Somewhere between post 8 and 9 she decided to drive home. We spent about $100 today replacing the pads and one rotor.
That is about the best outcome you could have hoped for. I am glad everything worked out.
Same here. Glad it was that minor.
Front or rear? Also, why not the corresponding rotor and pads on the opposite side?
Tell her not to stop.
Pads are sold in axle sets, so it’s a pretty good bet that they were replaced on both sides. If the opposite side rotor was in good condition, there was no need to replace it.
This is correct.
My 2009 Sedona does this thing where it sounds like the pads are gone and I’m grinding away at the rotors. Nope–pads are just fine. Brake shop guy sez, “Eh, some cars just do that.” I dislike that answer, but they DO work fine and I’ve replaced the pads with OEM and it still does it. Has for the 5 years I’ve owned it.
That said, I once had a wife who was good for using the volume knob on the stereo to address nasty brake sounds. This is how I know, although not optimal, the steel pad slab against the rotors also does a decent job stopping a car.
And yeah, rotors are anywhere from $40 and 15 seconds to swap once you’ve got the caliper off ('95 Pathfinder front), to $200 + and however long it takes to bust loose the axle nut holding it onto the hub ('95 Pathfinder rear disc/drum combo IIRC).