How much!?!?!

[dr_rick]

So dropped the ISF in to the local main dealer for it's (early) 70k service. Got a visual healthcheck back a couple of hours later indicating the following:

1. Puncture OSF - £18 to fix, no problem, I'll authorise that
2. Front pads down to 2mm - £540.66 fitted
3. Front discs down to 28.74mm n/s and 28.71mm o/s (28mm limit) - £455.18 fitted

So I phoned a local tyre / brake place (not KwikFit) who said they'd source the discs and pads from Lexus, then fit - £369.75 for the discs and pads (Brembos all round).

Wow!! So £626.09 in their back pocket just like that.

Just waiting on one more quote, and I'll get them sorted.

[Normski]

And I thought my Porsche dealer did some great markups...

Presuming the other place will also include the other items that may also be required - e.f. sensors, new clips, etc.??

[dr_rick]

What are the E.F.Sensors?

All the other bits will be fitted I'm sure.

[Normski]

4 minutes ago, dr_rick said:

What are the E.F.Sensors?

All the other bits will be fitted I'm sure.

Apologies - typo. Meant to say "e.g.". I remember pricing similar up but when I added in the other parts required when they changed brakes the difference wasn't as bad. However, in this instance the markup is HUGE!

[dr_rick]

Indeed - there's allowable uplifts for profit, but these figures were jaw dropping.

Trust me, I'm going to check / double-check that there will be nothing missing before I go for the cheaper option. First things is to get them to check that the discs / pads actually need doing in the first place.

Parts only from EuroCarParts are £280, so they're only giving themselves £90 for labour which is 1.5hrs. Could be worse.

[emjay82]

Doesn't surprise me, I wouldn't bother contacting the main dealer for consumables as they're likely to be extortionate. I haven't been impressed with my local dealers knowledge of the ISF and only using them as I want to keep the lexus stamp in the service book. Brakes etc will be done by a trusted and excellent independent mechanic I know. 

[dr_rick]

I replaced the front discs and pads on my previous car (2009 Audi S4), and I'll have a look at YouTube tonight for doing the ISF ones, but I may just hand the car over to an indie to sort.

Depends, really, how easy it is.

[GibletPH]

Get the discs from Eurocarparts and uprated Hawk pads from Cambridge Motorsports. Perfect combo for me, less dust than stock. Discs were £185 before discount. Pads were £150. Hour to fit them by my local trusted mechanic. 

[steve2006]

There has to be something very special about ISF front disc and pads....the price for all other IS models is £295.00 supplied and fitted by Lexus under their fixed price repair system, can you opt for the non gold plated ones.

 

[dr_rick]

18 minutes ago, steve2006 said:

There has to be something very special about ISF front disc and pads....the price for all other IS models is £295.00 supplied and fitted by Lexus under their fixed price repair system, can you opt for the non gold plated ones.

 

That's the service cost isn't it?

Even then there's wiggle room; they're currently doing my service with Fuchs oil that I supplied rather than their £14 per litre stuff. Should save me about £73.

[Stuno1]

Discs and pads on performance cars across all premium brands are 'easy wins' for dealers. These cars were almost 60k new so they assume people will just cough up and most probably do. Expect the same from any premium car manufacturer. 

[dr_rick]

Had the car in to the local brake place: we agreed that his price was much more appealing, but given I'd still got pad thickness left before the wear indicators kick in, and that the discs were OK for the moment, I'd run until the tell-tales started whining and then replace the lot.

That being said, YouTube does indicate that the front rotors / pads change on this car are significantly easier than the S4, so I may just get the parts and have a go hero.

[Verbout]

11 hours ago, dr_rick said:

Had the car in to the local brake place: we agreed that his price was much more appealing, but given I'd still got pad thickness left before the wear indicators kick in, and that the discs were OK for the moment, I'd run until the tell-tales started whining and then replace the lot.

That being said, YouTube does indicate that the front rotors / pads change on this car are significantly easier than the S4, so I may just get the parts and have a go hero.

That's the spirit

[dr_rick]

11 hours ago, Verbout said:

That's the spirit

Hopefully your response doesn't align with your signature. 

Like I said, the S4 front rotor and pad change required two people (due to my never having done it before) and the caliper set-up was more complex. YouTube makes the ISF look like a doddle by comparison.

[Verbout]

6 hours ago, dr_rick said:

Hopefully your response doesn't align with your signature. 

