Hi,

I have a 2000 VDP with 101k miles with warped rotors. I have called around and have gotten quotes that vary quite a bit for new rotor replacement with no new brake pads since mine are almost new. My independent Jag mechanic quoted a price in the $800 range installed with the brake pads shaved a bit to bed with new rotors. NTB quoted $650 and Pep Boys quoted $964.


Do these prices look reasonable? They seem a bit high to me. Btw I am on a limited budget. I also do not currently have any tools and etc. at all to do this myself.

 

Hi
Alldata standard repair rate is .3 hours per rotor (4 X .3 is 1.2 hours). Pair of Brembo OE front Rotors was $123 and pair of Bembo OE rear Rotors were $158 from Auto Parts warehouse.com. If $100 an hour, then $120 labor and $281 parts - total $401.

We had our indy mechanic do all 4 wheels with new rotors and pads for a total of $539 (Dec 2009).

Jim Lombardi

 

On all datadiy, the labor time is a bit confusing. Is it just 4x.3 hrs or is it 2.0 hrs to remove and replace the pads and 1.2 hrs to remove and replace the rotors for a total of 3.2 hrs? Although I'm not replacing the pads, alldatadiy makes it appear as if the pads have to come off to replace the rotors.

But I agree, 3.2 hours seems very long to just replace the rotors. $800 i was quoted sounds over priced too. I read on this forum that brake work is nothing unusual for these cars.

It sounds like you got a good deal for all of that done for $529.

 

My independent mechanic charges me about an hour or a little over to do a set - it is not going to take 3+ hours to do both.

The cost of the parts is something else. OE Pads and a Rotor set from an online Jaguar dealer are going to run over $400 just for the fronts.

I purchased a full set of Brembo rotors for an older Lexus last year - car has a lot of miles on it (210k). I was not going to spring for the factory rotors figuring that I won't have the car more than another 30k - and the Brembo rotors will certainly last that long - and the ES brakes are nothing special. I was a bit disappointed that one set of the rotors came from China and they are not finished to the quality of the OE parts --- but they have worked fine with the OE pads. Certainly nicer than the stuff from the local auto store.

I have always purchased OE rotors and pads for my Jaguars - but this is obviously a personal preference.

How many miles on the pads -- I would give them a close look especially if you plan to keep the car a put a lot of miles on it.

 

I have about 15k miles on the pads. They are still very thick. The mechanic said he will scrape them a bit to flatten them down in the quoted price of "over $700". I can get 4 new pads and have $ left over for that price.

This brake issue started off with a totally incompetent out of town mechanic who attempted to remove the glaze off my rotors to quiet down a progessively louder brake squeal but ended up cutting them too thin which allowed them to warp. (long off topic story surrounding that)

I found 4 brembo supposed OEM quality rotors for $320 online that I might consider.

I agree, 3+ hours is too much, esp at $100 a hr. I have seen a rotor taken off my car by the bozo out of town mechanic in only about 15-20 mins.

Does your indy mechanic charge about a hour for rotor removal and replacement in addition to brake pads or is it for solely rotor replacement?

 

Heya mate. Changing out the rotors / pads is actually very easy and something you can do yourself to save a lot of $.

All you really need is a good floor jack, a C-Clamp, Brakleen, some zip ties, and a wrench. (Can't remember size off top of my head)

Jack up the side you're working on
Remove tire and set to the side
Put C-clamp on Caliper with screw side facing you
Depress C-clamp until you can feel pads pushed to one side and take off clamp
There are two bolts on the back of the caliper. Remove both and zip tie the caliper to something sturdy so that it's not hanging by the hose.

Remove Pads from Caliper
Remove Rotor

Put new pads into caliper
Put new rotor on

Reverse the disassembly and repeat for each wheel.

Once they are all done hop in your car and depress the brake pedal a few times until you feel it's firm again.

