My 06 M35X just had it's rear brakes replaced by my dealer after only 27k miles. The price was too high, as expected, but that is not my point in posting. I am 62 years old, I have owned many many cars, I find this unusually low mileage for any brake pad replacement; I do not drive hard, and the car is on the highway a lot. I looked at previous posts about the rear brakes 'going' first on the M35s, it seems typical, which is surprising, but as surprising was the sense -- from experienced Infiniti posters here that brakes needing replacement was normal at 25-30k miles. What's up with this? Has anyone talked to Infiniti USA (Nissan?) about it? 40k, yes, 35k, maybe, but under 30k? Is this because the car is so much heavier than my bmw 5 or acura tl? Couldn't they have used better rear pads for 5 bucks more?
thx,
Mark
Rear brakes
Re: Rear brakes (msk914)
How much did they hit you up for a rear brake job? Just curious.Also, it may not be that they used a cheap set of pads from the manufacturer. Some pads come in different material compounds and hardness's. The ones for our M's may come rather soft to eliminate squeals, squeaks, and less than likely warped rotors when pads/ rotors are cold or hot. They also probably engineered them to be soft to also achieve the superb braking that the M's have. Of course all this comes with a trade off. The trade off ends up turning into pads that need to be replaced more often than most vehicles. You can either look at this as a good thing or bad thing. I think it is a better trade off in a way. I'd rather replace the pads and turn/ replace the rotors often than having to deal with brakes that make noise and or take longer and more effort to stop the car.That's just my opinion though.
J
J
Re: Rear brakes (M4T5)
Thanks for the thoughtful answer.
Price: I was stuck in the dealer -- it was snowing outside and I did not want to leave unless it was done, but it cost $250. This was for brake pads only, although they made noises about turned rotors, although that makes little sense; and is a rip-off, so while I can afford it, I was upset and told them so (it is their 'standard' price). When I think about it now, I am more upset, I should have left, but I had a busy day and week...I await the service questionnaire though
You are 100% right about the trade-offs. But I think it is not a good trade-off for the consumer: I think they could put 'harder' pads into the rear and no one would notice. I co-owned a 914 and then a 911, my buddy club-raced them, I drove them on the street when the weather was nice (different wheels and tires of course) and we changed ceramic long(er)-lasting pads ourselves, and you could not tell from stock. I wish they had lasted 27k miles though, but barely lasted through 2-3 track days.
I guess the dealers are happy to get to replace the pads more frequently, and most people go along for the very expensive 30k/60k services without complaint when they spend so much for a car too. But this dealer has lost my business over $100-150 overcharge.
Mark
Price: I was stuck in the dealer -- it was snowing outside and I did not want to leave unless it was done, but it cost $250. This was for brake pads only, although they made noises about turned rotors, although that makes little sense; and is a rip-off, so while I can afford it, I was upset and told them so (it is their 'standard' price). When I think about it now, I am more upset, I should have left, but I had a busy day and week...I await the service questionnaire though
You are 100% right about the trade-offs. But I think it is not a good trade-off for the consumer: I think they could put 'harder' pads into the rear and no one would notice. I co-owned a 914 and then a 911, my buddy club-raced them, I drove them on the street when the weather was nice (different wheels and tires of course) and we changed ceramic long(er)-lasting pads ourselves, and you could not tell from stock. I wish they had lasted 27k miles though, but barely lasted through 2-3 track days.
I guess the dealers are happy to get to replace the pads more frequently, and most people go along for the very expensive 30k/60k services without complaint when they spend so much for a car too. But this dealer has lost my business over $100-150 overcharge.
Mark
Re: Rear brakes (msk914)
Did the $250 cover the pads and turning of the rotors? You always want a fresh sheet of metal for the new pads to break in on. Turning rotors also removes high and low spots on the rotors. Surely they don't offer a brake package that doesn't include resurfacing the rotors?? If they do, then I would never have my brakes done at Infiniti. They should offer one way.... the correct way only...no alternatives.If it did include resurfacing the rotors, then there really only about $40-70 higher than most reputable brake shops.Either way, when my rotors can no longer be turned, I will be upgrading the rotors and pads. I'm still at the age of doing my own maintenance and enjoy doing it at the same time. At least I know the job was done right and I saved money in the process.I know when I turn 60, I will probably not want to do my own maintenance anymore either.
J
J