2006 Gen2 with 211k miles and original brakes. Almost all of the mileage is highway, I'm the almost original owner. Heard some noise when braking around town and took it in to a shop. The guy is quoting me replacement of everything: pads, calipers, & rotors. Front brakes $666. Back brakes (drum) $634. Two questions: Are rotors and calipers always changed out at this mileage? Didn't get a detailed breakdown on the rear brakes, but I assume he's including new drums. Are these good prices? Thanks!
211k on original pads? Amazing! The rear pads on my MINI gave out at 22k. Fronts a little better, oddly. I've replaced pads only on it, with no pulsating, etc. No way I was replacing rotors at such low mileage, although they usually want to do rotors. Rotor thickness was good (micrometer), but you can see wear on rotors that have a lot of usage. Maybe the pads were soft. I'm amazed at how much new brakes cost, even the parts. I wonder if your guy is using Toyota parts. You could price them out online. Generally, I've had better luck with OEM than aftermarket, even though more expensive. He's replacing the calipers? That seems extreme. Mine had a little sensor that made contact with the rotor when pad got thickness got low. I don't know if the tang on the pad that scrapes the rotor on mechanical warning setup does anything bad to the rotor. I wouldn't think the rotors would experience time related deterioration. Maybe the calipers do, and at 211k miles.... I have no experience, or very little, with drum brakes. Hopefully someone who has more experience will comment too.
I use new rotors and drums at this kinda mileage . On my stuff . If customer opts to Mill or turn . That's on them
Did he say why he wants to replace calipers? Unless there's a lot of rust or they are damaged, they don't need replacement. Yes to replacing both the rotors and brake pads but NO to those prices....should be around half of that! I'd find another mechanic and not a chain (like Firestone or Brake Plus, etc.) I've seen Toyota Dealerships having discounts on certain jobs like brakes and transmission....might be worth it to give them a look. (And the OEM Toyota rotors and brake pads are the best, I've used them all and Toyota just has the best, it's not even close to 2nd place.)
It could be you just need pads, or pads/shoes, or pads/shoes/rotors, or pads/shoes/rotors/drums, or pads/shoes/rotors/drums/calipers, or pads:shoes/rotors/drums/calipers/wheel cylinders. What’s the noise like, when do you hear it, can you tell if it’s front or rear? Walla Walla being well inland, lots of snow and road salt driving? The odds of needing everything seem “long”, and considering the price is not crazy, maybe your mechanic hasn’t spelled out what he is and isn’t doing? It seems a long shot that everything is kaput.
I have no idea but I'll tell you what I don't know how people are getting the $640 for a brake job on the front of the back of any car in this day and age $28 rotors 40 pad sets and 40 minutes . Dang . Used to do 12 of those a day.
As we know, on a hybrid car, the brakes lasts for ever. My 2009 with ~155k still have 1/2 life left on the front pads. It makes some kind of creaking noise randomly. Seems the caliper to shims movement or something like that. So don't want to replace it.Pads/shoes/rotors will wear out, but caliper, i guess you dont have to replace it unless the boot is torn and rusted inside or some cracks. Years back, i was in same situation. I didn't knew about working on cars. A chain store charged $800 for replacing caliper/rotors and pads on the 2002 VW Passat. It was making a faint sound. Guess what, the new caliper they put on ( i still think there was nothing wrong with old one), started leaking and car was in their shop for a week to get parts from their warehouse and for a washer, they waited extra few days and finally i bought it from local dealer.
Like everything in life; it depends. If I was the shop owner and expected to warranty the work - that estimate wouldn't be out of line. The only really questionable items are the calibers and rear brake cylinders. I would have to inspect and measure the rotors & drums to make that call. Your not going to get OEM parts with that quoted price; but the part would be quality enough for the shop to stand behind the warranty they're giving you. If you flush-out and replace the brake system fluid every 3-5 year; there isn't a need to replace those calipers - unless they're leaking or something; again the reason for a physical inspection. Does that price include flushing out your braking system? That should be done if you don't service your brake fluid regularly. In my experience, you can usually get a second set of brake pads on the OEM rotors - before you need to replace them. If you try for a third set of pads, you'll likely get rotor warp and brake pulsation midway through that third set of pads. The rear drums would depend on how often you forget and drag the parking brakes and/or manually adjust them. One shoe usually wears faster than the other; dependent on parking brake drag or maladjustment - auto-adjusters getting jammed up. My best advice is to get a few more quotes around town and check online reviews of the shop that you think you going to send the work to.... @Tombukt2 There's a thing called inflation, so unless you own the ground and shop your on and don't have to pay any staff - prices need to go up. The prices also are dependent on where you are too; big city = higher prices. Hope this helps PS: If you never changed the transmission fluid on that car, you should probably do so. It's probably black as tar by now. It's an E-CVT, so the old ATF myths don't apply to this transmission.
Yes I own where I'm at and all the tools that are where I'm at and everything where I'm at is mine . No help to pay no signage etc . And well out of City limits and high rent districts. This was very on purpose also. I'm not interested in just working for anybody that pulls into the driveway not at all.
Yes; my dad was a mechanic and owned his own ground too. That really cuts down on cost and I was pretty much free labor over the summer breaks. As my dad and I has gotten older, I had to step in and manage the shop a few times when he had medical issues. We've never had more than one or two guys employed at anytime or guys starting out and we would do a revenue split. It's just a lot easier when your not beholden to landlords and/or banks, so you can give a customer a fair shake. There was always enough work and money to raise a middle income family; but there was a zero chance you would get rich doing that........
Ain't that the truth? I have to bite my tongue when co-workers tell me what they just paid and it's usually 2-3 times an acceptable amount. (But they already paid it so why throw salt in an open wound?) I just say glad you don't have to worry about it for a while!!
I though I was a bit off so I did a quick estimate. Attached price list is repair shop quality parts (sorry, couldn't attach file: Napa Online parts quote); which a shop could probably get an additional 20% off and back-off the core charges places parts cost alone at $360 so another $300 in labor charges isn't out of line. Forty minutes is doable without replacing the calipers, bleeding the system or running into rust. The OP quote has both calipers replaced. I'm sure the parts cost could probably be halved, but any smart professional shop isn't going to take that chance......
FWIW, in July, I replaced all four huge rotors and brakes in my 2014 Tundra with Toyota OEM parts for a little cheaper than the best deal I could find at Auto Zone. There's a big Toyota dealer in Denver that often has good discounts and they had a 25% off on parts deal for July 4th.....can't beat that!!
Sorry to not reply to everyone, I'm a little bit of a internet luddite. Thanks for all of these great responses. I'm getting an estimate from another shop next Tuesday. They assured me they don't replace everything as a policy. They measure the rotors and don't replace calipers unless there's damage. Thanks for your advice on the brakes, and the transmission. The fluid hasn't ever been replaced. Noise was only from the front and is a light grinding sound, similar to having a rock in your brakes. But at 211k miles I expect the brakes have done their lifetime duty. Walla Walla has snow in the mountains and occasionally here in town, but they don't use salt. I'm getting another estimate from a shop that has assured me they don't require all new parts as a policy. I'll let you know what they say next week. Thanks!
