Appreciate any feedback.

I changed my brakes and rotors on my Toyota Echo 2002 this past week.

After doing a good job of it (car passed PA inspection and they said the brakes looked fine) I was chatting with my neighbor, who has worked in a garage and seems to know a thing or two, or at least knows more than me.

He told me that he always buys OEM brake rotors and brake pads as the alternative, non-OEM rotors and pads, may not be up to spec and thus can/will break down within 10-20K miles because of a mismatch in specifications between the rotors and pads.

According to him, the rotors will likely suffer heat damage and will turn a reddish/blue due to the heat damage. Moreover, the non-OEM pads will glaze over as they may not have been specked for those rotors. The mismatch, he asserts, has to do with the different heat properties, softness/hardness of the rotors/pads, etc.
After consulting numerous online sources both before the install and now after his dire prediction, I did not come across any such suggestion/wisdom online about sticking to factory OEM. Neither did any of the various Advance Auto Parts people who sold me the pads have such advice (and two of these really seemed to know what they were talking about).

Now that I've been thinking about it for some time, it doesn't really make any sense to me. The rotors are made of a metal (Raybestos) and are made to match my car and the pads are a very high quality (Wagner) semi-metallic, and are also made for my car. And can non-OEM rotors and pads make a big difference on a 2000 lb car?

One other thing that concerns me: I installed semi-metallic instead of ceramic, which is what the factory OEM is (I learned this after I installed them; that's what going with what Advance sells me gets me). Is this a big problem that I need to fix in and of itself? Or can I get by with semi-metallic until I change them again, at which time I'll probably change the rotors too.

I'm curious to know other peoples' opinions on this as I'm somewhat concerned about what might be a potential problem(s).

semi metallics stop better than ceramics anyway. if you do swap back, change the rotors again. also, this board is for GENERAL MOTORS J PLATFORM CARS. your echo is not one of these. as for the pads/rotors failing, i wouldnt worry about it. sounds like something someone in the business too long would say. quality and workmanship is miles ahead of where it was even 10 years ago.



JBO Stickers! Get yours today!

Thank you for the reply and sorry for the miscategorized post. I actually did try to locate the right place.

Ahah! Now I see the j-body part of the forum and realize my mistake.

Bob, it makes no difference in what brands you use or if they're OEM or not.
As long as the setup is designed for your vehicle, matches the vehicle, you'll be good to go.
Way back in the day your mechanic friend would've been correct but this is today and the technology we have is such that you can mix and match components to make whatever setup you desire for your car.
So if you wanted some slotted/ cross drilled rotors with ceramic pads, you can. Or, you can go for just a basic oem style replacement if that's what you choose.
So let imagination run with what your wallet allows with your setup and good luck with it.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!

Rich Grayo Jr. wrote:semi metallics stop better than ceramics anyway. if you do swap back, change the rotors again. also, this board is for GENERAL MOTORS J PLATFORM CARS. your echo is not one of these. as for the pads/rotors failing, i wouldnt worry about it. sounds like something someone in the business too long would say. quality and workmanship is miles ahead of where it was even 10 years ago.

so? this could apply to all cars either way. he had a legit question, that he was worried about. don't go jumping down his throat over something so freaking trivial >:o

OEM us better quality (unless your going with performance parts). My ex had a Lexus ES300 for example, stok brakes lasted 60K miles. I replaced them with aftermarket and the car never made it longer then 6 months without warping the rotors and the steering
wheel shaking because of cheap parts. I've seen it plenty of times before with rotors that warp easy compared to OEM. The pads themselves, usually the only issue with aftermarket is noise, scraping or squeeling.

There's no reason to change them again, they are new, use them till you need brakes again.

Personally I always get OEM or an upgrade, like Hawk pads and Powerslot rotors for example.


(I'm a Volkswagen dealership tehnician certified by the EPA, ASE, Audi, and Volkswagen so I do have a bit of experience and some knowledge)

Most will upgrade with their car but I guess when it comes to keeping it oem, oem is best.
I did this with the Honda Civic I had years ago. I always bought Genuine Honda Parts because I knew they'd last and because that's all I wanted at that time, was worth the extra money I had to spend to get that reliability I wanted out of the car.



Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO!