ruze

My 99 LS400 is at the 21,000 mile mark and needs new brakes. The dealer said they could do it for around $350 for the fronts and rears *each*. I looked around and found ceramic OEM sets for about $45 for the fronts and $32 for the rears. Guess where I'm not going to get them replaced!

Next, I called Brake Depot, a local brake shop and he said no problem and quoted a price around half what the dealer said. He also said he used Bendix brakes which are "better"... OEM would cost more.

Are Bendix brakes actually better than OEM? Is the ceramic the way to go with the OEM? And, if I buy my own brakes, who can I find to do them? The car is still under warranty for another few months so I don't want to impact that...

Sooner

i would stick with the originals and if you take it to an aftermarket shop make sure they put the shim kit back on the pads.my recomendation if you take it somewhere is to make sure to use the factory pads though. my 2 cents

Lexozz

Hey ruze!

I had a set of Bendix pads and some other brands, to be very truthful the only ones I was happy with is OEM. The others either made a lot of noise or gave off too much brake dust, kept my rims pretty dirty very quickly. My opinion you get what you pay for. You should buy the pads from the dealer, if you get lucky try to bargain with the guy @ the desk for a good price. Take your LS to an independant experienced mechanic and let him do the job for less, at least you would have OEM pads. The price that the dealer quoted to you for each is sickly outrageous.

gebo

I'm 45 years old and have owned 5 Camry's, 2 Toy p/u's, 1 Avalon, and an IS 300, GS300, and a LS400. The cars are in sequence (starting with a '83 Camry in 1983) with the P/U's thrown in there amongst them. It was after the 2nd Camry (1990 V-6) that I made one of the best decisions I've ever made about brakes. Stay with Toyota. If you could talk to my brother and Dad, they would tell you the same thing. Stay with Toyota!!

The guy who does my work continues to make fun of me by telling me there ain't no difference in good quality brakes, yadayada.....I've been there, done that. He's the best mechanic, but he don't know nothing about brake pads. Check out Clic and Clac.

Lexmexico

Take a look at Hawk brakes.