The reader's digest version:

I had the goofy brake light issue, so I took the car in to the dealership last week to have them take a look at it. The good news: They filled up the brake fluid and the light went off. Yay! The bad news: I have 10% left on my front brakes and 15% left on my rears. They told me both needed to be replaced (the rears have rusted pretty badly and they are not sure how much they will be able to work with them as well). They gave me a couple options between stock products, aftermarket products, and machining the front rotor. The least expensive option with machining the front rotors and using aftermarket parts it came to about $765. If I used aftermarket parts it came to about $845, and with stock parts it came to about 920.

I find this price obscene.

So I'm looking at alternatives. This car is a daily driver and I have no plans at all for performance parts. My question is this: Is there any disadvantage to simply going to http://www.rockauto.com/ and buying the least expensive rotors and pads I can find for my application? Would it be worth it to spend the couple hundred dollars extra and go with something like the Stoptech stage 2 kit? I'm trying to find the best value for what I'm doing and figure out what makes the most sense. I see that many people suggest Axxis or Denzo products as well, but again they seem a bit overkill for what I need. Any advice or suggestions?

 

if it is just a daily driver, just get some OEM replacement pads and rotors from rockauto, or tirerack or www.dezod.com or www.trdsparks.com

there is no need for kits like the stoptech stage 2 kit, they are more for people who driving spirited or autocross their cars.

 

oh, and generally, more aggressive brake pads/rotors cause squeaking if no bedded (heat cycled) in properly after installation and more brake dust, making your wheels very dirty very quickly.

 

just get OEM pads and call it a day!

 

I got my 'Dimpled & Slotted' rotors (from rotorpros.com) and Axxis Ultimate Pads set up for under
$330. They work like a charm and are a lot better than OEM.

 

im pretty sure they sell genuwine OEM rotors on ebay for like $80-$90 shipped per rotor, and I know you can get OEM pads F&R for about $85. The question is will you be able to do the install yourself?? If you can you will save a ton of money, and maybe with that money saved you can upgrade to some slotted or drilled rotors. I wouldn't use performance pads though because there louder, and produce alot more dust than your used too with the OEM pads. The OEM pads work fine so just go with those. Also if you not going to be doin the install yourself, the cheapest route to go is to just get all OEM parts.

 

simple.. brembo oem rotors from tirerack.com --> $61 or 63 for the pair, around $38 for the rears.
pads = Porterfield R4-S pads, $89 front, $79 rear.

you'll be happy

 

yea the brembo oems are a nice deal too. TireRack has alot of choices period