I'm looking for opinions on this:

My '04 has 20,000 miles on the original brakes, and they still stop pretty well and are quiet. I intend to keep my car at least 10 years, and maintaining maximum performance is very important to me (read: tires and brakes) even if proactive replacement costs a little more.

As I see it, I have two options:

1) Do nothing until I hear noise or become concerned over stopping performance, and then take advantage of the free brake pad replacement and rotor turning under 3 years/36K.
2) Spend $500 (dealer quote for 4 new pads, labor, new fluid, tax) to replace pads and fluid now.

To me, the upside of #1 is that I don't have to spend $500 now. The downsides are that if I wait then the rotors will probably have to be turned which will reduce the overall performance and life of the rotors, which means I'll have to replace them probably the next time which is big bucks. Moreover, I will not be maintaining maximum performance.

The upside of #2 is that if I replace the pads now, the chances of me having to turn the rotors in the future are lower, and I will restore maximum braking performance. The downside is the $500.

Given my scenario and objectives above, I'd like to hear your opinion.

Thanks.

 

If your going to keep your car that long, You should think about replacing them with higher quality pads and rotors. run your brakes until they wear out. see if you can take advantage of the warranty then 25K-30K later upgrade to a better brake system. By that time parts will be much cheaper for our cars.

 

^^^WHS^^^
I really don't see any benefit to changing now.
Save the 500 bucks.

 

Monitor their wear and when they're close, replace them. 20,000 seems early to me.

What pads are you buying that are costing you $500? Are you not doing the pad swap yourself?

 

20,000 is early, but remember I'm seeking to maintain maximum performance.

The pads are from the Infiniti dealer. They quoted $189 for pads and labor for the front, and $189 for pads and labor for the rear. The rest is fluid, labor to flush and refill the brake fluid system, taxes, and the usual shop fee.

Let me know what you think.

 

I think you would be wasting your money. Why replace something that doesn't need replacing? Besides, you can generally turn a set of rotors several times. Undoubtedly, if you plan on keeping the car for 10 years you will have to replace the rotors at some point. Why not save the $500.00 and apply it toward new rotors,e tc when you actually need the stuff. Just my .02.

 

If I was going to do pads, and was going to do them early (thus very unlikely you'd have to turn rotors) I'd do them myself. Same with rotors.

Pads are VERY easy to do - you can do all 4 corners in a couple of hours (very conservative estimate) even if it is your first time. When I did my pads/rotors on my Maxima I was done in about 2.5 hours and that was because I had to fight the rotors off the car (they had been on for almost 8 years)... It was a piece of cake.

No need for fluids - you won't break the integrity of the system swapping pads - you're just removing and replacing hardware. A set of HAWK pads will cost you less than $120 (rough estimate based on their website). Add $10 for lube (anti-seize) and you're done. I can't imagine why you would want to 'flush-and-fill' a brake system that has been operating for only 20K.

if you do it yourself, you'll be in and out for less than a third of the cost and you'll learn something about your car.

Seriously - this is not hard maintenance. If it were, I wouldn't recommend it. NO WAY will I ever pay to change pads and rotors. Unless I decide to do big brakes, I'll take care of them from now on.

 

Drive the hell out of your car now to get the pads and rotors replaced under
warranty. My rotors only lasted 15K miles, the replacements lasted 15K miles.
Your rotors are probably nearing their life span.

 

That's more dealer BS, I find it hard to believe the rotors actually need to be replaced, IMO it's a scam to get you to believe they have to be replaced, so later if you take it back to the dealer, you'll pay for them!

 

This is WRONG! (IMHO) You MUST turn ANY rotor that has new pads put on it. They must also be crosshatch turned (very hard to find) not just radial cut like your common brake shop. This allows the pads to "seat in" and wear better. If you don't the wear pattern of the uncut rotors will wear the pads pre-maturely.

This is so true! I have done MANY disc brakes and it is not hard at all. I agree with everything else on this post other wise.

Do it yourself.

My sons F150 needed brakes on the front, Firestone wanted $450 to do them. I bought the rotors, pads, grease seals, and grease for less than $160. It took longer to jack it up and get the wheels off than to do the actual break job.

 

Why fix something which is not broken?
But if you have itch to burn $500 get Stoptech Rotors and Axxis Ultra pads-it will cost you $520+shipping for 4 corners and you will have that xdrilled look.
I always went to perfromance aftermarket for wear and tear parts and never regretted that.

 

First...always always always cut the rotors, no matter what.

Once the rotors are thinner than 22mm they absolutly without a doubt must be replaced. Usually you can do one brake job and cut the rotors, the second time it will need rotors. The thickest ive seen the rotors before machining is 23.44mm and after cutting that rotor was 22.3mm, the rotor will wear much more than .3mm by the time it needs its next change.

Changing the brakes early will not ensure maximum preformance. Brakes work or they dont. When they get lower they just make noise is all. With 10mm pads and 3mm pads you will see the same brake preformance. Now when the rotor wears below 21.5mm is when brake preformance is handicapped. 21.5mm is the discard thickness. As long as the rotor is at least 22mm after cutting brake preformance will not be affected.

You could be in my situation with my GMC truck, the rotors wear out faster than the pads.

If your that worried about brake preformance you deffinatly need to look elsewhere than factory pads. This brake system is designed by a few guys in japan that are very smart and get paid lots of money to develop the brake system. I trust them with their thoughts about when a rotor should and shouldnt be replaced. I trust them so much I follow their guidelines with my customers cars, and my personal cars that my wife drives.

 

I just wanted to thank eveyone for their opinions and for educating me on this topic. I've decided not to blow the $500 as the gains would be minimal at best, and just use the 3/36 warranty.