G2Lexus

So my "Brake Pad Wear" notice came on about two weeks ago and I got my car to the shop today. I was just notified by my SA that I needed rear brake pads and a new rear brake pad sensor. He said that the brakes had worn down to the point that it became damaged. This is an additional $150 on top of the brakes.

I have done the math and can say, with headroom, that I have driven less than 500 miles since the sensor first came on. In fact there were short trips to the store where the sensor didn't come on at all.

Has anyone else experienced this? This sounds like complete BS to me. There's no way I want an extra $150 tagged on to every brake job I ever have done.

JFNash

Once the message comes on the dash, the sensor has to be changed OR, alternatively, the mechanic can just cancel the sensor altogether (by connecting both ends with each other I guess). If you go with the latter option, you'll never get the message even if the pads are completely gone.

I personally replace the pads soon after I feel there is a decline in brake power or when I start getting the noise when braking. I don't wait until the sensor kicks in.

On the other hand, I know many people have canceled the sensors and are relying on periodic physical inspections of the pads & rotors.

Nospinzone

Whatever happened to the little piece of metal that would touch the rotor and make a little screeching sound once the pads wore down to the point of needing replacement?

Oh yea I know, there was no way to link that no tech device to a message that would display on the dash!

G2Lexus

The brakes never made any type of noise nor did I notice any type of change in the braking.

I went back on my calendar and came up with a pretty accurate mileage log and found that I only driven ~200 miles after the sensor came on. My SA says that I may have a 100 mile tolerance on the sensor. I asked if they could leave the sensor off and he said that the light would stay on.

I have the touring package that includes the larger brakes so I was expecting to get hit with an up-charge on brakes, which I did. $325 for rear brakes + $150 for the sensor. That's a handy little 46% token surcharge on my already very expensive brakes. What a fantastic ripoff!

JFNash

$325 for the rear brakes only seems a little too high. I would ask for more than brakes for $325. Check out this: http://lexus.sewellparts.com/accesso...-2008-410.html

G2Lexus

Final invoice for rear brakes...

$74.95 - Pad kit
$165.00 - Labor, turn rotors
$166.54 - Pad wear wire assy

$406.49 total. Cheaper than I was quoted on the phone but my SA said he threw in some discounting. Not sure.

The pad wear assembly is Lexus part 47770-50100 and it looks like it can be had online for about half the dealer price. This is a big piece when all that wears out is the tiny plastic head with a small flat metal strip and 2 wires. Looks like they would have made the head interchangeable for a couple of bucks rather replace the entire wire assembly. That's designing for future profits right there.

JFNash

I would have the pads & rotors checked out periodically to avoid having to replace the brake sensor. I would also find a different place to resurface the rotors. I'm not a mechanic but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take a NASA aerospace engineer to do the job. That's about 60% of a self-given discount.

RudyRC51

Brake pad sensor went on last week... i canged out my fronts today. had my friends shop do it.... WHY IS THE SENSOR STILL ON, the rears are fine. ? any options. id rather keep it on than disable it but im not going to pay 140 for a wire assembly... what can I do or check?

RudyRC51

where is the raear sensor located? passenger... would i be able to tell if the sensor in the back is activated just by popping off the rim?

chris07ls

Yes, the sensor is on the passenger side - it is attached to the inner pad. You can see it on the back part of the pad where it will contact the rotor as the pad wears down.
I checked my brakes last week and what I noticed was that the inner pads wear down twice as fast as the outer. My back sensor is a hair from touching the rotor and my front is touching the rotor(No brake light yet). The way these look, I would guess the moment your sensor light goes on, you are cooked and have to replace the sensors.
I ordered some pads last week and expect delivery Monday - I plan to put the new pads in Monday night.

Like many of you I would check my pads by looking through the spokes of the wheel at outer pad and assuming the inner pad wore at the same rate - not true.

Not impressed by this setup! I agree with NoSpinZone, just give me some cheap scrapers, not some $100 sensors that get destroyed when the pad is only 50% used.

randomwalk

Can you pull the sensor out and set it somewhere? I would just check the pads often for wear instead of the sensor telling me?

305Busa

Not pushing any button here but driving 200 miles in stop and go traffic and 200 highway miles are different. If there were 200 miles of stop and go traffic, the I see a issue with the brake wear, if not, then youre correct. 150 tacked on to each brake job sounds a bit out of hand.

PRSUIT460

iTrader: (3)

The sensor isn't bad until you have the light on the dash. Once you have the light on the dash you waited to long and you should replace the sensor. You drive the most reliable flagship car and you don't want to pay for a brake sensor? It's basic wear item. It's there because people ignore noisy brakes until they feel the pad backing grinding against the rotor. I'd rather have people just replacing pads and a sensor than having to do rotors too.

cmasten

The cost of a brand new set of Ceramic pads is less than the cost of the sensors. I don't like leaving any material on my pads, but the economics of it, at least on this vehicle, would dictate that your better off safe than sorry. The Pads can be dropped in yourself, if your handy and your rotors dont need to be replaced. The material in that sensor is nothing, it just holds the two wires together and slides in. When I did my brakes I remember looking at it and thinking , this must be a 2.00 part, but now I know :-)

RudyRC51

It's more the principle, rather than the money. You would think the brake sensor light is usually a warning, over "hey pay $150 for 2 wires clipped to the pad" when the light popped on. Just doesn't make sense in my book.