Scotty Kilmer, probably the most famous mechanic on YouTube and certified Toyota fanboy, heartily agrees with you. His contention, like yours, is that modern rotors are too thin to turn and you are better off replacing them. Some indy shops won't resurface rotors anymore, either, citing the same reason.

 

A few, maybe more than a few,Years ago I went in to get a brake job and the indie mechanic gave me a choice, turn the rotors or get new ones, difference then was $20 a rotor, he also said to me that if I chose to turn them he would not guarantee them as they would more than likely warp. So this is not something that just happened, I think turning is really a false economy today.

 

I primarily use them for oil changes while the cars are still under the power train warranty. I am going to search for a good independent here in northern Bergen County at some point. You know of any? Presume you're using Prestige Toyota just next door to Lexus? I'm going to need brakes on my ES now in the next few months so trying to decide where to take it. It won't be the Lexus dealer this time.

 

I take no offense. Rotors have a minimum thickness that is set by the manufacturer for safety and performance reasons. As long as a rotor can be turned and still be thicker than the min thickness, I wouldn't hesitate to turn my rotors. That being said, I do not know what thickness these rotors come with new nor what toyota says the min thickness is. I wouldn't be surprised if manufacturers were making rotors designed to be throw away because they simply aren't thick enough to be turned. If anyone knows the new rotor thickness and min thickness, please post it.

Edit: Looks like the starting thickness is around 1.102 and the discard thickness is 0.984 - leaving about 0.118" to be machined before the rotor must be replaced.

Also, if the difference between turning your old rotors and buying new ones is $20, id get new ones too.

 

The Lexus dealer wanted to replace the pads because they had 3mm of material left and the rotors because they were too thin. I ended up doing it myself and the pads were indeed down to 3mm so I put new Akebono pads on (thanks for the recommendation). But the rotors were the same thickness as new ones. I measured each one in 4 places and they were all between 1.100 and 1.101. I think nominal for new rotors is around 1.102 and the min thickness is 0.984. $70 repair instead of nearly $600 at the dealer.

 

It may be because of liability that they recommended rotors.

 

2018 RX350 AWD Japan built
I am hearing scraping/rubbing noise from the front when making a hard/sharp right or left turn. So took car to the dealer and the technician said rust built on the rear side of the front rotors causing the scraping noise. So, he removed rotors and cleaned rust and noise is no longer present. However, after two months scraping noise is back. This time delar recommends replacing front rotors and brake pads. I live in a northeast snow/salt cold climate and park my car outside. I own 2012 Camry without such issue.
Anyone experienced such an issue and what brand of rotor you recommend which is rust resistant.

 

I doubt there are rotors that are rust resistant unless you want to spend a pile of $. They all rust after sitting for a day or two if moisture is present.

 

Sorry for the very late reply - I just noticed your post with a question to me today. I bring my ES and RX to Glen Toyota in Fair Lawn for maintenance although admittedly it's so far been very minor (oil changes, tire rotations). So far I have been happy with them and they have a large uncrowded waiting room unlike Prestige Lexus. I will be bringing in the 07 RX soon for an oil change and I will be speaking to them about the cost of a brake job including new rotors.

 

Hi mikemu30, if you find a good mechanic to work on Lexus in Northern NJ, please share. It seems like @sderman and I both go to Glen Toyota, but their prices have gone up recently/cannot talk to their mechanic. I'd rather give my hard earned money to an indy mechanic that I can communicate with. Thank you in advance.

 

Brakes are definitely a DIY item. YouTube has tons of videos, give it a try. I’m not a certified mechanic, but let’s say I haven’t spent a dime at the dealer in probably 20 years since learning to do stuff myself.

 

Same here. But not everyone is like us. That mom with 3 school age kids isn't gonna spend an afternoon hammering off rotor and torquing on wheels. my sister for example who in her college years tackled a bathroom renovation to surprise our mom now goes to the dealer to get her key fob battery replaced. Her husband is the same. dealership for anything and everything because his time is too precious and he really doesn't want to second guess the work. Besides, brake jobs are too clean for him, his hands are for Colonoscopies😂

 

I have changed and done plenty of brakes on various different vehicles. I changed our old 2004 RX330 rotors and pads to the R1 Concepts cross drilled/slotted pads and rotors on the fronts, partly for looks and also loved them on my former 09 XB. That thing stopped on a dime. For our 18 RX350L, I’m needing to change the front brakes. I ordered stoptech pads from tire rack, but I inspected the front rotors and they probably could use being replaced, I don’t know if they’ve been replaced, we bought the car used and it now has nearly 70k miles on it. Searching back on tire rack the only rotors they list are the centric plain. But I noticed if you search same year highlander they have some more options. After extensive research, no the Highlander rotors won’t fit. Surprisingly, the rotors from an Avalon, and Camry 2018-2020ish are the same as the RX350L. Considering the weight of the RX should be more than either of those, I’m a bit amazed. But now if you search tire rack or other sites and want aftermarket rotors you can find them in the 2018 and up Avalon/Camry search and maybe find something other than OEM, and still
have great quality rotors for less.

 

Can anybody speak to their experience with Centric rotors? I've never heard of them until now but wondering how they are, at least with regards to an RX350L.

 

I have used Centric rotors on my old Acura TL. They were very good and a much cheaper alternative to OEM. I got mine from Rock Auto.

When the time comes to replace brakes on my RX I will price out both and then decide, but I was happy with the Centric rotors.