How Much Does It Cost To Resurface Brake Rotors

How much should I pay for having the rotors shaved in my car?
Fabbri

Hey there Fabbri

To have your rotors “trued” while they are on the vehicle, you basically are going to pay for a front brake job…minus the brake pads. Most brake jobs will include truing the rotors and replacing the brake pads = a front brake job.

So, I would charge you about $100 to remove the two front wheels and rotors and true them and reinstall them. I would charge about $175 for a front brake job, same as previous but with the brake pads and hardware replaced as well.

Some vehicles, like some Honda Accord’s and some European models the rotors are not made to be trued, and you should replace them when they get worn uneven “warped“.

Also, if a rotor has already been trued it will probably be too thin to true again and it should be replaced. The rotor gets thinner with each truing, so taking too much material off the rotor will cause it to “warp” or become uneven.

You can take the rotors off yourself and have your local auto parts store true them for you, probably about $35 for both.

But, thanks to our Comrades in China you can buy aftermarket replacement brake rotors pretty cheap these days!

Update

Thank you so much Austin!

I have a 2003 BMW 3series, does it fall into the “not to be trued” rotors category?

A good friend of mine did the brakes in October 2006, he replaced the old rotors and brake pads, and put new ones, so I don’t think the rotors have ever been trued.

I felt the difference immediately after he completed his work, but moved to the opposite side of the country (northeast) immediately after, and had too much going on to take the car back to him, so i decided to drive the car in that condition. No brake work has been done ever since.

Thank you again!

Hello again Fabbri

I am pretty sure most BMW dealers will NOT true them, they are sticklers about selling new rotors, or at least the ones I deal with in Houston.

You might want to call around to a few independent repair shops and see who will true them, certainly someone in your area will true them for you at a reasonable price…although, some shops will charge more just because it’s a BMW.

Some shops will have a special machine that can true brake rotors while the rotor is still on the vehicle, they just remove the wheels and then bolt this machine directly onto your rotors…pretty cool, and you will get a smoother finish using this machine.

It might be worth your time to call a few shops (preferably European repair shops) and ask if they can “true rotors on the car”.

Please share this with your friends,
Austin Davis