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Go price what a new set of brakes costs on a BMW or Porsche and then we can chat about tires.

kenhwang 8y ago
Unless you optioned $15k carbon ceramics (which last 3x as long), the standard brake pads don't run much more expensive than other cars ($100-200 per pair). Rotors might cost $500/pair, but you're not replacing them as frequently as tires. $200+/tire still costs more than brakes and need to be changed much more frequently.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  other cars ($100-200 per pair) The last time I had brakes done, it was $80 for the back pair (about a year ago), and $120 for the front pair (about six months ago). And that was at a dealership, with tax and labor. $100-200/pair doesn't sound average to me.
  - kenhwang 8y ago
    Point is, the brakes on a car are cheaper than the tires for the same car. I'd be very surprised if you can get a full set of tires + labor for less than your quoted $200 total for brakes.
adrr 8y ago
Tires on my Porsche are $500 a pop. Brake pads are $200 max for the Brembo brakes on it.
- qaq 8y ago
  This includes labor or just parts?
  - meguest 8y ago
    Porsche require you fit special N rated tires if you want to keep your car in warranty.
    - CamperBob2 8y ago
      Well, no, it's not a warranty question, but if you want to trade the car in (or if it's a lease), the dealer will make you install N-rated tires at that time. Otherwise they can't sell it as a certified pre-owned vehicle, which costs them (and you) a lot.
rdxm 8y ago
swapping new rotors and pads onto porsche/bmw/mb/volvo, etc is trivially easy. you need a basic set of tools(with the special one ~100 bucks) to compress the calipers and its about an hour and a half to do all 4 corners. Parts costs vary of course, but you can cut the overall cost basically in half doing it yourself edit to add....tires are def a thing :)
rconti 8y ago
Labor costs are just insane. I've gotten quoted $500-$1000 per axle (yeah, $1000-$2000 all-in) for brakes on my BMW. And it takes me maybe 2 hours in my driveway (at beer-pace) to slap on the couple hundred dollars in parts. Brake pads easily last 60k miles and cost maybe $50 per corner, and the rotors are about the same but last twice as long (though it's recommended you replace at the same time, not always necessary). Of course, once you get into drilled factory rotors on an STi or M3 or something, you're gonna hit the $200-$300+ per corner for rotors pretty quickly. I dunno, I've just always find the margins on brake work seem insane compared to anything else. OTOH, I also find the German marques' brakes last far longer between changes than the Japanese.
- jacquesm 8y ago
  If you replace brake pads and you are going to keep your rotors have them turned down a tiny bit to ensure roughly double the wear life on your brake pads. If they are too thin to be turned down safely then you'll have to replace them anyway.
  - atwebb 8y ago
    I don't know of many places that still turn rotors, many of the big shops stopped and so did some smaller, unless they're specialty I always buy new, partially the reason I do it myself.
    - jacquesm 8y ago
      That's mostly a decision to increase turnaround speed on their bridges, it is faster to swap a rotor for a new one than it is to turn one down. But if you're cost conscious enough to replace your own brake pads and you don't want your new shiny pads to be just as bad as the old ones after a couple of weeks (as in: grooved, they will likely still be thicker) then turning the discs is a good option. Where I live this is still pretty easy, it might be harder in other places to find shops that will do this. Cost me about 10,- / disc.
      - 8y ago
r00fus 8y ago
Oh, and EVs reduce break wear considerably too due to regenerative braking. But replacing performance tires every 20k miles? If the EVs have similar tires, that expense won't be impacted.
- kenhwang 8y ago
  You can reduce brake wear by engine braking aggressively on an ICE; it's just not worth the effort given how cheap brakes are.
  - r00fus 8y ago
    ICE engine braking is nowhere in the same ballpark of efficiency gains as regenerative braking... plus you could ruin your transmission by doing it. On a hybrid, all this is transparent to user and even recharges your battery.
- DaiPlusPlus 8y ago
  There's no reason to get tires changed at a dealership location: dedicated tire stores will generally be cheaper (absent some incentive coupons or so). Unlike general vehicle servicing or bodyshops, tire shops don't need any OEM-controlled parts, training or service instructions.

