Recommendations for places to machine rotors
 

Anyone have any recommended shops that will machine rotors? Richmond Acura was looking for $160 to do both the front rotors which sounded a little steep...

Just wanted to know if anyone had any shops they could recommend where they've had the job done before and were satisfied with their service. If possible, if you could also tell me if they machined it on car or threw it on a lathe.

Why are you machining the rotors in the first place?
DIY brake change? Or vibration in the steering wheel when braking?

Somethings to consider a dealership will charge 160 dollars if they have to take it off the car, service the calipers/pads, and machine the rotors. Smaller shops will probably charge a lot less.

If you're changing your brakes, you should figure out if they're below the service limit in which case you should buy new rotors, as the below service limit rotors being machined will cause lots of problems down the road (burned rotors/glazed rotors/warped rotors).

If you're feeling a vibration and not changing the pads with it, that would cause other problems such as squeaks and not to mention if you heated up the rotors a lot that warpage in the rotor can go quite a ways down (or have to be machined past the service limit).

So its hard to say any places that'll do it and have you be satisfied if any of these problems are present. Also if it turns out they take off the rotor and can't machine it, most places will charge you just for taking it off in the first place.

Good questions...I should have mentioned it in the original post.

To start:
Car is a 2005 Acura TSX. I've got about 33,000km on it so far. The brake pads are still at around 50% at the front. Rotors have never been machines since I bought the car (which was in 2006 with 12,000km on the odometer).

The problem is that the car shakes when braking at high speed (usually from 60 km/h or higher). The most noticeable shaking experience I had was when I was driving down from Mt Seymour (with the winding roads that require frequent braking). The entire car was shaking (where in the past I've just felt it mostly just through the steering wheel)

I'm planning to get new brake pads as well since I've read that it's the ideal thing to do after machining.

I figured the dealership was a bit steep. The last time I had my rotors machined (granted this was in the US), they were $50 per rotor and this was at a Goodyear shop that was near my work. I figure it should be somewhere around that range which was why I was surprised at the $160 estimate.

If $160 includes new pads then that's reasonable.
Depending on how warped they are you may not be able to have them machined, if thats the case OEM replacements can easily be $150 each.

Pads definitely weren't included. The service advisor said it would only be the labour for machining the rotors. I forgot what he told me the price of the pads were since I pretty much tuned out after he told me it was $160 to machine them.

you should see DV Aldous at 3505 Fraser or WH Lowden on Hastings. This is who the professionals use. They should be about $35- 40 each to machine. sometimes its cheaper to buy new ones. Give us a call and we can give you a price

160 just to machine them is too much. Most brake shops should be able to offer this service for much less and again most of them don't even remove the rotor to do so.

Yep - agreed! Well, I ordered some new pads and will get them machined once I get them.

Dealership pricing sucks but I figured I'd ask them since I was already there for something else.

I pay $20 per rotor to get them machined on a lathe, but the down side is I also have to take them off of the car and re-install them myself.

Same here. back in the day, you could get them done for $5ea.

Convenience vs cost.

If you take your bare rotors to a shop to get machined, it should be fairly cheap BUT you need a second car and you have to sit there and wait til they're done and leave your car on stands while it's gone.

Depending on the cost of rotors, sometimes it's worth it to just buy new pads and rotors and bang it out in 45 minutes.

FYI, Lordco in Langley will do slotted as well.

Bumping this.

Anyone machine slotted rotors recently? Vancouver preferred!

What car?

98 STI, but I'll most likely be taking em off first.