Is it best to buy rotors and pads from Subaru dealership?What is a fair price for labor from a good independent mechanic?Thanks

I've got a set of rotors, calipers and brackets with pads. 30K miles on them. $200 shipped to a business address.

 

Larry

I would get my rotors from Subaru but you could get some higher performance pads to put on there. The common pads to go with on the WRX's are Hawk HPS brakes. If you are mechanically inclined you can save yourself a crap ton of money by doing the install yourself.

 

This is a great place to buy OEM Subaru parts:

 

https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oe_parts_cat.html

Edited March 16, 201016 yr by Durania

http://www.rockauto.com is about the cheapest I've found for brake parts. Rotors are rotors. No point in buying them from a dealer, just get what's cheap. If it's just an everyday driving car, any name brand semimetallic pad is fine like wagner, raybestos, bendix etc . Some of the real cheapo no-name pads can be noisy and not last too long.

 

If you can turn a wrench, take the wheel off and it's 4 bolts per side to change pads and rotors. Just use a c clamp to push the piston back in. You can do it in about 1/2 hour.

 

If not most places will charge about 1-1.5 hours labor.

No, rotors are not rotors. Using crap recycled low grade steel in them makes them rust into oblivion in no time flat in the northeast. Cheap rotors will dissapear in a poof of rust, the rust blocks the vents in the middle of the rotor and they cool unevenly, and warp.

No, rotors are not rotors. Using crap recycled low grade steel in them makes them rust into oblivion in no time flat in the northeast. Cheap rotors will dissapear in a poof of rust, the rust blocks the vents in the middle of the rotor and they cool unevenly, and warp.

 

Agreed! OEM for rotors are the way to go or look at EBC stuff. On my car I run OEM rotors but I heard EBC has some good ones and I use Red stuff pads, but green works really well too.

I found the OEM rotors for my Subaru Outback a bit pricey, so I looked at what else is out there.

 

Oddly enough, I found Brembo rotors that were actually cheaper than the Subaru OEM rotors. (FYI, I hope you guys know this, but Brembo is a manufacturer of high-end brake products).

 

I thought to myself "If Subaru trusts Brembo's brake products on the STI, I can trust their rotors on my Subaru!". I got them for slightly below OEM. They're only OEM replacements, but they're nothing too special.

DBA slotted rotors are incredibly good; I've got them ( series 4000) on the front wheels of my Legacy wagon, along with some ceramic pads. Powerful, fade free braking. http://www.dba.com.au

Edited March 16, 201016 yr by Bluestone

No, rotors are not rotors. Using crap recycled low grade steel in them makes them rust into oblivion in no time flat in the northeast. Cheap rotors will dissapear in a poof of rust, the rust blocks the vents in the middle of the rotor and they cool unevenly, and warp.

 

+2

 

I made the mistake of buying Auto Zone rotors to replace my warped ones on my RS. The Auto Zone rotors were warped when I installed them and then had to have them turned. I could've got OEM rotors after all was said and done.

People replace rotors too quickly. Look for a place that turns rotors, they do mine for $12-$15 a piece. Well worth it and it's the easy and cheap way to retain Subaru OEM rotors.

 

Otherwise I'm not that intent on always using Subaru pads and rotors. Late model EJ vehicles warp rotors frequently, so I'm not that convinced that Subaru rotors are as good as they used to be. There's another thread recently about warping rotors - GD and I were talking about it a lot there.

 

I usually try and buy better brake stuff but I've never had a problem with the cheap stuff on the older Subaru's, never really tried it on newer stuff that I can remember.

Rotors are cast iron, not steel. I'm square in the middle of the rust belt. OEM rotors rust just like anything else here. Large chunks of the braking surface flake off often.

 

Cheap rotors are $20-30. Expensive and OEM ones are $150. Places around here charge $20 to cut rotors. I just put on a fresh set of cheapie rotors with almost every pad change I do. It makes sense for me.

Thanks to all for info and advice!I went with mountain(made in japan)rotors(80.00ea),adaptive one hybrid ceramic pads(65.00total),a friend(from work/part-time mechanic)installed them for me for 100.00.They work great!(Subaru dealer wanted 575.00)I saved 250.00...THANKS!