Justarius

Hey everyone, 1st off, my apologies for not doing much research before posting but I'm in a time sensitive situation, it's 5am and brain system shutdown is imminent! Also please excuse my late night rambling.

I went to my original dealer in my home town yesterday for a couple things and a 2 year inspection and they told me I need new front brake pads and rotors which will cost $850! On price alone, is this a screw job? I saw in some other posts people quoting after market performance kits for ALL 4 wheels, brakes and rotors for that much and here I`m talking about front only OEM parts (including dealer labor mind you).

The back brakes are apparently fine but the front rotors are supposedly beyond machining and they said I have hardly any pad left and should do this ASAP. They made it sound like I have mere days of pad left. I was given until 1pm tomorrow to decide (they have to order the rotors, claiming the RX8 ones are a special stock item) otherwise they won`t arrive in time before I head back to Toronto where I work. I can always tell them forget it and get it done in Toronto at another dealer or elsewhere but I need to make that decision by tomorrow morning and I was hoping you guys might have some advice.

Assuming the dealer`s recommendation is reliable (more on that below), my main concerns are:

1. Does this pricing sound right? I can always order from the States what with our dollar doing so well and Canadian prices typically being jacked up. But then there’s shipping, duty, etc.

2. Since it`s not a warranty issue, should I even bother with the dealer? They are not exactly famous for great service... My last oil change they over-tightened the filter which cracked causing oil to leak internally for a few weeks until I got accused of wrecking a brick driveway with my leaking car and I also noticed a burning smell coming through the vents. When I took it in they said “our bad, sorry!” and replaced the filter/cleaned up. At the same time they got paint transfer on my door (not sure how but it wouldn’t come off). The only reason I was going back this time was because they promised to fix the paint damage.

Also, after reading stuff like, “Noise issues are a common complaint for all new brake pads. The quality of installation of the rotors and calipers can greatly affect the resulting decibels” I have to wonder yet again if my dealer is up to the task.

3. Should I be going with OEM parts? I don`t intend to track the car, just a lot of spirited driving, road trips and a ton of commuting. I would also LOVE to not have my car sound like a dirty city bus intermittently when I come to a stop ("Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeach!!!") and turn heads for all the wrong reasons... although I’ve read aftermarket pads can be even worse for squeaking.

Lastly there’s the option that the dealer’s recommendation is BS and should not be trusted... It surprised me to hear my brakes were in such dire straits as I noticed no difference in brake performance (although all I've been doing recently is highway driving). I'm not sure how long my previous car's brakes lasted (93 Probe GT which I bought used... the RX8 is my 1st "brand new" car), and I know it varies by make and individual usage, but I was still surprised to be replacing them already. The car is 2 years, 4 months old and has about 63,000km on it (about 39,000 miles). The service guy assured me this is normal and said he`s had to service brakes with half that many miles on them but he’s also seen them last longer too. He gave me the impression mine were “average” in terms of duration. So I guess my last question is:

4. Is there an easy way to verify that I really do need new brakes? They honestly don’t feel too soft and I haven’t noticed a lack of stopping power. I could try visually inspecting them myself as my car sits in the driveway but I have no experience with brake maintenance.

That’s about it, sorry for the length. I figured you guys would appreciate the cracked oil filter story at least. Geeeez, talk about instilling confidence! Thanks for your time.

Justarius

Flashwing

Justarius,

I'm not a brake expert, but $850 does seem a bit high if you're looking at just the two front rotors w/ pads.

Looking at Tirerack.com, they have Powerslot OEM rotors which are just OEM style rotors that have been slottedd for $134.00 per rotor for the fronts.

Let's be crazy and say with tax, shipping etc. you pay $350 for two rotors. They have Hawk Street pads for $65 so let's also be crazy and say $100 w/ shipping.
So we're at $450 for two performance OEM rotors and performance pads with shipping. If it was a 2 hour job @$75 an hour that's another $150 which puts you at $600.

Hope I'm not going overboard with all the numbers.

So in my opinion $850 sounds very high for OEM Mazda parts. Yes the OEM pads did squeek but there is a TSB on those. I've had my pads replaced twice due to the squeeking.

Usually if your pads are worn you'd hear it. Strange that your fronts would be gone but your rears are fine. I would get a second opinion as it might save you some cash.

reaper1

Way to much . Take a look yourself and see if you do need anything done in the first place. One of the guy calls them stealership , ther is a reason for that. You could also shop around , get some numbers.

There is also a DIY in here on how to do your own brakes , very easy . I had never done theme before and with the DIY i did them for the first time . I purchased some Ceramics pads from Pep boys for like 70 buck not sure on how much for rotor , but I garantee you, It wont be more than 850.00 .

GoodLuck.........

