So my fiance’s Protege’s brakes seem excessively sensitive to, ahem, neglected maintenance. She never washes the thing so at the end of 3 out of the 4 winters that she’s had the car she’s needed new shoes & pads for at least half the car. After the first winter she needed front, second winter rear, 3rd winter passed gasp, now we just finished up her 4th winter and all 4 corners have chewed up discs. The first time it was warranty, the second time the dealer covered half, now the warranty’s gone so there’s no reason to go to the dealer. I’ll do it myself so I can make sure the sliders are nice and shiny before I grease them.
Anyhow, on to the point: I’m unsure what rotors and pads to get. On one hand she’s the typical girl and only uses her car to go A->B so there’s no reason to spend a ton, but on the other hand the car stops really well so I don’t want to do them myself and hear “You fucked up my car. It doesn’t work as well.” Durability’s not an issue. She’s currently only averaging about 12,000 miles between replacements :bloated: so anything will last longer if she (I) washes it a few times a winter.
Is there any reason to get anything but the cheapest rotors I can find? But what about the pads? Ceramic, semi-mettalic, organic? Does anybody know a place that won’t bend me over to order OEM Mazda parts?