Brake question

$395 for just rear brake pads is crazy expensive. I think you'll be good for another 30k miles before you have to worry about it.

Look for coupon specials online from that dealership or a neighboring dealership. I think they have specials for probably half that price......and even then I still consider that expensive

 

you can just machine the rotors, no need to replace them unless they are in really bad shape. remember most of your braking is electronic......and using front brakes. The rear brakes are not doing that much

 

... except rusting, which can cause frozen calibers and dragging problems. Is this in a region that oversalts the roads in winter?

 

I don't know of any manufacturer that recommends cutting rotors. Ventilated rotors with advanced metal technology don't have to have much of a lip to be out of specification.

$395 for pads and rotors sound like a fair price. Even at 3mm you have a bit remaining.

 

2010's are notorious for this in snow area's. there have been quite a few reports here, of rear brakes and premature wear.
the slide pins freeze up and prevent the pads from opening properly. toyota recommends regular inspections and lubrication if needed, but most dealers don't bother.
if you keep the pins lubed, you won't have a problem.
98,000 isn't bad at all, we've seen under 40k iirc, and i think 400 bucks for pads and rotors are a great price.
if you do go local, make sure they understand prius brakes, they're tricky. all the best!

 

Service limit for the rear rotors is 7.5 mm, so machining the rotors might just do the trick. I've purchased a set of rear pads and shims myself, prices as follows (in Canadian dollars, August 2014):

pad set, brake p/n: 04466-76012: $99.69
shim kit, brake p/n: 04946-47070: $16.77

The reason I was doing the rear pads was due to my earlier error at rear brake assembly. I'd opened them up, and neglected to align the pin on the pad backing plate to be between spokes on the face of the calliper pin face. This is crucial for brakes to perform correctly. Neglecting this, the brakes will drag badly, score the rotors, and skew the pad to rotor contact.

The inner face of rotor in my case was only about 50% making contact, the rest rusty. The outer rotor face had significant scoring. Still, just removing and steel wooling the rotors, then carefully installing fresh pads, with the pins correctly locked with the caliper pin cross pattern, a month or two down the road the rear brakes behaved (and looked) like new.

I would suggest as a DIY: chock the front wheels, jack up the rear (there's a rear centre jacking point shown in the manual), ensure parking brake is released, and try spinning the wheels. A slight amount of drag is normal, but if they're really fighting pin misalignment could be the issue.



$395 is a little steep all-in, not bad though if it's including new rotors.