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Giant fire and explosion from new CarX brakes?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by kenoarto, Nov 16, 2015.

  1. kenoarto

    kenoarto Senior Member

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    95,500 miles and it's time for new brakes. I have used CarX for every other car I have owned, with no problems. They have a $79 special for brakes. Rotors will cost another $150 (several techs have said they can't turn them because of rust--GRRRR) for a total of less than $250. Toyota wants $450-550 for the same service without a lifetime warrantee (not that I expect to ever need another set). Anybody had success/failure/fire/explosions with CarX, Midas, Meineke, Pep Boys, etc?
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    all right, you made me look.:cool:
     
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  3. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    Won't turn a rotor because of rust... Unless its completely rusted through, most likely not, they are just trying to sell you something you don't need. Run away from them.

    I've always had good luck with Pep Boys and the stuff they sell. They are good when it comes to making a warranty claim on their products/services.

    Before I bought my Prius, I had a 4Runner. Took it to them to do a brake job with new rotors up front. A month later the front passenger rotor developed a groove because of a defect in the brake pad/rotor. They immediately went to work on my 4Runner even though their service bay was busy.

    I've always heard horror stories about Midas and Meineke and won't take my car to them ever.
     
  4. Lucifer

    Lucifer Senior Member

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    I personally have a horror story about Pep boys, 95,000, might be rust has penetrated to a depth that when turned makes the rotors illegal, actually, at 100,000, turning rotors is chancy, the driver may have stop at high speed situations all day long, and the op is comfortable with the retailer, any retailer can be a horror story, if one has trust in a retailer, that 50% of the game.
    Err, pep boys did a brake job that went bad in one month, must be a record.
     
  5. kenoarto

    kenoarto Senior Member

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    I have read elsewhere here that 1mm is the Toyota specification for pad replacement. Dealer just told me front pads are recommend (vs. require) replacement at 3mm. Is there a link for the final word to an official Toyota service manual? Not all Prius are exactly the same (e.g. British Prius have rear disks). Is there a difference between Prius specs generations and/or year to year?
     
  6. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    Well, it wasn't Pep Boy's fault. It was a product defect. They resurfaced front rotors, even though they were new with the exception of the rotor that had the groove, and put on new pads as well.