New Rotors at 45k??

It's very unusual to need new pads at 45K, and new rotors even more so. Did something happen to damage the brakes? Do you drive like a maniac with nothing but panic stops? If not I would get an opinion from another shop; this one may be trying to pad his income.

 

Before you go replacing those rotors, you might try several hard stops while in Neutral. You're such a careful driver that you just haven't used the friction brakes enough to keep ahead of the rusting.

 

If that were true, it would be hard to understand why the car would need even pads at under 50k miles...

Something strange in the neighborhood...

 

Can OP yank a wheel and check the pad thickness for himself? Or get a 2nd opinion somewhere else?

Make sure this is not a shop creating unneeded business under disguise of the many other cars needing brake jobs at this age. More than one Prius owner has had 'worn' pads magically return to serviceable thickness on a later visit.

 

I suggest that you see whether you can get the rust off the rotors by finding a road without traffic, getting up to 50 mph or so, then shifting to N and braking moderately hard. Repeat a few times. See if that helps to remove the rust.

If you still see substantial rust then you probably should replace the rotors when you replace the pads. It is unusual for a Prius to require new pads at only 45K miles but since you have visually inspected the pads and found them to be low, who knows what abuse the car had been subjected to.

Regarding where to purchase new brake parts, I buy from Champion Toyota (Houston) which discounts parts ordered over the web ~25%.

 

is there a material alternative to cast iron avail for brake rotors, that will not rust?

Obviously there's carbon ceramic, but that's too expensive and only found on porsches, ferraris or race cars. Can't these get made in China cheaply? Or is there something else that makes them so expensive?

 

aarona, i'm not sure there is anything wrong with your brakes at all. you should try another shop like the car guys in hyde park? or an AAA certified. i wouldn't trust looking thru the 'sight window to determine pad thickness, they should last 100,000 miles. the rotors are as good as anybody's and even tho they develop a bit of light rust, it comes off quickly and should not be a problem. grooving is different and if they are too deep to turn the rotors or if the rotors are warped too much, they may have been mistreated and do need to be replaced. all the best!

 

Over tightening wheel installations has been known to cause problems with rotors. Since you see rust it suggests there has not been a lot of mechanical braking recently (who knows about what went on in the past)
Follow Patrick's suggestion (I would) and if needed get at least one additional reliable opinion on a complete brake job. It might be a little more expensive but a certified Toyota Service Dept might be worth the cost.

 

In areas that use winter salt (and especially cars that sit outdoors overnight) this isn't that unusual. I had to replace the rotors on my daughter's Protege after 22,000 miles. It would sit in an outdoor lot for days at a time without being driven.

The worst corrosion is typically on the "hidden" side of the rotor, usually covered by the splash shield.

- Chris

 

The front brakes on a Prius typically last 100k miles or more. The rear brakes even longer. Mostly they rust away from lack of use. If yours truly need to be replaced, the previous owner must have worked overtime to abuse them.

Tom

 

Check Ebay for disc (rotor) prices. I just changed mine front and rear on a UK gen2 due to heavy rust paid £30 for pair of fronts £17 for pair of rears. Both sets made by well known UK manufacturer total £57/$90.
Toyota wanted £400 just to supply.

 

AaronA,
I know you've gotten a lot of replies but I just wanted to cut to the chase and answer your question

No: This is not common to the Prius. I'm not sure why your pads need replacing because that is very uncommon to the Prius. As for the rotors, I could possibly chalk it up to road salt or if your car was left to sit for a while with salt on the rotors (might cause deep pitting).

The reason your seeing these replies is because it is so unusual.

 

since there are different grades of rotors and pads, is it worth it to buy higher grade brake parts on a prius if they are just going to just rust away?

and you can't buy premium pads to last 150K miles and change cheap rotors every 75K miles, can you? because the pads after 75K miles will be deformed to match the old rotors, so throwing new rotors on will make the old pads not have good contact with the new rotors and thus creates a serious safety issue.

obviously with pads the different grades typically indicates how quiet they'll be in operation, not longevity, so I would just buy the cheapest pads that don't result in any "brake barking". As for rotors, yeah you could buy thick heavy rotors that will resist "rusting thru", but the extra weight would hurt your FE, so IMO it would be better to use cheap rotors and just replace them as needed.

I'll wait for the "expert" opinion from Patrick or someone else very knowledgeable. and nobody has answered my previous question about why carbon ceramic is so expensive, because that material won't rust and is super light and would solve all our problems

 

Why does it matter "why" carbon ceramic is more expensive? Is that going to change your cost? No, they cost more because they are much harder to produce.
Lastly, I just did my brakes last night and it took about 1 hour, I used the Bentley Prius manual as a guide and Im glad I did. I highly recommend getting new pins as well as all new backing hardware (anti squeal plates etc) from Toyota.

Why? because the shop that did these brakes (before i owned the car) ordered parts from Autozone/Advance and they either didn't come with or the mechanic neglected to install the 4 (thats right I said 4!) anti squeal plates making my brakes extremely noisy. Torque you lugs in a star pattern to 76ft-lbs.

Unless your a woman, (no offense if you are) I highly suggest you save yourself the $300 in labour and just do the brakes yourself, it is extremely easy and its one of the first things my father taught me how to do when I was 15. Dont overcomplicate things, to me and you the brakes on this care are the exact same disc and drum setup on my 1986
Mustang. Who knows you might even learn something????

 

The brakes on the Prius are not difficult to change but if you do them like the Mustang or most any other car I guaranty you will through brake fault codes, or worse pop the pistons out of the calipers, more than one person on hear has done just that. Then you cannot bleed them in the normal way ether, so a little research before you start would not be a bad idea.