What is a "brake service"?

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wolf_06

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My Mazda dealership wants me to do a "brake service" at my next oil change.

My Mazda 3 2018 only has 25,000 km on the clock.

They charge me 200$ for that "brake servicing". What the heck will they do? Lube up calipers pin and put it back in place? Sounds fishy to me.

The owners manual only says "brake INSPECTION" at 24,000km...... inspection.

Any inputs?
 
For $200, many independent shops will replace the pads on (1) axle. Typically, "servicing brakes" means what you describe - pull the pads and clean up the ears, lubricate the hardware and/or ears, and clean and lubricate the slide pins. Charge $200 for that ? Run away. They don't always line up their recommended services with the automaker's owners manual either.

Let me emphasize this: Be very, very careful about taking dealerships up on anything that they "recommend". In dealership-speak, that means "something that won't hurt to be done even if it's not needed but we'll make great money doing it".
 
Originally Posted by JC1
That's probably the extent of what they do.

Can you do that yourself?


I can inspect them for sure!! but i cant justify 200$ to clean them
 
Certainly inspecting the brakes (by yourself) is a good idea. For instance, the rear disc brake assemblies on some cars can quickly get rusty from winter salt and seize up the pads on pins. The rears can have problems that are less noticeable than on the fronts. I've seen where one pad was worn down completely, damaging the disk. Totally preventable with regular inspections. One pad wearing more than the other is a tip-off of a problem.
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Originally Posted by wolf_06
My Mazda dealership wants me to do a "brake service" at my next oil change.
My Mazda 3 2018 only has 25,000 km on the clock.
They charge me 200$ for that "brake servicing". What the heck will they do? Lube up calipers pin and put it back in place? Sounds fishy to me.
The owners manual only says "brake INSPECTION" at 24,000km...... inspection.
Any inputs?


Well they do take the brakes & callipers apart and replace the fluid and it may seem expensive, how long do you think that it would take? However in your part of the country with salt & humidity if any thing seises because of rust/corrosion it will cost you a lot more to remedy. Don't ask me how I know.
crazy.gif
 
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Originally Posted by wolf_06
My Mazda dealership wants me to do a "brake service" at my next oil change.

My Mazda 3 2018 only has 25,000 km on the clock.

They charge me 200$ for that "brake servicing". What the heck will they do? Lube up calipers pin and put it back in place? Sounds fishy to me.

The owners manual only says "brake INSPECTION" at 24,000km...... inspection.

Any inputs?


Just say NO ...

And remember, the service advisor usually works partly on commission, so he will try and sell you extra stuff.

What they are supposed to do with a brake service is change the brake fluid, remove, inspect and de-glaze (lightly sand ... ) the brake pads, and clean and lubricate the pad ears, mounting clips and slide pins.

At only 25 000 km, you shouldn't need any of that.
 
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Well I can't tell you how many brake jobs I have done at this mileage. If I calculated correctly it is just over 15000 miles. Heck I just did a Kia that I put new brakes all the way around that at 12000 miles on pads she wore it down so far rotors as well as a caliber had to be replaced (metal to metal). 200 sounds expensive but if they find a problem and correct it then it can be a savings.
 
Originally Posted by tiger862
Well I can't tell you how many brake jobs I have done at this mileage. If I calculated correctly it is just over 15000 miles.


Really ... ?

15 000 miles on anything but a hyper sports car or performance SUV says that something is broken in the brake system, or the driver. Modern disc brakes last longer than that ...
 
Maybe for you. Work at a shop. Some people love driving with 2 feet. Besides if brakes are wearing oddly without a service you would never know. To say service for 200 is a rip-off is also foolish as we don't know how op drives or his ability to diagnose brake problems. That 200 could save his life.
 
