When I get my brakes done (dealer or independent shop) on my vehicles (Honda and Toyota), I've never questioned and even asked about the brand of brake pads that they use. Are all replacement pads mostly equal? Or do some provide better braking or extended life (interval between pad replacement). Thanks
If you pay for premium pads or shoes, you can get excellent products, and they DONT have to be OEM Honda and Toyota parts. If you buy the cheapo crap, you get cheapo crap.
techman41973 wrote in news:f8e491aa-edc4-4fec- snipped-for-privacy@k24g2000pro.googlegroups.com:
OEM always safest. OEM (I confine myself here to Toyota and Honda) is specifically designed for the characteristics of your car and its braking system; aftermarket is not.
All brake pads are compromises between several desired and undesired characteristics. OEM pads are the best all-around compromise for most people's daily-driving habits n any specific Toyota or Honda.
If you want to experiment with aftermarket, you might or might not stumble on something that works as well as OEM. Or you might just end up with something that results in a soft pedal, longer stopping distances, poor parking brake performance, rusty wheels, squealing, poor fit, blued rotors, etc...
The dealer will generally use OEM. An independent will generally use aftermarket unless you specify OEM.
Note that this is not always true of all mfgrs.
I had some seriously warped brake rotors on my company car a while back, at what I thought was a shockingly low mileage. Now I didn't get the car until it'd already had at least two previous drivers, so I suspected that it'd been driven hard, but the mechanic said that it was a common problem and mumbled something about "crappy GM pads."
I have Raybestos ceramic pads on my pickup truck and have been perfectly happy with them so far.
nate
The dealer uses OEM because that is what he is in the business to sell. And it usually costs several times more than comparable aftermarket.
I've been using quality non-OEM pads for decades. OEM pads are best for paying the rent and personal at the dealership. They have no magic quality and quality replacement pads are built to the same specifications.
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