Brake repairs?

[julian abram]

From your description I'm sure they replaced pads and rotors on both front wheels. I can't image any shop only changing pads on one wheel. Price sounds reasonable to me. For comparison, last Saturday I took my wife's Honda Odyssey in for an oil change. Dealership service said it needed brakes, priced front pads & turned rotors at $200 and rear at $250+tax.

[George Bokros]

I meant no offense George! Sorry for mentioning it.

No offense taken. I thought it was all in fun!!

[Wade Lippman]

Pads generally carry a lifetime warranty, while rotors carry a year warranty.

They do carry a lifetime warranty. Is that the lifetime of the pads or of the car? I mean, they will wear out in 60,000 miles or so; do they just replace them for free?

I once bought 10 pair of socks with a lifetime warranty. About once a year I would take them back and get new socks. After about 3 exchanges they decided they weren't honoring it any more. BS. I made them refund my money. Free socks for 4 years!. Gloat or what?

I appreciate everyones help with the brakes.

[Greg R Bradley]

You can't buy brake pads in anything other than an axle set. It would be irresponsible to replace them any other way with the differences in pad materials and wear.
Offering a wear warranty on brake pads is basically a scam. There are a variety of ways they can do this without losing money such as charging enough for the labor that they still make a profit even giving you another set of pads for "free". A bit more reputable wear warranty actually does the work for free but uses that as a way to get you to pay for other work.
This kind of warranty usually indicates that shop should be avoided. It always encourages the use of inferior parts.

I can buy brake pads for my Honda for $7 to $118. I can buy brake rotors for $8 to $140 each. In the auto parts warehouse I own, we generally keep 7 different pads and 4-5 different rotors for each specific part number. None of those are the under $10 items as we don't want the business of the shops and individuals that would use those.

[Ole Anderson]

That is why I do my own brakes. Labor is zero and parts are half of what the brake places will charge. That is one thing I taught both of my boys to do.

[Jerome Stanek]

I have bought the pads that Autozone sells and use the lifetime replacement all the time. just take them back and get new ones. A couple of my trucks went over 300k miles when I was working out of town.

[Mike Cutler]

I was just looking at the receipt. It says "1 - Brake Pads Front". My son says they told him they replaced pads on both front wheels.
Either he is confused, "1 - Brake Pads Front" is a set for both wheels", or they billed wrong.

He will call them to ask why they needed to replace the rotors.
The car has about 60,000 mile on it.
At his last oil change they told him he would need new brakes at his next oil change. He took it somewhere else a few thousand miles later.

Wade
A long time ago, in a life far, far, away. I did brakes and front end alignments for a living. Well, to supplement my current "living" at the time.
Buried in the consumer protection laws for the state was a requirement that there had to be a minimum amount of contact between the brake pad, or shoe, to rotor or drum, when performing a brake job. We used to keep the statute posted on the wall of the shop. Basically that is why drums and rotors were turned as routine to ensure that we met this requirement. So yes, I can see why the rotors would have been replaced along with the pads.
To replace rotors and pads on the front, with a lift, would take less than an hour for a shop. Brake jobs are "bread and butter" for a shop.
If any shop tells you have "warped rotors", make sure they replace the calipers too.

[Bill Orbine]

It is best to replace the rotors when replacing pads. Either that, or the rotors can be cut. Trouble with older rotors is they sometimes warp. Especially after they have been cut. So for peace of mind for you and your mechanic, replace the rotors. Just replacing pads only without either replacing the rotors or having the rotors cut is not advisable

[Matt Meiser]

Guessing 1 set, not one pad. I always just buy new rotors, then take the old ones in to see if they can be turned when I'm done with the job. If they can, maybe 2 in 3 chance, I do them and save for next time.

[Jason Roehl]

I've paid for a LOT of tools over the years by doing my own brake jobs. You used to be able to turn rotors 2-3 times, provided you stayed above the minimum thickness stamped into the rotor. Not so much anymore--rotors on modern vehicles are manufactured thinner (less rotational inertia), and need every iota of the thickness they have to dissipate the heat from braking. Turning them means they heat up too easily, and warp too easily.

Malcolm, I've helped a friend do someone else's brakes with rotors that looked almost like that--the surface was gone in some areas, but not all. Braking must have been "interesting."