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My friend chickened out after watching a video. Said they're more complicated than he's used to. So I called Lexus and they said it would cost $150 in labor to install the pads. Which sounded reasonable. When I dropped it off, they told me, just so you know, we might have to replace the rotors. At 19,000 miles, I couldn't see any way the rotors would need to be replaced. There are no vibrations and no squeal. But they just called and told me it needs new rotors for $1,200. I have to believe they're full of it. I told them just to do the pads. So they replied, ok but just so you know we won't warranty it against noise.
LOL.
standard dealership scare tactics. Rotors aren’t even carbon ceramic. No way they are close to $1200.
you can find the Brembo rotors for the fronts for $300 for both or $500 for the whole set at Amazon. Centric is even cheaper.
if you really want to be sure get a digital caliper at Amazon for $10-$20 to measure your rotors. From there you will know how much life they have. Lobux racer has post here of new thickness to min thickness of rotors for our car. If you shine a light it should show the min thickness on the rotor itself.
No such thing. Tires cup. Rotors form cementite and feel like they're not flat anymore. Pad slap and go is what I would do. I'd also have the SA take me to the shop and measure the rotors in front of me so I could point out why I will be hesitant to trust his/her advice in the future.
Not only that, but you can just look at the slots and see when the rotor is dead. The slot will be almost gone, and I validated this with the GS F - it's on the second set of rotors already with 63k miles. It is obvious when you look at the slots.
He was definitely talking about the rotors. I assume he’s referring to the outer and inner edges on the rotors being thicker than where the pads apply pressure. The slots were still plenty deep.
I just picked it up. They tried to charge me $298. They told me $150 on the phone – one hour of labor. Then said it would be about $180 with taxes and fees when I dropped it off. I told her that. The service manager was off today, so she talked to the GM while I stood around for ten minutes. She came back and said they would drop the price back to what they quoted. Then made me stand around for another 30 minutes while they redid the paperwork. They never gave an explanation for the extra charges. And I didn't get to see the original paperwork. The only thing I can think is they tried to charge the difference in price from when they price matched the pads. Or else they just routinely try to rip people off and most never object.
On top of that, every seat adjustment had been changed. The steering wheel had been adjusted. The rear view mirror was adjusted. And my car had at least 50 more miles on it than when I dropped it off. I had asked them not to wash it because I don't want it going through their carwash. And I had just washed it the night before. So of course they did run it though their car wash and it has water spots all over it now.
My wife wants me to get her an RX. I'm going to try to convince her to get an Infiniti just so I don't have to deal with them any more than I have to.
Here's what the rotors look like. It looks to me like they are not gripping the last quarter to half inch of the rotors. And I don't remember being able to see the pad sticking out past the caliper. Am I being paranoid, or did they install the pads incorrectly?
What brake pad is that? Aftermarket brand? I don't remember seeing the stock brake pads come with that shiny backing plate. And it doesn't look like it's seated correctly, maybe the wrong pad was being installed in the first place? The grooves do look like they're deeper on the outside vs. inside of the rotor, I think your suspicion is right, that it looks like the pads are "cupping" the rotors.
Originally Posted by Yes
Here's what the rotors look like. It looks to me like they are not gripping the last quarter to half inch of the rotors. And I don't remember being able to see the pad sticking out past the caliper. Am I being paranoid, or did they install the pads incorrectly?
That's the driver's side front. I bought the pads from Lexus. My friend was going to install them then backed out after watching a video. He does his own brakes on his Land Cruiser, but said these are more complicated. I suspect they installed them closer to the center, but don't know enough to know if that's possible. It doesn't make any noise with normal braking, but it now makes a little bit of a squeal when you're at a stop and rolling forward with your foot lightly on the brake. Never did that before.
You most likely have the wrong pad in there. Look at the OEM RCF brake pad here. The shape looks different vs yours, compare the blue circled part to the one showing in your pic. The OEM is more squared and the pad in your pic is more at an angle.
Also the OEM brake pad comes with holes for the locking pin to go through, that prevents it from moving around. You can take off your wheel and double check if the pins are still there.
The backing plate on yours is very shiny, the OEM should be black.
It's good that you're changing the pads now, be sure to get the correct pads this time. I would change the rotor too, it's got cupping from the wrong pads.
Are they different depending on the model year? Mine is a 2015. The rear pads look the same. It only had 2,600 miles on it when I bought it, so I don't think they would have changed the pads to aftermarket for any reason.
No, the OEM pads are all the same for RCF (maybe the compound is different for the Track Edition, but Lexus didn't have the track edition back in 2015). I have seen both the original OEM pads and alternative OEM TSB pads from Lexus, they look nothing like the one in your pic.
At this point, I don't even think it's a matter of aftermarket vs. OEM. They are some wrong pads in there. I got aftermarket Project Mu pads on my car, but they are also in the OEM brake pad shape (more square/rectangular looking). You can just google around, you'll see even most aftermarket pads they follow the OEM pad shape.
Ok. I'm just having a hard time understanding how both the front and rear could have the wrong brake pads. I bought the front pads from the local Lexus dealer. The rear pads were on there when I bought the car CPO at 2,600 miles from another Lexus dealer. The only way I can see them both being the wrong pads is if my local dealer removed the rear pads too and put the wrong pads on all four wheels just because I wouldn't pay for new rotors.
I never said you have wrong rear pads, because you haven't shown any pics of your rear pads.
The wrong pad I've been referring to is the one below. You said this one is your driver side front pad right? Then it looks like the wrong pad (to me, which I'm pretty sure)
Are you sure he wasn't talking about the tires
