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Dealer Says New Pads & Rotors - How much should I expect?
Hi Everyone,
I have a 2015 S550 with almost 67,000 miles. The car is at the dealership getting the "A" Service, since it just had "B" in the summer. The car had new brake pads and rotors replaced when I bought the car at 43,000 miles, about two years ago. Is it normal for pads and rotors to wear this fast? and how much should I expect to pay? I got the service video sent to me today, but the advisor hadn't called me back yet, but the technician in the video said that they are in the yellow, and the rotors have a nice "lip" on them. Also, have an oil leak that they found that they have to diagnose.
I have a 2015 S550 with almost 67,000 miles. The car is at the dealership getting the "A" Service, since it just had "B" in the summer. The car had new brake pads and rotors replaced when I bought the car at 43,000 miles, about two years ago. Is it normal for pads and rotors to wear this fast? and how much should I expect to pay? I got the service video sent to me today, but the advisor hadn't called me back yet, but the technician in the video said that they are in the yellow, and the rotors have a nice "lip" on them. Also, have an oil leak that they found that they have to diagnose.
Thanks again!
My current S560 needed 4 new brakes and rotors at 31K miles based on service history. In comparison, my former S550 didn’t need rotors at all (sold it @74K miles with good rotors) and only needed pads at 60K miles.
I wonder of their vehicle really eat through pads and rotors or if dealers are taking advantage of everyone…
I expect the dealer cost to be around $3k for all new pads and rotors. If you were to buy genuine mercedes parts the parts alone would cost you over $1200 and would then need to find an independent to install.
23k miles is quite terrible unless (a) the brakes and pads were not actually replaced when you bought the car or (b) you are really hard on your brakes. This obviously assumes that the dealer or tech looking at them now are honest.
Given this seems a bit unusual I would probably either check them yourself or get a second opinion on the current wear.
I have 21k on my brakes and pads and they arent even half worn.
Or just wait until the brake pad sensor on the dash goes off (I assume this hasnt happened yet)?
I expect the dealer cost to be around $3k for all new pads and rotors. If you were to buy genuine mercedes parts the parts alone would cost you over $1200 and would then need to find an independent to install.
23k miles is quite terrible unless (a) the brakes and pads were not actually replaced when you bought the car or (b) you are really hard on your brakes. This obviously assumes that the dealer or tech looking at them now are honest.
Given this seems a bit unusual I would probably either check them yourself or get a second opinion on the current wear.
I have 21k on my brakes and pads and they arent even half worn.
Or just wait until the brake pad sensor on the dash goes off (I assume this hasnt happened yet)?
thank you for your response. Do you have an email I could send you the inspection video they sent me? The light did not go off on the dash yet at all. The guy that I bought it from has a body shop that I used to work at. And he had the brakes changed at 43,000 before he sold me the car two years ago. However, he did not drive the car every day, I do. And, can wheel or brake dust cleaner affect, brake pads, and rotors? I don’t know if it eats them away or not. I would love to send you an email so you could watch the video.
did they provide you with thickness readings on the rotors? Pads are one thing, they're either there or they're not, but rotors should have a much longer service life unless they get warped.
I know working on cars isn't for everyone, but brakes really are not difficult to DIY. You can ensure you get the quality of parts you want and know for a fact it was done right.
Do note that distronic is hard on brakes.
23k does seem short but also they are recommending an early replacement, I always wait for the sensor to trip but if you can't have the downtime you might want to replace early.
I had 97,000 miles on a 2005 Toyota 4Runner on the same pads and rotors that most people only get 30,000 miles on.
It is how you drive the car.
I quit using Distronic Plus because of the way it slams on the brakes any time the car starts to creep above the set speed. And for several other traits it has that has to do with slamming on the brakes when I ABSOLUTELY do not want the brakes slammed on.
I am at 40K miles on my 2015 and still have 2/3rds of the pads left.
On the other hand, I get 20 MPG in my 5,000 pound V12..........
Last edited by Mitch Alsup; Mar 3, 2023 at 11:21 AM.
The system is of course tunned to be safe and as such brakes typically earlier and harder than a human driver would in an attempt to guarantee collision prevention.
It is also not tunned to really use engine braking so the slowing down goes to the brakes.
Either dealer is full of sh or your brakes were not changed when you bought the car. No way pads and rotors are done after 23k miles unless you're tracking it every weekend lol
I would take the wheel off and examine the rotors and pads up close, post a pic if you want and maybe we can help.
Either dealer is full of sh or your brakes were not changed when you bought the car. No way pads and rotors are done after 23k miles unless you're tracking it every weekend lol
this is where my head was at, in so many words. I was just trying to be a little more polite about it haha
I see the powerstop z23 kit for front and rear on rockauto at $832.79, about $40 cheaper if you didn't have drilled rotors from factory. That's fairly premium level parts with ceramic pads.
FCP shows genuine mercedes rotors with pagid and jurid pads at a grand. That's factory level equipment for 20% of what the dealer quoted you. I'd bet even someone who's never done brakes before could probably do it on these cars with the right tools in half a day.
Has anyone tried the r1 concepts cross drilled rotors and ceramic pads? They seem like a good deal for the money just can’t seem to find much feedback how good they are and how well they compare to oem.
I had all new pads and rotors done at an independent a few months ago for $2,100. Thats OEM rotors and aftermarket ceramic pads. Dealer was $1,200 just for the pads. The rotors alone are $1,000.
I was at about 30k miles. When I called the independent at first he was like "lets see if it really needs brakes" and he had me come over and he put it up on the lift, but sure enough it needed brakes. My LS460s needed front brakes around the same time, the rears were fine but I am told Distronic uses the rears and wears them more quickly.
Previous/first owner of my S560 replaced all 4 pads and all 4 rotors for $1,480 just a few months ago. That's what am seeing on the invoice/receipt. I am not sure if they waived labor for him or what, but that's all what's included on the invoice for what he paid.
Does that mean he had some sort of a service/labor warranty? Or maybe they charge no-labor for lease vehicles? Anyway I was just trying to share a data-point to help the OP. I don't expect I will need pads/rotors until at least (30-60K miles, who knows, but not soon). I is just weird that some vehicles with only 25K miles are seeing a need for 4 new pads/rotors. Appears to be too soon!.
It all depends on how you drive it. I drive my cars fairly hard, I hardly ever have a set of front brakes last more than 30k miles. The surprise on the S Class was the rears, but I attribute that to the distronic.
I am at 50k and mine are still in great shape.
I do have pads and rotor set from MB that cost me about $1200 for all parts.
maybe another 400 for labor to do it.
Thanks everyone for your posts! Everyone was very helpful. The service is completed, and there is a minor oil leak that they are diagnosing and then fixing. However, the advisor called me and said that there is "still life" left on the brakes, and he sees me at least getting to my next service. He even said, "I wasn't going to mention them to you because they are at 5 mm." Totally fine. I said thank you very much!
I had a similar thing happen a few months ago. I’d taken the car to another dealer and was told I did in fact have around 7mm on the fronts and 5mm on the rears. The first dealer told me I needed brakes. Still wanting to do the brakes soon though as the pedal just doesn’t feel like it use to. Kinda spongy. My plan at this point is to just get everything done at once at 60k miles which will include the trans service and spark plug change and fuel filter air filters and service b which includes a brake flush. Hate to see that bill lol. These cars aren’t cheap with maintenance unless you can do it yourself but that’s not practical for a lot of us.
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