Hey guys,

I have a 2006 G35x. A couple week ago, my wheels started making a squeaking sound with each revolution. I brought it to the dealership and it turns out I needed new rear brake pads and the rear rotors needed to be machined. It cost me $420.

Granted, I've had my car for almost 3 years but only have 36,000 miles and don't drive aggressively and am not heavy on the brake. This seems a bit premature, doesn't it?

My front brake pads according to the dealership still had 60% life left. I asked why the rears went so quickly and they claimed it's because Infiniti brakes tend to bite a bit harder at the rear wheels to prevent the nose from diving when braking.

Anyway, I want to see if having my brakes go at 36,000 miles is normal.

 

It's quite normal, however replacing the rotors seems a little premature, hopefully you didn't get taken.

I just replaced my rear pads at 43,000 miles as they were getting thin (not quite on the shims, but they were upcoming). The brake bias is more so on the rears than is standard and also a small contributor is that our traction control hits the rear brakes which adds slightly more wear as well.

 

Well this will make you scratch your head.

I'm at 37K miles on my '06x.

I had some warranty work done and the dealer told me my front pads were down to 2mm and needed to be replaced.

I checked and sure as hell there was barely any pad left. I did it myself for $250 in parts for OEM pads and rotors. I prob could have cut my rotors but i'm the type of person who rather pay extra and go new. Beside, $250 for an OEM brake job is cheap to me.

My rears have plenty of meat left. They are prob 40-50% right now. I almost bought new OEm pads for $60 but decided to let it go for now

Traction control does manipulate the rear brakes, so they could wear out quickly if you are spinning tires and hitting VDC all the time

 

So I guess 36,000 miles doesn't sound too out of the ordinary.

No I didn't need new rotors, they just had to be machined/smoothed-out a bit. I did notice a bit of vibration when braking on the highway, so machining the rotors did the trick. If I had to replace the rotors, it would've been quite a bit more $$$$.

It's funny though. Those stealerships try to get you to bite on things you don't need. They claimed I already needed a brake flush, coolant flush, AWD flush, and new belts. I skipped on all of that. They are ridiculous. I'll wait for the 60,000 mile service for the flushes.

 

Yeah they pulled the same trick on me. I really did need the brake job but i'm mechanically inclined so i banged it out in an hour or two.

I am going to do the flushes though. I'd rather overmaintain than undermaintain. I just love how the dealer makes it seem like your car is gonna blow up if you go 1000 miles past a service interval.

I've bought the fluids, just need a good weekend to do it.

 

36,000 is nothing out of the ordinary. There are people that change their pads, rotors and brake fluid after every track day. It all depends on how you drive. If you can get 36k out of your brakes then you should be happy.

 

You should have picked up some new slotted rotors and performance pads for both axles for less than $420. You could have installed them yourself too.

 

Yeah, these rotors are pretty good for the price:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Infiniti-G35-F-R-Pair-Slotted-Brake-Discs-Rotors_W0QQitemZ390033416516QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5acfcda144&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Then some Akebono Ceramic Pads F&R on Amazon.com - $87
Front Part # - ACT815
Rear Part # - ACT905

 

I had to change my rear pads recently at 41,000 miles. I didn't understand why, the dealer's reason was "it's just the way these cars are". LOL. THE VDC explanation is much better. They wanted an ARM AND A LEG to change the pads. Good think I had a good shop that will take care of me very well.

 

Dealer quoted me something like $900 for parts and labor of the front brakes only. Like i said before, i did the whole job for $250 for OEM pads and rotors

 

its not uncommon for the rears to outlast the front. I replaced my rear pads and had the rotors resurfaced at 35K at a Nissan dealer. My fronts are still factory and have about 1/3 pad left at 46K.

 

I'm not sure how long our brakes are supposed to last on these, but I've always just changed mine when they started squeaking or they weren't stopping like they used to. Seems like they normally should last around 50K though, maybe longer for rears. It really all depends on your driving habits though. Some people ride their brakes a lot more than others.

If all you got was new rear pads and your rotors turned, I think you paid way too much. You probably could have done that yourself for right around $100 and an hour of your time. In the future just change the pads and/or rotors yourself. I've done it on every vehicle I've owned and it is a fraction of the price you will pay at the dealership. All disc setups are basically the same so once you've done it once, it's a breeze.

 

After 3 years, it's a good idea to flush the fluid. I did this when I swapped for the bigger 06 Z calipers. 60,000 miles is too long (by about 30,000)

 

I have right around 36 too and am doing the brakes.. The rears were shot, the fronts have some life, but the rotors are slightly warped and its annoying when they get hot, so i'll probably do those soon too.. Everything is running me 250 from NAPA, and the pads are ceramic.

 

Do people find that aftermarket pads/rotors last longer than the OEM Infiniti parts, or is it about the same?

Also, how many miles did everyone have before their first brake fluid flush? Jeff92se, it looks like you recommend doing the flush at 36,000 miles.