I've just been informed by my mechanic that the brake rotors on the rear wheels of my Getz need replacing, plus the pads at the same time. He's quoted the thick end of $450 for the job. I've rung around town and found this is in the middle of the average price range. I know both SCA and Repco have rotor + pads kit for around a third of that price, which I can have fitted by a professional mechanic friend for the cost of a case of beer. Given the brakes are an essential part, I don't want to stint on stint on safety for the sake of saving a few $$. But, if I can get comparable quality for around $200 less that would be great. Anyone had experience with these kits at all? Any good?
Recommendation - Brake Rotors and Pads for Getz
Chazzozz on 01/02/2017 - 10:53
Comments
75% of braking is done by the front brakes, 25% is the rear. SO the fronts wear much faster.
$450 is a little much for this job as it probably would take 1hr labour max by a qualified mechanic.
I have purchased rotors and pads off ebay before and they are fine and also used repco and supercheap. Given the rears wear much slower than the fronts, just make sure the rotors and pads are RDA approved.
You mean ADR Approved, RDA is Rotors and Drums Australia
I agree the fronts do most of the braking in a light FWD car, however, that necessarily means the front wears out faster.
In the last few cars I've had, the rears wear out faster by quite some margin. Why? because the rears have a much smaller pad surface and therefore wear out faster because. If the front and rear brakes were the same (calipers, rotors and pads) the rears would last significantly longer.
I would get your mate to do it with the kit. Brakes aren't rocket science, there's just a metal plate that gets squeezed hydraulically by two brake pads. So it would surprise me if you can get much of a safety increase for paying an extra $200. Instead of the $200 kit you can get two discs for $100 and then a set of pads for $50.
Can't the rotors be machined?
I have a 2005 Accent and it still has the original rotors after 150,000 km (but mind you I don't brake very hard and do a lot of engine braking). I was quoted $139 to machine the two front discs plus $145 for Bendix pads including labour. I ended up doing a DIY job with $40 pads from SCA and didn't bother machining. So far so good after another year and 15,000 km.
Interesting that there are rear disc brakes on your Getz, as I thought most cheap cars have rear drum brakes.
If you're wondering what's involved, ChrisFix of YouTube says it's an "easy" job…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlbFFq60Tec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU6OKQxSg8UAnyways this is just my 2 cents and I could be negligent in giving you this advice?
$139 to machine the two front discs????
Why wouldn't you just buy new ones for less.
Sorry to say $40 pads from SCA will most likely be shit.
I have bought new ones now and will fit them when the current pads wear out.
Like I said so far so good with the $40 pads. Maybe they will wear out more quickly but I suspect they will last nearly as long as the more expensive ones?
With brakes, I don't think cheap pads wear out faster or last longer, they just have less inital bite, more likely to squeal and less braking power especially once hot.
You can get some great pads from about $70+ for the average car.
Price sounds reasonable for a mechanic to do it.
Repco/SCA pads and discs are fine also - it is a pretty simple and straightforward job so by all means get your friend to do it.Also don't bother with machining, new discs really aren't that expensive and you will be back on the road in half an hour, where as you'd need to remove the old discs from the car, take to a workshop for machining (do you have another car to get there?), then fit them afterwards. And they won't have as much material/thickness as new discs so factor that into the cost/potential savings.
Do you even have rotors on the rear of a Getz? Thought they'd be drums?
Yes, they're rotors and not drums (Hyundai apparently made both, just depends on your model). And yes, they've worn enough to warrant replacing, there's not enough left of them to allow for machining. So, I'm tempted to go the route of buying a kit and getting it done elsewhere. I'd have a go myself as I'm fairly handy with most mechanical repairs, I've just never done brakes before and would rather have someone show me the first time.
Also, the price I've been quoted is well within a normal range. I had the fronts done three years ago at a local brake specialist and actually went to the trouble of digging out the receipt, and that was $410 for rotors, pads, servicing of the slides and cylinders (which I imagine is easy enough to do once you've got everything exposed anyway), and flushing the fluid and topping up with fresh.
Thanks for the discussion, it's been good to read all the opinions.
Have you talked to your mechanic mate about what is good? I assume he still works in the industry, does he have any suppliers or discounts he is able to get you?