Like I said, the S4 front rotor and pad change required two people (due to my never having done it before) and the caliper set-up was more complex. YouTube makes the ISF look like a doddle by comparison.

Haha, no. I like people that will have a go, there's plenty of help out there. YouTube is utterly brilliant.

Good luck  take photos as you go, it'll be fine.

[Linas.P]

On 10/26/2016 at 11:20 AM, dr_rick said:

Wow!! So £626.09 in their back pocket just like that.

Not surprised at all, even for IS250 front disk and pads are the most overpriced service you can get (I believe £350), whilst brembo rotors are ~£60 and pads maybe £32, 20 minutes job ~£40. And every second time they as well claim that calipers needs changing for £400... yes again! No wonder they have even nicer margins on IS-F

I do appreciate FLSH, so I try to keep it, but honestly I do all the jobs on the car in independent garages and only go to Lexus once a year to change oil, valet the car and tick the boxes in report.

[dr_rick]

So, got the brembo discs and pads fitted on the front of the ISF, no problem at all.

However.....

I'm getting squealing under braking. Definitely from the front. Not at all pedal pressures though; light pressure has nothing, firm pressure has nothing, mid-pressure it squeals. Doesn't matter whether it's wet or dry. There's no grumbling from the brakes and the car pulls up straight and true. I reused the spring clips and shims having cleaned them up. I also used the proper anti-squeal between shim and pad (on the right side, obviously) as a 'generous' smear.

Short of taking the whole damn lot apart, or just purchasing new shims / spring clips, does anyone have any suggestions?

[Stuno1]

How many miles? May just need to bed in?

[dr_rick]

I do about 70 miles a day, call it 5 days a week. And the brakes have been on since before Christmas. So I reckon I've done at least a thousand, maybe more since I've put them on. Brake parts were ordered in October when I reckoned I would get stuck in myself.

[Mark G]

Yes, I wont be handing over my hard earned to the dealer for discs and pads, not at that money.

[Jgtcracer]

Some compounds squeal until up to temp, as they're not oem they may be a different type.  

Could be grit too but would of thought it wouldn't last that long without damaging the disc.

[Britprius]

On 10/26/2016 at 0:25 PM, dr_rick said:

Indeed - there's allowable uplifts for profit, but these figures were jaw dropping.

Trust me, I'm going to check / double-check that there will be nothing missing before I go for the cheaper option. First things is to get them to check that the discs / pads actually need doing in the first place.

Parts only from EuroCarParts are £280, so they're only giving themselves £90 for labour which is 1.5hrs. Could be worse.

One, and a half hours labor is ample time to change discs, and pads. Once the wheels are off there is only one bolt "slide pin" to undo. The wheels actually hold the discs in place. Any reasonably equipped workshop would have the car in the air and the wheels off in 5 minutes.

Dealer prices for some work can often be totally unjustifiable as you have discovered.

John

[dr_rick]

Don't think it's the grit idea as the discs are doing just fine with no grooves.

Could be the up to temp idea. What actual brand are the OEM pads though?

I've tried the bedding in processes you all read about (can't recall the details now though, despite reading up on it and following the guidance), and this is what I get. Will probably just get someone to look at it when it's in for the next service.

[Jgtcracer]

3 hours ago, dr_rick said:

Don't think it's the grit idea as the discs are doing just fine with no grooves.

Could be the up to temp idea. What actual brand are the OEM pads though?

I've tried the bedding in processes you all read about (can't recall the details now though, despite reading up on it and following the guidance), and this is what I get. Will probably just get someone to look at it when it's in for the next service.

Don't know about the brand but the temp should be met through even the slightest of spirited drives.

If it's not that then I think it's the pad vibrating in the caliper.

Could always turn up the stereo

[dr_rick]

16 hours ago, Jgtcracer said:

Don't know about the brand but the temp should be met through even the slightest of spirited drives.

If it's not that then I think it's the pad vibrating in the caliper.

Could always turn up the stereo

So I've tried a few spirited drives, with some hard pressure braking to get pads up to some sort of higher temp. Certainly discs were too hot to touch in those instances.

If it's the pad vibrating in the caliper, I'm guessing the options are:

• try re-bending the spring clips, or
• replacing the spring clips, and
• removing the pads and regreasing the back faces between the shims and the pads.

Anything else?