CTrx8

iTrader: (2)

well, i was in the exact (and i mean, down to just about the exact same mileage exact) same situation last year. i bought my 8 used at around 38K miles and went to the stealership for another TSB and they looked at the breaks and told me the same thing (i needed new pads and rotors). i took it to another shop (non-stealership) and they told me the same thing. the price to replace all for rotors and pads was $850 USD.

what i ended up doing was finding someone on here that was selling their used rotors and pads that still had plenty of life on them and having a shop do it. i think all said and done it was around $350 for rotors with 8K miles on them, pads with about 85% left on them, and labor but i can't remember the exact total.

if i had it all to do over again i would probably go with aftermarket from tirerack and just get everything brand new but it's not because i have any problems with my current setup, i just should have done it right. i have no mechanical expertise and doing my brakes didn't seem like a good idea to me since the last thing i wanted to mess up is something that is something that stops the car. of course after looking at the DIY i would probably give it a shot and maybe have some locals swing by for some beers, burgers, and a mini-meet to make sure i didn't totally screw it up.

CTrx8

iTrader: (2)

oh, one other thing. you can look on tirerack.com for installers in your area and it will say whether or not they do brakes. you can call up some of those that come up in the search and ask them how much the labor would be. they'll pop in the make and model and tell you how many hours they have alotted for that and multiply it by their labor rate. i want to say that everyone that i looked at was closer to 3-4 hours but it's been a while.

boffam

iTrader: (1)

It is probably not an emergency. If you hear a horrible squealing from the fronts when you brake or have pedal pulsation or the car pulls to one side, maybe. Otherwise you can just chill and figure out what to do.

$850 is a little less than my dealership quoted me. Luckily I have a friend who is (a) mechanically inclined; (b) very helpful; and (c) a tightwad...he scared up a pair of aftermarket rotors for $90 each and Hawk HPS pads for $70. The latter from Canadian Tire I think, the former maybe from Princess Auto?

We did the job ourselves and it is easy as pie...took less than an hour (not including detailing ).

All you need is a set of jack stands and a good set of wrenches, unless the screws holding the rotors on the hubs have seized and then you'll need an impact driver.

Good luck!

*EDITS*

I shopped around a lot for rotors and pads online...the original rotors are Kiriu, and the cheapest I could find was $130 each.

http://www.autopartsway.ca/AutoParts...001~Brake+Disc

Pads only $50!

http://www.autopartsway.ca/AutoParts...~Brake+Pad+Set


Also, another friend who is a member here sent me this in a PM:

Anyhow, if you are going to do the brakes, it's pretty straightforward.
Here's a link to the Mazda RX8 parts manual, which has exploded views of the front axle assembly and brakes.
https://www.mazdamotorsports.com/web.../pdf/04rx8.pdf

To change the pads, first check your brake fluid reservoir, but DO NOT top it off! Just make sure that the fluid looks clean...if not, you are in to flushing and bleeding the system, which is a pia and I won't address right now. To get at the pads, basically, all you are doing is unbolting the whole caliper assembly from the spindle, keeping the brake lines intact, of course! Once the calipers are unbolted, slide them off the rotor and remove the pads, which are just kind of clipped into place. Next, get a big C-clamp and situate it so that you can push the caliper pistons back to a fully recessed position (this is why you don't top off the fluid until done, because when you push in the pistons, the fluid level in the reservoir rises). Then, install the new pads in the caliper, making sure to get the anti rattle clips/hardware situated the same as on the pad you removed. At this point if you are replacing the rotor, hang the caliper off of the spindle with a piece of coat hangar or something, so that the brake hose is not supporting the weight of the caliper. If you need to replace the rotor, it is very simple, but on the RX8 will require an impact driver, because Mazda uses stupid, tough to loosen, screws to retain the rotor on the hub...why? I don't know. Anyhow, you'll need an impact driver to bust loose the screws. Slide the rotor off, slide the new one on, replace the screws. Now, just slide the caliper, with new pads, over the rotor until the caliper bolt holes are lined up. Replace the caliper bolts, using a little Loctite red on the threads and torque to spec, which is somewhere around 75lbs. or pretty dang tight, if you don't have a torque wrench handy.

Once everything is tightened up, step on the brakes a few times, drive it around the block and then check the brake fluid level. Add if neccessary, but I'd bet you won't have to...

That's about it. Of course, any questions, shoot me a PM. I think the Mazda exploded views should help, also.

RX8Maine

Where are you located? Find someone with a brake disk caliper and measure the disks. Unless you have a pulsation or severe irregularity in the surface (unlikely if the car has only been used on the street), you do not have to machine the rotors when changing pads.

Razz1

A brake job is always too expensive at a dealer.

Rotars nowadays usually can't be machined as they are tto narrow from the factory.

It's planned obsolecense. Make you buy a new rotor instead of repairing it.

yoshistoned

mazda has previously quoted me $600 for 4 new rotors including stock pads, with labor. so yes man $850 just for the front...only parts...seems high bro