Brakes and Steering

[deepSpeedMS3]

Bought a used 58,000, 2003 Saturn Ion 2 4dooor automatic for gas mileage and commuter.

Bought it for a good price and knew that it may have things wrong with it.

Come to find out that it may need a new rack and pinion. Question: Do I NEED this or is it for convenience of power steering?

Come to find out brakes are shot in front AND back. Along with the rotors. Question: Do I need back brake pads and rotors since its an auto and don't use the ebrake every often?

All in all, $1700 for 4 rotors, 4 sets of pads, rack and pinion, and labor.

I just want what I NEED.....its just a commuter car.

[AIM WO4]

Man... Just do the front brakes yourself.

Put pads on the back. (Did you measure thickness?)

Who told you that the rack n pinion was shot?

How much are front rotors/pads and rear pads? $1700 is insane.

[deepSpeedMS3]

Man... Just do the front brakes yourself.

Put pads on the back. (Did you measure thickness?)

Who told you that the rack n pinion was shot?

How much are front rotors/pads and rear pads? $1700 is insane.

Rack and pinion is $800 alone. im going to get a second opinion today. I think i may just do the front brakes and rotors...i have just never done rotors and brakes before and dont wanna eff it up..

[Zwetty]

I don't know much about the rack and pinion, but $900 for all four rotors and pads is ridiculous. You could probably do it yourself for about half that. Rear parts aren't that much different than the front, other than they are typically smaller. If there is more than rotors and pads wrong with the brakes, such as drums and such, that is when it gets quite pricey.

[tbot]

I agree do the brakes yourself, but I would think depending on whats exactly wrong the rack and pinion really depends on whether or not you get that taken care of. Personally my take, if your driving the car and then all of a sudden you can't direct where you want said car to go, your kinda ****ed. SOOO, I would look into whats exactly wrong w/ said rack and pinion and then go from there to see if I fix it.

[MazdaTom]

While the rear brake don't do much braking, they do do some. You would be best advised to replace those along with the front if they need it.

Disc brakes are cake to work on. Drums are slightly harder, but not much. Does the Ion have drums? I thought all Ions had drums except for maybe the Ion Red Line.

If you bought really good pads and rotors, you could spend close to $300 (but that's with good stuff). If you got autopart store lifetime warranty pieces, you could probably get the whole setup for less than $150.

Why do you suspect the steering needs to be replaced? The Ion has electric steering (no belt driven power steering pump like most other cars) and that gives the driver a different feel.

[dommo_g]

That's WAAAAY too much for that work on that car. Brakes should be easy enough to do yourself. Rears shouldn't need to be changed at 58k. Fronts are super easy and super cheap. If you're sure the steering is shot, call Admiration Auto Body to see if she has a used part for you. If you need a second opinion, the dealership formerly known as Saturn North on 104th (now Courtesy Motors) has some of the best Saturn techs around.

[erod550]

Yea definitely don't take it to that shop for the brakes because if all it needs are pads and rotors they are ripping you off big time. I've done brakes more times than I care to count having done newspaper and pizza delivery which are both hell on brakes and it is really easy, fronts especially.

And yea, find out why they think the rack and pinion needs replacing.

[goldrocket]

I agree with the three above me. I just did brakes(pads and rotors) on my Super Duty, with the lifetime warranty for $160. With the mileage you're saying the car has, it should not need a rack, unless it took some serious curb shots. I would highly recommend going to another shop to have it checked.

[Justin]

If youre nervous about the braked im happyo help. I did mine a few times on my 99 saturn.