Cost of brake replacement (pads and rotors)?

[dusterbuster]

Has anyone had their brake pads/rotors replaced on their Model S, and if so, how much did Tesla charge for the brake service? I've been experiencing intermittent high pitched squeaks when coming to the stop while applying the brakes. My car is a 2012 S 85 with about 38k miles (I purchased via CPO in 2015 at about 24k miles).

The squeaky brakes appeared about a year ago, and when I brought it to the Tesla service center to be checked out, I was told that there was some glazing on the pads and the service tech recommended putting the regen on low for a while to get rid of the glazing and the squeaks. I lived with it about a year, but the squeaks have become more consistent, so I brought the car in today, and they're quoting me $1,583 to replace the front/rear brake pads and rotors. The confusing part is when I brought the car in last year, they gave me the option of having the pads/rotors replaced, and the cost would've been $840?? I'm not certain, but I thought the earlier $840 quote was for both front/rear brakes. Does $1,583 sound like the right price for replacing pads/rotors at all 4 wheels?

 

[jddssc121]

Ouch! First huge repair bill.

 

[Lukez]

Has anyone had their brake pads/rotors replaced on their Model S, and if so, how much did Tesla charge for the brake service? I've been experiencing intermittent high pitched squeaks when coming to the stop while applying the brakes. My car is a 2012 S 85 with about 38k miles (I purchased via CPO in 2015 at about 24k miles).

The squeaky brakes appeared about a year ago, and when I brought it to the Tesla service center to be checked out, I was told that there was some glazing on the pads and the service tech recommended putting the regen on low for a while to get rid of the glazing and the squeaks. I lived with it about a year, but the squeaks have become more consistent, so I brought the car in today, and they're quoting me $1,583 to replace the front/rear brake pads and rotors. The confusing part is when I brought the car in last year, they gave me the option of having the pads/rotors replaced, and the cost would've been $840?? I'm not certain, but I thought the earlier $840 quote was for both front/rear brakes. Does $1,583 sound like the right price for replacing pads/rotors at all 4 wheels?

I will have used pads and rotors that don't squeak available in a couple weeks if you want.
I'm replacing mine with a big brake package.

 

[GatorGuy]

I will have used pads and rotors that don't squeak available in a couple weeks if you want.
I'm replacing mine with a big brake package.

What brand are your new brakes?

 

[jelloslug]

The pads are nothing special and are common among many cars. I'm sure that the rotors are tesla specific, but they can be turned if need be. The braking system itself is not much different than any other car from a routine maintenance point of view.

 

[dusterbuster]

I just checked my records, and it turns out I've only driven about 10k miles since I purchased the car from Tesla CPO (car had about 28k miles when purchased, and now has about 38k miles). I probably had driven only about 6-7k miles when I reported the problem to the Tesla service center (about a year ago). I would've hoped that this should be covered by the Tesla CPO warranty, given how relatively few miles I've put on the car since purchased.

 

[Lukez]

What brand are your new brakes?

Custom, made them myself

 

[GatorGuy]

Custom, made them myself

Nice! What size are the rotors?

 

[Lukez]

Nice! What size are the rotors?

370mm for the 6 piston calipers
Rears staying the same

This is a pic of a test fit with a 3D printed hat.
I'll probably do a write up on how to do this Diy. Cost was about $2k for all 4 corners, would be less if you just did the fronts and painted the rear calipers to match. Could be done any color of course, I chose yellow.

 

[Lukez]

So to not high jack this thread, OP, the tesla price is crazy high since I can swap out all the calipers, rotors and pads for slightly more.
Install used ones or buy aftermarket pads and rotors and have a local mechanic install. They are the same brakes as on any other car and you don't need Tesla.

 

[dusterbuster]

So to not high jack this thread, OP, the tesla price is crazy high since I can swap out all the calipers, rotors and pads for slightly more.
Install used ones or buy aftermarket pads and rotors and have a local mechanic install. They are the same brakes as on any other car and you don't need Tesla.

Thanks, Lukez. Good advice. I think I'll check with some independent brake shops to see what my options are.

 

[Lukez]

Thanks, Lukez. Good advice. I think I'll check with some independent brake shops to see what my options are.

Centric and R1 Concepts make replacement rotors. Pads are available all over the place as well. I actually have a set of new pads if you want as well. I bought them before deciding the big brake route.

I chose R1 geomet for my rears, we'll see how they do.

 

[Gixx1300R]

You can re-season the rotors, that will take care of the pad gazing and brake squeal

 

[Jpballer88]

Tesla sells front brake pads for 260$. They are GM/ACdelco supplied brakes. I picked up front pads from GM parts for 150$. Same OEM brake pads they use. Popped the suckers in within 30 mins each side and it was good to go. Rotors on the other hand I am not too sure.

 

[dusterbuster]

FYI, after some back and forth with the service center, they offered to cover the parts cost for new front rotors as a goodwill gesture (they said the rear brake pads/rotors were in good shape so don't need to changed), and I pay for the labor and new pads for the front brakes, which seemed like a good compromise/resolution. They noted that the front rotors were warped, so maybe that contributed to the squeaking problem. I had read some complaints about warped rotors on early Model S cars, and noted that to the service adviser, so maybe that helped them reach this resolution.

 

[richrootes]

That’s good news - mine has developed warped rotors I’m sure, which we discovered on a road trip 2 weeks ago. Pretty alarming, but only noticeable when braking from high speed

I’m hoping Tesla will goodwill this, as the car is very low mileage and is driven mostly in town, exacerbating the problem I guess

Vancouver SC has always been a pleasure to deal with though, so fingers crossed

Cheers

 

[dusterbuster]

To bring closure to my story, the service rep said the service technician still heard brake squeak after changing the front rotors and pads, so they went ahead and changed the rear rotors and pads as well (without charge), and that appears to have fixed the problem. So I ended up having to pay only $417 for getting all 4 rotors and pads replaced. Hopefully the brake squeak is gone for good now.

 

[2013BatCar]

I took my 2013 MS 60 in for its 50k service. The SC is quoting me a price of 2,500 for front/rear pads/rotors and parking brake pads. Decided to wait till after holidays to do it, however I was informed the parking brake pads need to be done as they are metal on metal for $980.

Does this sound right?

I have 50K miles on the car and parking brake pads need to be replaced?

 

[Knightowl]

I took my 2013 MS 60 in for its 50k service. The SC is quoting me a price of 2,500 for front/rear pads/rotors and parking brake pads. Decided to wait till after holidays to do it, however I was informed the parking brake pads need to be done as they are metal on metal for $980.

Does this sound right?

I have 50K miles on the car and parking brake pads need to be replaced?

I have no idea what is normal or not but just a data point for you, I am coming up on 96k miles on my 2014 S and all my brakes are still good with minimal wear - I use alot of regen braking.

 

[iCharge]

interesting to read this, I have been using the regen just right so as to stop at scheduled stops. This is scary cost to see. I am hoping that by using regen to slow / stop the car, I ll make the OEM brakes last longer. I do have a extend service contract.