Originally Posted by tiger862
Well I can't tell you how many brake jobs I have done at this mileage. If I calculated correctly it is just over 15000 miles. Heck I just did a Kia that I put new brakes all the way around that at 12000 miles on pads she wore it down so far rotors as well as a caliber had to be replaced (metal to metal). 200 sounds expensive but if they find a problem and correct it then it can be a savings.

Then was something wrong with her system binding up. Riding with my daughter to the store and back would take a year off your life yet the last brake job I did on her Volvo had 60k on the front pads and still had 30% left right before she totaled it. Granted I used oem pads. I've used the middle of the road pads from AA and get upwards of 50k out of them and then replace them under warranty. I agree a brake inspection, lines for leaking and cracking and obvious pad wear but $200 is highway robbery for a looksy while rotating tires. Especially at 15k on a new car. I just rotated my tires on my wife's rogue @20k and everything was still like new and I live in ohio. No way would I get bent for $200 for that.
 
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That same 2018 rogue was just in for a recall and the dealer handed her a list of things that she should have done @20k and none of them were even due according to the scheduled maintenance. Funny how they quoted $69 for an air filter that I just replaced at 15k for $12 and took 5 minutes.
 
Originally Posted by wolf_06
My Mazda dealership wants me to do a "brake service" at my next oil change.

My Mazda 3 2018 only has 25,000 km on the clock.

They charge me 200$ for that "brake servicing". What the heck will they do? Lube up calipers pin and put it back in place? Sounds fishy to me.

The owners manual only says "brake INSPECTION" at 24,000km...... inspection.

Any inputs?


In the Chicago area both my 3gen Mazda3 needed brakes clean-up every 1-1.5 years - to have the pads freely moving. If not touched for 25k miles and 2 winters I have to hammer out the pads from the brackets.
If I do not do that, will the car stop - yes. Will I pay $200 for the clean-up and lube every year - no.
But I prefer my brakes to be in a top shape if I need them in a panic stop with all the electronic stability control etc. working properly, so I do myself brake clean-up and lube annually on all my cars.
 
Why not just slap pads on at that point? If your going to the trouble of basically doing a brake job you may as well get some lifetime warranty pads from the auto store and replace them. FWIW I live on the Ohio michigan border and have pretty much the same elements as you and I service my brakes when the pads need replaced. Maybe I should lube everything up more often, but in 30 yrs of driving only had caliper issues on my 2000 power stroke and that's because it doesn't get driven much.




Originally Posted by DzoG20
Originally Posted by wolf_06
My Mazda dealership wants me to do a "brake service" at my next oil change.

My Mazda 3 2018 only has 25,000 km on the clock.

They charge me 200$ for that "brake servicing". What the heck will they do? Lube up calipers pin and put it back in place? Sounds fishy to me.

The owners manual only says "brake INSPECTION" at 24,000km...... inspection.

Any inputs?


In the Chicago area both my 3gen Mazda3 needed brakes clean-up every 1-1.5 years - to have the pads freely moving. If not touched for 25k miles and 2 winters I have to hammer out the pads from the brackets.
If I do not do that, will the car stop - yes. Will I pay $200 for the clean-up and lube every year - no.
But I prefer my brakes to be in a top shape if I need them in a panic stop with all the electronic stability control etc. working properly, so I do myself brake clean-up and lube annually on all my cars.
 
It all depends on brake design IMO. The ones that have SS shims for the pads to ride on, a thin coating of antiseize between the shim and bracket should prevent the bads from binding. If that is not done, rust will form on the bracket and lift up the shims a little, causing the pads to bind.


My first gen MZ3 doesnt have any shims, the pads ride straight on the bracket. I have never removed the pads to clean the contact areas and had no problems with binding. I only lubed the pins every year.
 
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I have a 2012 Mazda3 with 110,000 miles on it. I bled and replaced the brake fluid at about 80,000 miles. It was just barely turning dark. The pads all still have thousands of miles of life left in them so I haven't touched anything else. I never have understood how shops can charge so much just for saying "brakes."
 
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