mzeitlin

Who manufactures OEM for Lexus (2000 Lexus ES300)? Who should I buy from?

Would someone recommend a rotor for my ES300?

Thanks

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Toyota makes the rotors, to a tune of 100$ ish a piece...

I bought some white box rotors that cost me 100$ [at 'cost] for all four, have had them for over a year, no issues coupled with good ceramic pads, i couldn't be happier.

At the time i didn't know about www.rockauto.com, and they have great quality parts for whitebox pricing! Something like centric is good, then again, when looking at the catalogue you can see what each one is 'economy/premium/oem'. GL!

mzeitlin

What makes Toyota rotors so special ?? 100 bucks a pop, they must be made out of Gold.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ That's the thing, its OEM, so generally hugher quality than any other aftermarket manufacturer and the faces are a little bit thicker.

Like i said, i run no-name white box, with Wagner thermoquiets, and more than happy. I was going to get on the Hawk pads bandwagon, but i don't track the car, so no point. A lot of the guys in my area that race their cars use whitebox & hawk/aggressive pads with no problems.

yeldogt

The problem with cheap rotors is that they warp -- if you do your own work and you don't mind replacing them -- then you only have the aggravation and not double the labor ...... still cheaper to get the better parts.

Also -- The Lexus pads are are very high quality -- they give excellent performance and are long lived ... plus they are rotor friendly ... all for 45 bucks.


I went with Brembo replacements rotors from Autohaus (free shipping) and OE pads from Irontoad when I did my oldest one last year (2000 ES) -- the car had just over 200k on it ......and I figured .... how long am I going to own it. I did F/R rotors, pads and new tires ....now have 230k on it. Spend the few extra bucks on the name brand aftermarket ... it is money well spent.

On a newer car with a lot less miles -- I would get the Lexus rotors. The OE rotors mated with the OE pads last a very long time.

mzeitlin

Thanks for the great advice. I have 92,000 miles on the car and it runs and looks great. It's a great daily driver.

I replaced the first set of brakes in 2006 at about 45,000 miles and here I am having to do it again. I thought I would have gotten rid of the car by now.

The OEM rotors did warp on me during the first six years, so I must admit I am not that impressed with the stock rotors. But, I do think I know why they warped - I had a long stretch of heavy braking (downhill) into a thunderstorm. The hissing from the water on the rotors was visible. From that moment on, I had pedal vibration when I hit the brakes until the brake job in 2006 where I turned the rotors. Perfect since then ... until now. And now it's just that the Akebono ProAct pads are done. The rotors are done too since the last turning had to take off quite a bit and put them just within spec. Another turn will be too much.

I'll buy the Lexus OEM rotors and pads to put the car right - but I don't expect keeping it another 45,000 miles. My contribution to the next owner.

LeX2K

Mountain brand rotors are generally very good. Akebono pads are very low dusting but in my experience some can be hard on rotors because of this.

yeldogt

Interesting -- normally if the rotors warp you don't get that kind of longevity out of cutting them .... especially since with ventilated rotors they really are not designed to be cut. Maybe you had some pad transfer with the heat.

Anyway ......92k is quite good. The Mountain brand as well as Centric are made in China .....Its not a safety hazard -- but the Chinese rotors have an lousy service history. It is not something I want to be bothered with.

The OE pads are different then the aftermarket Akebono pads ... Akebono makes different compounds depending on what you want or an OE.

LeX2K

Mountain discs are made by Nishioka Malleable Iron Industries of Japan. The ones I got were indeed Japan produced. There is also some evidence that Toyota discs are actually made by Mountain, although I can't prove that.

mzeitlin

I noticed on Lexuspartszone.com and toyotapartszone.com that the price for the "exact" same part:
43512-33042

is different - with the Lexus website posting a higher price.

I am going to order from Toyota Parts Zone since it is cheaper. I never understood why the exact same part from the same company would have two different prices. It's shipped from the same warehouse.

LeX2K

Also the price of the Toyota part is not that much more than the Mountain unit, may as well get originals. Depends on shipping though, many parts outlets have free shipping on orders over a certain amount.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

I used OEM front rotors and OEM pads - no issues there. I did buy aftermarket Calipers from Raybestos (RockAuto), and the paint has come off. They are now covered in surface rust but still work great. I can't really complain because OEM calipers are $300 a piece, while I only paid $110 for both Raybestos.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ you should've painted them... My OEM calipers are rusty as wel...