Enjoy your new pads/rotors and you'll save about $4-500

If your pads are still good to go then don't even worry about replacing them. Just follow the steps for the rotors.

 

Yes Sir, If ever there was a DIY that is it!!

 

Jaguar's have always been known for good braking systems -- not always easy or cheap to fix -- but good brakes ........ its expected. The factory pad/rotor combination is picked for a reason. Whenever you diverge from the factory setup or repair procedure you risk some issues.

First off -- I have not had brake squeal since the 70's -- the causes are well known at this point and are completely avoidable. Usually involve incompatibility between the pads/ rotors and/or installation procedure.

You can't cut ventilated rotors and quite frankly I have never had any luck cutting any solid rotors -- they never give you full service life. If they are glazed -- then something else is at work.

As we know the front ends of our cars can be a bit sensitive -- that is why Jaguar only sells rotors in matched balance sets. Will you always have a problem if you don't use OE ... No.

Maintenance is another issue: When you service the brakes the bleeder should be opened when you reset the caliper and you should be very careful when using a "C" clamp that it is positioned correctly. Everything should be cleaned/ inspected and properly lubricated -- you want all the parts to move as they should.

All of this becomes more of a problem on a car that has not had proper maintenance -- these cars are old now and may have gone years without proper maintenance ... DOT 4/ 4E fluid needs to be changed ! -- it's actually less forgiving than DOT 3.

To the OP: I'm not sure why you had a glazing problem -- but that should have been looked into and you just got bad advise on the rotor fix ... so unfortunately you have spent money needlessly. Don't do it again. I would not put pads with 15k back on my car after spending good money on new rotors. I'm sure they will work for a while -- but it is a false economy -- you are not going to get full life out of the system. Also, The pads may have contributed to the rotor issue.

The cheapest fix is to do it correctly the first time -- this is especially true with brakes where the difference is often 4 years and 50k away. Properly serviced the front rotors will easily last two pad sets and the rears are extremely longed lived. I understand the desire to save a few hundred dollars -- unfortunately all too often ...... you don't .... plus problems.

 

Hello again

In July 2005 we had our local Jaguar dealership replace the front rotors and pads. They charged us $139.50 for labor (1.5 hours @ $93 per hour). I supplied the Brembo OEM Rotors and Akebono ceramic Pads. Total cost for labor and parts was $356.

In Dec 2009 I got an Estimate of $705 for replacing the rear Rotors and Pads from the Hartford CT Jaguar dealership.

I guess it pays to shop around for the best price and the best quality parts combination.

Jim Lombardi

 

Most auto companies have more than one supplier for a given part - when you get into the smaller output luxury makes the suppliers are normally fewer -- unless they are using a common part originally designed for another make.

The Jaguar rotors for the x308 are produced in the UK. Years ago the blanks came from the UK -- not sure where Jaguar produces the blanks currently -- That's becoming a dirty little secret of the auto supply business. The OE rotors for the x308 are not in constant production -- they are made in batches and more than likely the ones you would get today are quite old.

But the aftermarket Brembo rotors for the XJ and the standard XJR that you order are not the same as the factory rotors you will get from Jaguar -- I have them sitting next to me -- you can tell. That said -- you can get quality aftermarket products -- more and more you need some luck. Zimmerman is an OE supplier for Porsche -- but if you look an aftermarket Zimmerman rotor and a Porsche rotor the difference can be noticed.

The pads -- as long as I can remember are produced by Jurid in Germany and are a very good high quality pad.

I'm not trying to argue with anyone - I just feel it is important to understand what you are buying and what you are getting. Akebono are excellent pads -- I have a set for a our Nissan Pathfinder and a Lexus ES330 sitting on the shelf .... I'm just not sure what the benefit is -- the Japanese pads are normally a few dollars cheaper - but the Jurid pads are designed for the Jaguar.

 

Do it yourself...You need like 3 tools, its ridiculously easy. Look at my pictures in my album, i have a step by step on how to do it.