Brake questions..

[Astra08]

Just wondering if anyone can recommend a good set of ceramic pads...the dust from mine is driving me nuts. Also, curious about aftermarket rotors and what kind of luck people have had with them. Thanks.

[Nightwalker]

I too would be interested in this. I've been wanting to look into new pads and rotors for a while now. Although I don't know how broad the choices will be.

[Lunchbox1984]

better put me down on that as well.

[MGGDTW]

I seem to only get mad dust from my rear brake pads and not the front. Are they different pads?

[vegetaarmy]

I was also thinking about new pads and rotors. I looked at www.saturnparts.com for f/r pads and rotors and was shocked at the price. They wanted $800 just for the rotors. There are f/r cross drilled and slotted rotors w/ pads on ebay for under $250. I may go this route.

-Jess

[Astra08]

Originally Posted by MGGDTW

I seem to only get mad dust from my rear brake pads and not the front. Are they different pads?

Odd, that is the same issue for me...big difference too. Rockauto has several to choose from, the Bendix ones look good for $$, but they list front only?

[Nightwalker]

Originally Posted by vegetaarmy

I was also thinking about new pads and rotors. I looked at www.saturnparts.com for f/r pads and rotors and was shocked at the price. They wanted $800 just for the rotors. There are f/r cross drilled and slotted rotors w/ pads on ebay for under $250. I may go this route.

-Jess

The US law says that a company has to supply replacement parts for a car for a minimum of 10 years after its release. Meaning GM has to supply parts until 2018.

But since GM is a douche bag, they decided to gouge prices for those wanting Astra parts. I mean come on, $600 for an alternator?!

[Astra La Vista!]

Originally Posted by MGGDTW

I seem to only get mad dust from my rear brake pads and not the front. Are they different pads?

I'm currently experiencing the same thing. Up until about 20,000 kms, I was getting reddish-brown dusting from both fronts and rears, but now it is only rears. I believe that this has to do with how the brake pads wear -- they produce higher amounts of dust in the beginning when new but produce less once they've been broken in. One reason why the rears are still dusting might be that the car's weight distribution is 65/35 when sitting still, and even more skewed when more weight shifts forward during braking, and the rears most likely aren't wearing as fast.

Or, the fronts are ceramic and the rears are metallic. No way of knowing for sure, since even a GM parts counter guy won't be able to tell from their database. FWIW, Raybestos lists the fronts as ceramic (PGD1361C) and the rears as metallic (PGD1362M). While I'm at it, front rotors are 980057, rears are 580665R, and a rear brake hardware kit is H18014A.

[vegetaarmy]

Originally Posted by Nightwalker

The US law says that a company has to supply replacement parts for a car for a minimum of 10 years after its release. Meaning GM has to supply parts until 2018.

But since GM is a douche bag, they decided to gouge prices for those wanting Astra parts. I mean come on, $600 for an alternator?!

And their excuse for the high price would be "we have to charge this much, all the parts come from Europe ..." If it comes down to it, I can get a lot of parts off of ebay or Rockauto.com. I only have 1,000 miles till the bumper to bumper warranty expires. So far no problems, hopefully none in the next few years.

-Jess

[Astra La Vista!]

$600 for an OEM alternator wouldn't be out of the question. Why do you think the aftermarket industry exists? GM always knew that these parts would have to be shipped in from Europe, so the costs would have been set w-a-y back in 2008, not suddenly increased because Saturn no longer exists today.

The frustrating part will be the delay in ordering such parts. Because OEM parts have to travel through the GM infrastructure -- populated by GM unions -- parts cannot be Fed-Ex'd overnight to get them faster. They have to go through the normal supply route.

[Nightwalker]

I'm hoping to find a source for Opel Astra-h aftermarket parts. Hopefully stuff will be cheaper that way.
As a matter of fact, most parts that I've ordered from my dealership have come in labeled "Opel Astra H".