I had the front rotors and discs pads, and rear drum pads changed in May 2009 at 135,000 m. Aftert 5 years and about 40,000 miles more they need changing. Mostly city driving, but I always downshift.
Reasonable to need this now? A lot of years, but low mileage.
Price in Montreal, Canada $600.00 for the job, including turning drums.
40K miles of city driving is plenty on a set of front pads. It’s not so much on rear shoes, but a lot would also depend on the quality of the shoes installed.
You didn’t specify, but at $600 I have to assume that you are told they need to be done both front and back. Did they give you a measurement on the material left on the rear?
Sounds quite reasonable to me for city driving. Stop using the engine to slow the car. Engine rebuilds are much more expensive than brakes. FYI, GM used to test city brake schedules in Los Angeles traffic because front pads wore out in 15,000 miles, or less. Your 40K is lookin’ pretty good, n’est-ce pas?
I’d quit downshifting to slow down, much cheaper to replace brakes. Only OK if you’re very carefully matching rpms on the downshift.
40,000 miles in Montreal traffic likely calls for new brakes. However, the shop should give you a measurement of how much (%) is left.
Typical brake life is about 35,000 miles on cars below 4,000 pounds.
@Gord777, the only way to answer your question is to measure your brake pads/shoes using some kind of gauge (like a tire tread depth gauge) or caliper. A good ruler will do the trick in you don’t have the right tool. The minimum safe brake pad/shoe thickness on a Honda Civic is usually about 0.06". If your pads/shoes are close to 0.06" (or less) thick, I’d go ahead and replace them.
I know machining the rotors is a part of the job for disc brakes, but I’ve never turned a set of drums. I’m not sure why it would be necessary.
Downshifting is a good idea if you’re going down a long steep incline and you want to control your speed without overheating your brakes, but downshifting in regular driving is usually unnecessary, and costly since brake jobs are cheaper than clutch jobs.
Turning the rear drums is more commonly needed on bigger vehicles, in my experience
Back when front drums were common, we’d typically send all 4 out to be turned to remove the ridge on the inside edge and any irregularity worn into the drums. Of course, if it had gone ‘onto the rivets’ it was time for a new one.
Now that it has come up, I think the last time I had a set of drums turned was on a '64 Ford F100 with drums all around. Other than that I’ve just given a quick thickness measurement, scuffed them up, thrown in the shoes,and called it a day. Of course, I haven’t run into any obvious problems with any either (or run things down to the rivets).
I had new brake pads on my 2011 Toyota Sienna at about 45,000. On the front I had to have the rotors replaced. On the rear, the rotors were o.k. I think the bill was around $350-400. I had about 55,000 on a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander before I needed the same service. For the type of driving I do, I go from 40,000 to 60,000 on a set of brake pads. I don’t have rotors turned. The difference in price between having rotors turned vs. replacing the rotors doesn’t make turning rotors worthwhile.
Worn or sticking, corroded caliper slides can also affect brake pad life. I’m not familiar with road salt use in Montreal but that can also be a factor affecting caliper pins.
@ok4450 Montreal usues more road salt per mile than any other city in Canada, or the US for that matter. Cars in the sixties and early seventies rusted out very quickly. And componennts like hand brake cables would seize up quickly.
The “Rusty Ford” class action started in Montreal by unhappy Ford owners who saw their investment diappear into a heap of rust before their eyes. This campaign eventually resulted in the legislated corrosion protection that spread through all of North America.
Montreal is probably one of the worst places to be if you are a car!
City driving is tough on brakes. $600 is a bit high, what’s going to be done? Pads and shoes? Resurface rotors and drums? Change fluid? Stop downshifting so much and change your brakes, get a second opinion on price, but I’ve found that 40k isn’t that bad for city driving. Rocketman
I once got 80k for pads when I was doing mostly highway, but that was almost 95% interstate driving. Rocketman
40k seems reasonable.
I’d stop down-shifting to slow down. Brake pads are a lot cheaper then a clutch or tranny.