Impressed with Honda branded remanufactured parts

[slo town]

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Our bought new by us 2010 Honda Element needed its second set of brakes. Factory set lasted until 125K miles. I strongly prefer OEM brake parts so put I put on all new Honda rotors and pads. Worked exactly like the factory ones and lasted 135K miles this time.

When I pulled the calipers I noticed the rubber boots that protect from outside contaminants were torn. The piston seals themselves were fine because there was not even the slightest sign of brake fluid seepage.

I was going to rebuild the calipers with a Honda branded rebuild kit but as kind of a last minute decision with the parts guy at the Honda dealer, I ordered Honda branded remanufactured calipers. He guaranteed me I would be happy with them, and they came complete with everything, even the caliper brackets. Calipers came with new pistons too.

Attached are pictures of the calipers. I am very impressed with the quality of everything, including the high quality packaging. Of course they were more expensive than rebuilding or using other sources ($231 each, plus Cali sales tax), but our Element is part of the clan and gets all the same quality maintenance, repairs, parts, and respect as our German fleet does.

FWIW

Scott

 

[ctechbob]

For that kind of cash, I would expect them to be pristine.

 

[slo town]

For that kind of cash, I would expect them to be pristine.

I understand, but sometimes even expensive stuff can be disappointing.

Scott

 

[ctechbob]

I understand, but sometimes even expensive stuff can be disappointing.

Scott

Especially these days.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Very nice parts... Expensive? The best usually is.

 

[Jetronic]

I've sometimes found that "rebuilt" parts are actually not, they're factory new. And I suspect these are new aswell

 

[joekingcorvette]

I think I will put genuine Honda brakes on my Civic if I ever do any brake work. Great pictures!

 

[Nessism1]

I performed a quality audit at an Akabono reman facility one time, and it was less than impressive. Rear calipers under review had a needle bearing, for the park brake, that was getting packed by glass bead blast media. I questioned this, and they reluctantly agreed to replace the bearing at my companies request, but this was not something they did with their other customers (which included large chain repair houses). I also saw a guy polishing pistons, many of which had pitting, so I asked how big of a corrosion spot was considered acceptable? The guys scratched their heads, and couldn't answer. In response to this, a "limit sample" was established, to represent the worst acceptable case, and said sample was posted in the area for reference purposes. Up until this point, the decision was up to the monkey buffing pistons all day, making, likely, a little over minimum wage.

 

[RyanY]

It's good to hear that Honda brakes last 100k+ on some models. They certainly don't last that long on my van (pulsing after 25k, and pulsing again after 20k on the next set). The pads on my friend's 2020 accord are nearing EOL at 60k. I had pretty much written them off at this point but may consider them in the future.

 

[lbhsbz]

I've sometimes found that "rebuilt" parts are actually not, they're factory new. And I suspect these are new aswell

These are reman. Look around the mating surfaces for the bracket mounting holes....they've been used and blasted.

Excellent looking remans though, with all OEM hardware and it would appear new pistons as well. Done correctly. These are certainly NOT some cardone garbage like you'd get in a reman box from GM/Ford.