05 corolla front brake pad help

[Tyaz]

I am new to this forum.

I have a 05 corolla with 62K miles on it. When i went for oil change, mechanic told to replace front brake pads, back brakes are good. i called toyota dealer to find out the OE brake pad type and they told that they are organic pads costing ~$60. when i enquired about rotors to the dealer, they told it usually lasts ~120K miles and i can just resurface the rotors and put the new organic pads. To do this, dealer quoted $240..it seems way expensive and i am looking for suggestions here to do the job myself (with the help of a friend, who has changed brakes before)..the questions i have are:

1) is it sufficinet to resurface the rotors and just change the brake pads...does anyone have experince on how long the OE rotors lost??

2) A new rotor from Autozone costs $50, while resurfacing a rotor costs ~$15..i am confused if it is worthwhile to resurface the rotors at 62K miles or go for a new one.....IF i need to change rotors, can onyone suggest where i can find decent quality rotors? Are autozone rotors a good quality ones?

3) What type of pads should i replace? should i go ahed with dealer's organic pads of $60? i read about different pad types to get an idea..it seems cermic pads are good, but i see different brands with different price ranges, not sure which is a good one..i heard/read about some squeaking issues with autozone ceramic pads, so dont know which direction to go...what brake pads are good?

Since i am a novice and getting my hands on doing something for the car for the first time, i am really confused how to go about. Please help me here. Thanks

[Ohiowa]

Welcome!

Provided your braking is smooth, your rotors probably don't need replacement. If they're grooved from running your current pads too thin, you will probably need to have them resurfaced. I just replaced my front pads with ceramic pads for about $45, including the brake cleaner and brake grease, along with about two hours of fun in the driveway. Luckily, I didn't have to do anything to the rotors other than clean them.

The service center I took my car to said I needed new rotors, but once I took the wheels off and looked for myself, there wasn't a thing wrong with the rotors. I'm thinkin' the dollar signs were more important to them than letting me get a few more miles out of perfectly good parts.

Regardless of your choice of ceramic or organic, make sure you bed-in your pads after installation (a good shop should do this for you). If you buy the pads and install them yourself, ask the sales guy at the auto parts place what the recommended bed-in procedure is for your pads.

I'm a fan of Toyota Genuine Parts, but my better half was in my ear making sure I wasn't spending too much cash :-)

[JasonA]

The original equipment brake pads are ceramic.

I'd just resurface the rotors and buy new ceramic pads from a quality brand.

[Tyaz]

Thanks a lot for your help!!!!

[W6e6s6W]

When the dealer charges that $210 they are just replacing the pads and resurfacing the rotors.
I work at a honda dealership.
Your rotors will last that long.
So pads and resurface are what I did on my car at 67k.
The braking is like how it was from the factory.