Re: Cost of brakes?

How much for parts? OEM ?

Me neither. Never had to buy or reface rotors.

New front pads and a quart of fluid every 40k New front and rear and a quart of fluid every 80k

I haven't had to do pads on the Forester yet. I usually get somethinjg between $20 to $40 an axle for my Toyotas. Not the cheapest but not the gold plated either. Other than the coolant thing, I'm pretty sure Subarus can use the same kind of consumables as normal cars.

"Other than the coolant thing, " what are you talking about? I just noticed that mine is geling(sp) in the overflow tank...

My experience on my outback with pads in that price range is quite negative.

If you search the archives of this group on the subject of brakes, many of us have come to the consensus that you won't be happy unless you spend OEM Subaru money for brake parts.

Not sure what it is about these cars (perhaps the weight of em?) that seems to leave cheap stuff in a world of hurt for braking.

-- Todd H.

If you're noticing weird stuff in your cooland overflow tank, I'm willing to bet you have teh 4 cylinder, and are about to have a very very sinking feeling when you learn that these have notorious head gasket issues.

-- Todd H.

$10/pad is not cheap.

That becomes a semantic debate.

When you do get around to it, put $10 pads on your Forester, report back. I've posted in detail in another article how poorly a $25 set worked out on my Outback when similar grade stuff on other vehicles seemed to be reasonable.

-- Todd H.

For the "ceramic" that I'll use on the Forester vs. the '96 Tacoma, double the price. I still don't see where a Subaru branded pad is superior.