If the rotors are within their wear limits, and the shop offers a resurfacing service for a fee that makes sense vs a new rotor, I concur. I’m guessing however that’s not the case in many instances, either b/c of the wear limit restriction, the shop doesn’t offer that service, or the fee they charge makes a new rotor a better bang for the buck. The local repair shop in my area for example does not offer a rotor or drum turning service.
Depending on just how warped a rotor is, you could spend a considerable amount of time cutting it, and by the time it’s acceptable, it’s now just barely above discard thickness
And there’s a very good chance it will be warped again. . . to the point it affects braking ability and is noticeable . . . within a very short time frame. A thin rotor is more likely to warp, versus a brand new rotor, assuming we’re talking about a quality product. Bendix, Wagner, factory rotors, etc
In that case, it would be better to just replace the rotors along with the pads
I can’t speak for anybody else, but if I’m replacing brake pads, and I’m even considering cutting the rotors, I measure runout and rotor thickness. With a few quick calculations, I can determine if it’s a waste of time to cut them. In many cases, I know ahead of time, that I can’t even bring them within specs without going below discard thickness. Or I know it’s going to be very close, so also not worth cutting.
Cutting is not always the answer
Perhaps because they don’t have access to a brake lathe and would rather buy cheap $20 rotors than pay $10-15 to resurface an $80 rotor.
For the vehicles that I work with I am able resurface about 95% of the rotors. About 5 years ago I had a co-worker that was replacing rotors several times a week. I would take them home after hours, the scrap yard was paying $220 per ton for brake rotors. I stopped and measured a pair of rotors and they were .080" above minimum specs. I think he was just too lazy to machine the rotors and the pay is the same to replace them.
I had the rotors resurfaced years ago on my wife’s 99 Camry for around $12 each. New rotors were around $30 each. I had two vehicles in use to save $36. The wife’s car was jacked up awaiting rotors. My truck was ferrying the rotors to and fro from my garage. I guess it depends on how big of a hurry you’re in. This time, I ordered new oem rotors so my wife could drive my car to the grocery store while I worked on hers. In my experience and driving habits, oem brake pads and rotors last 100k miles. I buy oem once at or near 100k. I figure I will only have to replace once. Then at 200k, I’m ready to retire the vehicle anyway.