Unless you optioned $15k carbon ceramics (which last 3x as long), the standard brake pads don't run much more expensive than other cars ($100-200 per pair). Rotors might cost $500/pair, but you're not replacing them as frequently as tires. $200+/tire still costs more than brakes and need to be changed much more frequently.

reaperducer 8y ago
other cars ($100-200 per pair) The last time I had brakes done, it was $80 for the back pair (about a year ago), and $120 for the front pair (about six months ago). And that was at a dealership, with tax and labor. $100-200/pair doesn't sound average to me.
- kenhwang 8y ago
  Point is, the brakes on a car are cheaper than the tires for the same car. I'd be very surprised if you can get a full set of tires + labor for less than your quoted $200 total for brakes.

adrr 8y ago

Tires on my Porsche are $500 a pop. Brake pads are $200 max for the Brembo brakes on it.

qaq 8y ago
This includes labor or just parts?
- meguest 8y ago
  Porsche require you fit special N rated tires if you want to keep your car in warranty.
  - CamperBob2 8y ago
    Well, no, it's not a warranty question, but if you want to trade the car in (or if it's a lease), the dealer will make you install N-rated tires at that time. Otherwise they can't sell it as a certified pre-owned vehicle, which costs them (and you) a lot.

rdxm 8y ago

swapping new rotors and pads onto porsche/bmw/mb/volvo, etc is trivially easy. you need a basic set of tools(with the special one ~100 bucks) to compress the calipers and its about an hour and a half to do all 4 corners. Parts costs vary of course, but you can cut the overall cost basically in half doing it yourself edit to add....tires are def a thing :)

rconti 8y ago

Labor costs are just insane. I've gotten quoted $500-$1000 per axle (yeah, $1000-$2000 all-in) for brakes on my BMW. And it takes me maybe 2 hours in my driveway (at beer-pace) to slap on the couple hundred dollars in parts. Brake pads easily last 60k miles and cost maybe $50 per corner, and the rotors are about the same but last twice as long (though it's recommended you replace at the same time, not always necessary). Of course, once you get into drilled factory rotors on an STi or M3 or something, you're gonna hit the $200-$300+ per corner for rotors pretty quickly. I dunno, I've just always find the margins on brake work seem insane compared to anything else. OTOH, I also find the German marques' brakes last far longer between changes than the Japanese.

jacquesm 8y ago
If you replace brake pads and you are going to keep your rotors have them turned down a tiny bit to ensure roughly double the wear life on your brake pads. If they are too thin to be turned down safely then you'll have to replace them anyway.
- atwebb 8y ago
  I don't know of many places that still turn rotors, many of the big shops stopped and so did some smaller, unless they're specialty I always buy new, partially the reason I do it myself.
  - jacquesm 8y ago
    That's mostly a decision to increase turnaround speed on their bridges, it is faster to swap a rotor for a new one than it is to turn one down. But if you're cost conscious enough to replace your own brake pads and you don't want your new shiny pads to be just as bad as the old ones after a couple of weeks (as in: grooved, they will likely still be thicker) then turning the discs is a good option. Where I live this is still pretty easy, it might be harder in other places to find shops that will do this. Cost me about 10,- / disc.
    - 8y ago

r00fus 8y ago

Oh, and EVs reduce break wear considerably too due to regenerative braking. But replacing performance tires every 20k miles? If the EVs have similar tires, that expense won't be impacted.

kenhwang 8y ago
You can reduce brake wear by engine braking aggressively on an ICE; it's just not worth the effort given how cheap brakes are.
- r00fus 8y ago
  ICE engine braking is nowhere in the same ballpark of efficiency gains as regenerative braking... plus you could ruin your transmission by doing it. On a hybrid, all this is transparent to user and even recharges your battery.
DaiPlusPlus 8y ago
There's no reason to get tires changed at a dealership location: dedicated tire stores will generally be cheaper (absent some incentive coupons or so). Unlike general vehicle servicing or bodyshops, tire shops don't need any OEM-controlled parts, training or service instructions.