurfacing them removes precious metals and can cause them to warp faster. See: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3828/is_200301/ai_n9211921/ www.rockauto.com www.akebonobrakes.com On Jul 30, 2:29 pm, "Christopher M." <no-spamcm_ano...@hotmail.com> wrote: > I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my 2005 > Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at $345-$370. > Am I getting raped? They tell me I have 3mm left on the pads. > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) On Jul 30, 2:29 pm, "Christopher M." <no-spamcm_ano...@hotmail.com> wrote: > I've called around for some prices for replacing the brakes on my 2005 > Toyota Corolla. Midas says at least $200. Toyota dealers say at $345-$370. > Am I getting raped? They tell me I have 3mm left on the pads. > > W. Pooh (AKA Winnie P.) One reason why you're getting such different answers is that you and the repair shops don't know what you need done. So they may be quoting for different things. Jeff |
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