Thank you to all of you who have explained the purpose of asking for your old car parts. I have decided that I would prefer to be naive and trusting rather than paranoid- especially given that had the dealer brought me the old parts I wouldn’t have known whether they were the parts I was told needed replacing or if they were the right parts whether they were actually from my car. YMMV.
One classic scam is for the shop to take out your (nearly new) brakes (that didn’t need changing anyway) and replacing them with nearly new brakes from a previous customer. They then sell your brakes to the next schmo that turns up. They sell second hand goods at new prices and you get crappy brakes.
What do you do with the old ones? Toss 'em. In an enviro-friendly way, natch.
As for that vintage Corolla:
I have replaced the pads and rotors on them using a Haynes manual for help. It really is quite easy. Besides the tire, there are only 2 bolts holding the calipers on that need to be removed. Using an Al wire to hang the calipers from the springs makes sure that no brake bleeding needs to be done, etc. Just follow the manual step-by-step.
Some tools of note:
Big C-clamp to press the piston in.
Metric socket set.
Torque bar. (Rec.)
A can of brake cleaner and a pan big enough to hold a rotor. Rubber gloves.
A small amount of high-temp auto lube.
Hub is by trade a mechanic. Worked for US Navy and now City of Union City, CA. Just asked him if price was reasonable. He said rotors could not be turned if they are “out of round”, and wasn’t familiar with the term “rust rings”. It’s my experience (10 years mgr for Grand Auto) that a 4 y/o car shouldn’t need rotors replaced unless you live in areas where the ground is regularly salted.
Based upon the prices you mentioned for individual parts, hub say $280 is a reasonable price, especially for a dealership.
Check out a Wheel Works to compare pricing.
I find this a bit strange. Pretty much all rotors will show some rust in the area where the brake pads don’t rub on them, and this will be in the form of a ring.
Rotor replacement is indicated when the rotor is worn and resurfacing (“turning” it on a lathe) will take it below its minimum allowed thickness. This has nothing to do with the “rust ring.”