I will be due for new brakes soon on my 2005 ES 330...I have priced out OE Toyota replacement parts & frankly the dealers around here are astronomical just for the parts (front & rear pads & rotors). I am considering a complete brake kit from Powerstop which includes front / rear cross drilled & slotted rotors & "Evoloution' front & rear ceramic pads for approx $320, plus free shipping.

Does anyone have any experience with these & if so, I would love to hear your feedback.

More info here:

http://shop.autoanything.com/brakes/61A5870A0A0.aspx

 

I've never heard of that company before. I have a few questions though. How many miles are on the car and what brake components, if any, have you already replaced?

 

When I purchased my 2005 ES in Jan 2008, the car had 42,000 miles...it was a Lexus CPO vehicle & the Lexus dealer replaced all rotors & pads with OE at that time. Fast forward 4.5 years & I have 82,000 miles with those brakes....I have about 35% remaining so it will be due soon.

The only thing I have done to the brake system, was I replaced the brake fluid with Amsoil.

Overall I have been very pleased with the performance of the OE brakes, but I feel the local dealers are ripping customers off with their prices...that is why I am considering a good set of aftermarket ones.

 

I don't know your driving style, but you should be fine with new front pads and resurfaced rotors, there is no need to do the rears with only 40k miles on the brakes.

Have you heard of Sewell Lexus? It's a Lexus dealer from Texas that is one of the forum's vendors. They give us a pretty good discount on OEM parts. I priced out all the parts that you wanted to replace and it came out to around $550 with shipping.

 

Stay away from drilled or slotted rotors, no place for those on your Lexus.

There are a number of good aftermarket brands, I like Centric stuff. OEM is good too if you get a decent price from the online discounters.

 

Oh? do explain.

 

I am curious too...

 

I will take a look at Sewell Lexus...yes I have heard of them

Still curious if any members have any experience with the Powerstop brake kit?

 

On the aftermarket side, I would recommend Centric Premium rotors (painted) with Akebono Ceramic pads.

Drilled rotors do not last very long, here is a snippet from the Car Bible.

 

I was considering buying some for my Avalon. next time i need brakes i'll probably get some.

 

You can read all over the Internets about this stuff so I'll be brief

Drilled holes - don't do anything but that is debated of course since some Porsches and Corvettes have them. At any rate it will cause early failure of the rotor. from cracking. Not a big deal for a street car since the rotors aren't worked hard, but still if you want service life than don't bother.

Slots - These do work, they ensure a nice fresh layer of brake pad, avoid glazing for a track car. If you are glazing pads on your Lexus you shouldn't be driving like that on the street ;-) Since the slots shave a little pad material off, you reduce the life of your pads, not needed for a street car at all.

When I tracked my WRX I used Centric Premium blanks with proper race pads. Same rotors I used on the street with street pads. I have never needed a slotted/drilled rotor. The Centrics are made in China but they are OEM quality vs. whatever Autozone has, the "premium" just means it is coated on the hat and fins, which looks nice. You can save a couple of bucks with the Centric "standard" rotor if a little surface rust doesn't bother you.

I don't have many pad recommendations, all I know is performance street pads rather than something more standard. In that realm I love the Porterfield R4S, also the Stoptech Street pads are good if you drive very aggressive, but they lose their bed if you don't so something like a posi-quiet is probably better.

 

Your rotors would be ok for another 2-3 years, I think min is 10mm thickness from Lexus training manual. Even I am at 115K miles and it is good for another 3 years, but I am in the market for 4 new rotors and tires next Spring.

I just changed third set of front OEM pads, but I don't like the bite/stopping distance. Last time, I changed front pads at 65K, and first rear pad at 96K. I may need go to stealer to flush/bleed.

Bremo rotors from tirerack is very good deal when on sale. For sure, Bremo rotors would get you 6-7 years, even you drive like stealing the car.