RonRaney

I have also posted this inquiry to one other Lexus forum.

I have a 2006 IS-350, and all service has been done by the dealer at the correct intervals. After a $900+ service at 60,000 miles with no mention of brake repairs needed, I am now told, at 64,200 miles, that the rotors have previously been resurfaced twice and need to be replaced at my expense. I have no problem with this if, in fact, it is reasonable based on the following.

Last week, I noticed some mild "grinding" sound in the front end, and took the vehicle to a friend of mine at Gateway Tire and Service because I thought something might be loose in the spoiler area. Instead, and after taking the front driver's side wheel off, it was determined that both front brakes had no pads left, and that the grinding was coming from "metal on metal" contact with the rotor --- obviously, this did not happen after only 4000 miles. While acknowledging he is not a Lexus expert, my friend also seems to recall that the rotors are a non-serviceable item, which would call into question the prior "resurfacing".

This morning, the Lexus dealer acknowledged the complete erosion of the brake pads, but still wants to charge me for the rotors. Any help would be appreciated, specifically on the following questions:

Are the rotors in fact non-serviceable?

Even if serviceable, would the replacement of brake pads at 60,000 miles likely have avoided the need for rotor replacement at this time?

Thanks for your consideration of the above.

Ron

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

The dealer was negligent on the 60k service. Lexus clearly states the brakes need to be inspected. There is no way you went metal on metal from a serviceable pad in 4k miles. Factory replacement specification is 1mm remaining. There's no way you had more than 1mm remaining at 60k.

There is no such thing as an unserviceable rotor. Any rotor can be resurfaced. Some rotors don't have a lot of room for resurfacing so mechanics will tell the customer the rotors are not serviceable, but the truth is, the rotors and pads wear out at the same time on some cars - especially Mercedes-Benz. If you were to put a defective pad on a car like this and it damaged the surface without scoring too deeply, you could resurface the rotor and put good pads on it and all would be fine. So, anyone telling you the Lexus rotors are "non-serviceable" is not looking at the factory service manual which clearly states the rotors can be resurfaced.

Those of us who have extensive experience with brakes refuse to resurface them as long as you're replacing with the same pads you were running and there are no serious mechanical defects (scoring) on the rotor. You just throw away service life by resurfacing. The only time I replace a rotor is if I get metal to metal contact, it scores so deeply that resurfacing would take it below minimum thickness, or the rotor is cracked.

RonRaney

Thanks so very much for your reply. I'll be meeting with the dealer later today.