replacing brakes

[frothr]

i just went in for my suggested 37.5k maintenance and the dealer let me know my rear brakes were bad and the rotors needed to be replaced. thankfully the rotors are still covered by the warranty but they let me know it was going to cost ~$300! i didn't realize it until after i got home what he said. i'm hoping that's for everything - maintenance and brakes.

doesn't this seem incredibly high for just some rear brakes? has anyone had their rear brakes replaced at the dealer? what did you pay?

[frothr]

yeah, replying to my own post. but just got the final price - $299 for the rear brakes. $100 for the pads and $195 for the labor. and i guess $4 cuz it's friday or something... does this seem like a rip-off to anyone else or is it just me?

[mk_slayr]

You can easily get rear pads for under $100, then just put them on yourself :).

[frothr]

believe me, i wish i had. unfortunately they finished already. $450 for routine maintenance and a couple rear brake pads seems more like they're trying to make up the cost of the rotors on warranty

[Sacrilicious]

how the hell did your REAR pads wear out in 37.5k? +_+;

[frothr]

yeah, that does seem strange doesn't it? i was going under the assumption that the dealer won't rip me off but will charge me more. i might have to rethink that.

[Haltech]

Brakes are easy to do yourself. Save the $200 in labor, buy your own pads and apply the $200 to another mod(thumb)

[fourthmeal]

Wow.

Makes me glad I know how to throw pads in a car.

[redspeed]

yeah, that does seem strange doesn't it? i was going under the assumption that the dealer won't rip me off but will charge me more. i might have to rethink that.

You just got AZZ raped. There is nothing to rethink, it just happen to you. Sorry, but hopefully you'll learn from this.

[blacksheepms3]

So to ask the question again,.... how did you used up your brake at 37.5k miles? and how was the roto damaged? Did you do a lot of e braking to drift a fwd? hehehe. Did you use the e brake to park on a tight spot with one shot? hehehe

[fasteract]

Apparently MS3's go through the rear brakes before the fronts because they have the brake proportioning valve setup putting out more than typical pressure to the rears per my Dealer's service manager since Mazda feels this setup makes for a more stable handling, braking 3".

[knowledge007]

You just got AZZ raped. There is nothing to rethink, it just happen to you. Sorry, but hopefully you'll learn from this.



Sorry to say, but what he said. Very easy to apply pads your self. You can even get your rotors shaved for like 5 bucks each. Thats what I do. As a matter of fact I am going to green stuff when I need pads. To much friggin brake dusts from these crappy pads.

[vinkalmann]

Does replacing your own break pads void the warranty?

[fourthmeal]

Not unless you fuck up.

[Sacrilicious]

Not unless you fuck up.

well, the brake pads are considered a wear item, so their warranty only lasts 12k miles anyways...=/

[blacksheepms3]

Apparently MS3's go through the rear brakes before the fronts because they have the brake proportioning valve setup putting out more than typical pressure to the rears per my Dealer's service manager since Mazda feels this setup makes for a more stable handling, braking 3".

So the rear brakes clamps down when you press on the brake pedal? I thought it's only controlled by the ebrake lever.

[knowledge007]

E-brake is a stand alone system only controlling the rear wheels. You have disc brakes on all four wheels. So just keep in mind, if your brakes ever fail, DO NOT PULL THE EBRAKE!!! You pump it with the buttun depressed until you come to a complete stop.

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

E-brake is a stand alone system only controlling the rear wheels. You also have 4 disc brakes. So just keep in mind, if your brakes ever fail, DO NOT PULL THE EBRAKE!!! You pump it with the buttun depressed until you come to a complete stop.

You should be ashamed of yourself. You know somewhere, some fool read that nonsense and believed it.

[knowledge007]

You are the fool. Please explain to me what part of that post is wrong before you go and put people down.

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

I thought you were making a bad joke.
"Pump the e-brake"? It sounds like you're telling people to build up pressure in a cylinder or something.
I was taught to haul up on the thing with a steady pressure (holding the button in, we don't want to lock them up) by my driving instructor oh so many years ago. Of course this requires being able to control how much force you are applying when using the handbrake.
I read your post and had visions of some idiot pumping the handle trying to build up pressure in a secondary brake system.

Thin skin there guy? I never called YOU a fool. I think it was pretty clear that I thought you were being a wise ass and shouldn't make jokes somebody might believe. Seeing your response, I know now what you were trying to say, but I swear, I thought you were joking.

[fourthmeal]

The idea of the proportional valve being directed more to the rear makes sense when you consider just how well this car stops. It breaks records from almost any point of view. To do that, I'm sure they are using aggressive pads (as evidenced by the massive amount of brake dust on my damn wheels) and I'm sure they wear quickly. The price to pay for excellent stopping ability...

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

Fourthmeal +1.
I agree completely. I'm used to seeing clean rear rims and nasty front rims, not all four being filthy. I've had plenty of 4 wheel disk cars and I've never had one that coated the rears this fast. I didn't realize this until the first time I had the tires rotated and couldn't tell at a glance that it had been done. I had to look twice to verify that the back rims were now the dirtier of the four. I almost went in and accused them of charging me for a rotation that didn't get done.

[knowledge007]

I thought you were making a bad joke.
"Pump the e-brake"? It sounds like you're telling people to build up pressure in a cylinder or something.
I was taught to haul up on the thing with a steady pressure (holding the button in, we don't want to lock them up) by my driving instructor oh so many years ago. Of course this requires being able to control how much force you are applying when using the handbrake.
I read your post and had visions of some idiot pumping the handle trying to build up pressure in a secondary brake system.

Thin skin there guy? I never called YOU a fool. I think it was pretty clear that I thought you were being a wise ass and shouldn't make jokes somebody might believe. Seeing your response, I know now what you were trying to say, but I swear, I thought you were joking.


No prob...

[vinkalmann]

Not unless you fuck up.

That's good news that you can do them yourselves. Dropping $300 or whatever the dealer wants is a good way to go broke fast.

I'll poke around of course, but are there any quick links for the procedure?

[fourthmeal]

You could probably buy a teardown manual for a regular 3 and get away with how to do it. Sometimes its so easy, you feel stupid for even looking up a manual. And then sometimes, its not so easy!

[JudderMS3]

I haven't done pads on this car myself. It looks like the brakes are more of a sportscar/racing setup. So probably not the same procedure as in the 3's teardown manual. Like I said, I haven't really done it myself. Just noticed when I was doing my own tire rotation.

[mark404040]

who knows the MS3 front brake part number???

[knowledge007]

I don't know about you guys, but I am going green stuff for my first replacement. I am getting sick and tired of this brake dust from these crappy pads.