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Midas Brakes

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  RawkerStatus 
#1 ·
Hello,

I own an '05 Xterra. Typically, when I do work on it I take it to my local Nissan dealer, whether it be routine maintenance such as oil changes or anything else.

I had new brakes put on the back about 6 months or so ago. For whatever reason, I had the work done at by Midas instead of the Nissan dealer.

I took my Xterra in for an oil change recently. While looking over the vehicle as part of their routine inspection, they noticed the back brakes had been changed. As part of this, they noticed the brake shims had been left off.

After talking about this, the dealer pointed out the lack of shims would cause the brakes to make a lot of noise as time went by.

In addition to this, the service rep commented Midas brakes, in order to meet their lifetime guarantee warranty, were hard as a rock and would over time unnecessarily rip the rotors apart. The rep further commented the back rotors were already showing signs, such as groves, they were being worn out and may need to be repaired sooner rather than later.

The dealer rep suggested the brakes be replaced with Nissan Brakes (which I supposed would include shims) or face having to repair/replace the rear rotors sooner than what they should be. The new rear brakes with work to resurface the rotors will cost $216.

What does everyone here think about this? The Xterra has 92,000+ miles on it.
 
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#2 ·
Rotors have come to be so cheap nowadays that I cringe when people talk about grinding them down. Nowadays I just change em out when I do the pads - the cost of a grind down is usually on par with a new set. Two sets of pads and two rotors can usually be had for under $100. Course that doesn't include the labor. ;)

I'm guessing you won't be going to Midas anymore? See if you can hookup with a good mechanic locally that can take care of you for less than the dealer which is usually over priced (how much did they say they would charge you for - I assume - both rotors and new pads?). But if you are willing to pay the coin for the dealer, at least they are factory trained.....sometimes.
 
#3 ·
Yeah, I think I'm going to stay away from Midas. Time will tell.

What I'm really wondering though if purchasing new brakes and such is worth this at all? The rep at the local Nissan place sure thought so. You technically don't need shims anyway. They just help with noise on brakes. But once brakes heat up, the noise goes away. Shims also help spread heat evenly on the pads plus help see to it the pads make even contact with the rotors when the brakes are applied. The real worry, from what I can recall, is traditionally rotors absent shims tend to warp and such.

As cheap as brakes and rotors are, I'm beginning to think maybe the best thing to do is not worry about it. When the rotors go bad, I'll just replace everything then and be done with it.
 
#4 ·
As cheap as brakes and rotors are, I'm beginning to think maybe the best thing to do is not worry about it. When the rotors go bad, I'll just replace everything then and be done with it.
This is exactly what I would do. Brakes and rotors are a constant wear item. As long as your X is safe to drive, just leave the current set installed until you have to replace them.
 
#5 ·
The dealer of course is going to recommend Nissan parts when they do services. I don't know if they would use aftermarket parts if you requested them, I never asked. Next time you do brakes, if you want them to last a little longer you can always go for a more expensive pad and slightly pricier rotors. But as mentioned, they ARE a constant wear item and I think driving habits have as much impact on how long they last as the quality of the parts. But that's just my opinion.
 
#6 ·
dealer wants $!!! and that rep gets a cut so he of course will sell you all he can! go to a good local shop and get quotes when you want to replace them, it should save you alot of money. i like the duralast gold brakes at autozone and their rotors arent bad either oriellys brand isnt bad either but dont go the cheapest option anyway you go as these are just basic replacements and wear fast

the duralast gold or cmax (autozone mid(gold), as close to oem specs as you can get aftermarket, and then the highest (cmax) is better than oem in most cases and on our truck it is, as they use semi metallics which some prefer over ceramics, but ceramics last longer and are better in emergency situations, but they tend to wear rotors out a hair faster.

but as mentioned above its almost cheaper or in our case just as cheap to buy new rotors then turn them so, this isnt a concern with ceramics as you most likely wont turn them anyway and the rotor will last as long as the pads in most cases
 
#7 ·
I know X rotors are relatively cheap, but they aren't cheaper than turning your old ones. The last time I had to turn rotors I had a local auto parts store do them while I waited. He charged me 10 bucks a rotor. One new cheapo rotor for my X will set me back about 35 or 40 bucks, with the higher end brands being close to $100 or sometimes the dreaded "call for price".

The real question is: Is it really worth it to you to turn them? I probably would assuming they were in decent shape otherwise, but I can definitely appreciate the mindset of installing new rotors everytime for that extra peace of mind.

Honestly the last few brake jobs I did on the wife's Altima ended up being a quicky pad slap to get it back on the road, with no problems
 
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