97 accord

None honda dealer is wanting $500 to replace front rotors and new pads. Rotors are shot (no disagreement with repair shop on this issue). Is this a fair price to pay for this work. Repair man also said sometimes a seal may be bad and is another $80 per side if this is the case. What seal would he be talking about that would be exposed during a brake job?

someone correct me if i'm wrong, but the seal is between the hub and the bearing or the rotor and the bearing. i'm surprised they didn't explain that when they were telling you about it. as far as the cost of replacement for just the front rotors and pads i would guess that you would be paying too much. also, i bet if you look around, maybe check out ebay, you'd be able to find some nice aftermarket cross drilled and/or slotted rotors for the same price as the factory ones, or even for less. actually i'd almost guarantee that, because i was in the same situation w/ my 95, and i believe that our cars are very similiar in that regard. same more than likely goes for the pads; i'm telling you all this in the assumption that you are into modding your car, otherwise go stock. just call a few local aftermarket shops, see how much they want for the install of the rotors/pads(but do not get the actual rotors from them until you have checked around, they will almost assuredly be retail, which you will never pay if you get them online and are a little flexible in what you want), and i bet you'll get a better setup for around the same price, maybe even a little less. by the way could you PLEASE post and let me know the results of your searching if you go this route.

oh just to let you know i have had 2 jobs done to my hub/rotor assembly area, and both times they advised me that the seal could break, and both times it didn't. thought i'd let ya know

I would say do it yourself...but Honda in all its brilliance attached the rotors to the hub rather then leaving them free floating like every other car. So it's a pain to get them off, and you might need a special tool. All in all, I would do like jazer80 advised and shop around online(try www.tirerack.com), then bring in the rotors and pads to a cheaper shop. Dealerships screw you for way too much money on both parts and labor.

ya i almost told them to go ahead and put on those rotors til i realized that you can get so much more with your money than if you just let them throw on 'factory' parts at ridiculous prices for what they are