Brake Repair near Portola, San Francisco

What we replace

Most brake jobs are pads and rotors. Calipers and brake lines wear too, especially on older cars that have sat in salt air or seen brake fluid go past its service life. We will tell you exactly what is worn and what can wait.

• Front and rear brake pads
• Rotors (resurface or replace based on wear)
• Calipers and slide pins
• Brake fluid flush
• Brake lines and master cylinder service
• Parking brake adjustment

Signs you need brake service

If you hear squealing or grinding, feel pulsation through the pedal when you stop, notice the car pulling to one side under braking, smell a burning hot odor after a hill descent, see the ABS light come on, or your brake warning light is on, bring it in. Soft or low pedal feel is more serious and worth calling about the same day. So is the ABS light, since the anti-lock system is what keeps the wheels from locking under hard stops on wet SF pavement.

Why SF brakes wear faster

Bayview and the rest of southeast San Francisco are stop-and-go heavy. Every Cesar Chavez light, every 3rd Street stop, every climb up Hilltop and ride back down works the pads. Customers coming from Potrero Hill and Bernal climb and descend twice on a normal commute. We see brake jobs roll in noticeably sooner than the textbook 40k-mile interval, especially on the heavier Asian crossovers (CR-V, RAV4, Outback) and the work trucks that brake-stop a loaded payload all day. None of that is a problem if you replace pads before they go metal-on-metal; it just means you pay attention to the squeal earlier than a flat-suburb driver would.

Brake fluid is part of the brake job

Brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture out of the air over time. Wet fluid has a lower boiling point and corrodes the master cylinder and ABS module from the inside. We test fluid moisture content (free with any brake inspection) and flush it on the manufacturer interval, usually every two to three years. Skipping the flush is how a $300 pad job turns into a $1,500 master-cylinder-plus-ABS-module job in a few years.

What it costs

Most front pad-and-rotor jobs on a midsize sedan run in the $250 to $450 range. SUVs and trucks land in the $400 to $700 range because the parts are bigger and the wheels heavier. Luxury and performance cars (BMW M, Mercedes AMG, Tesla Performance) run $600 to $1,200 or more because the rotors are larger and often two-piece. Ceramic pads cost more than semi-metallic but they shed less dust on alloy wheels and are quieter, which most daily drivers prefer. We give you a written estimate before we touch the car. No surprise add-ons. Call (415) 648-2226 with your year, make, and model for an exact number.

Parts we use

OEM and quality aftermarket. On brake jobs that usually means Akebono, Wagner, Centric, Bosch, or Brembo pads and rotors depending on the vehicle and what the customer wants (ceramic for low dust on daily drivers, semi-metallic when stopping power matters more than wheel cleanliness). We do not put the cheap pads on customer cars because they squeal, dust your wheels, and wear out twice as fast. Most of our brake parts are standard-warrantied for 12 months or 12,000 miles.