Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
I don't care how cheap it is at the municipal auction, don't buy a 2021 Durango Pursuit ex-squad car. A brake job will probably put you in the poorhouse.
While the pads & rotors are (very) slowly appearing in the aftermarket, the $244 (each) front and $222 (each) rear calipers remain dealer-only. No, none of the ones listed on RockAuto will fit. Up until a couple of months ago, the only brake pads available were the Mopar parts, a walloping $334.00 out back and $554.00 for the front dealer list. You read that right. Rotors? Not bad. The fronts are but $180.00 each, while the rears are a positive bargain @ $148.00 each. Assuming you don't need calipers, that's $1544 to do four wheels of brakes. Two calipers will quickly put you at two grand, and that doesn't include any labor.
Non-factory? Well, Powerstop is the only company doing pads, but the rears are backordered until at least the end of May (no definite ETA). The fronts ain't inexpensive. Dynamic Friction lists front & rear rotors, but I'm not confident yet of the fit (I'll find out). Right now, DF appears to be online-only, so expect a beating on shipping.
But Jass, you say, Shirley the parts will come down in price eventually. My response? Don't bet the bank on it, Laverne. It's two-plus years old already and none of the major brake players have jumped into this game. 2020 parts definitely don't fit, '22 is the same, and I've no idea about '23 yet. Based on what I've seen recently, I would not be surprised to see the Mopar parts discontinued in the next couple of years and that the aftermarket heavy hitters won't see the value in making them. Mind you, other law-enforcement-sounding models do not use the same brakes: Citadel and Enforcer are different. R/T and SRT are different as well. The Pursuit is its own specific model with a unique brake package, option code BR9. All BR9 cars are Pursuits and vise-versa.
Worse yet, the brakes don't apparently wear well. The specific vehicle to which I'm referring had new front brakes installed in November and the rears were done in September. All four wheels are screaming already. It's so bad they had to withdraw from a chase yesterday because the officer feared for his life braking at 80MPH. With no other option, it needs another $334 (list) set of Mopar pads out back. Some of the savings in the aftermarket rotors evaporated in the $85 shipping but at least I was able to save him a ton on the front pads.
I get a pretty good deal on OE Mopar, and I do whatever I can to keep my customers' costs down while keeping my lights on and the building warm. This go-round was almost $400 less than the last, but it's still ludicrous. The only reason it's this expensive is because Steliatgeopar or whatever they're called this week knows the government will pay it without question--screw the taxpayers actually footing the bill.
While the pads & rotors are (very) slowly appearing in the aftermarket, the $244 (each) front and $222 (each) rear calipers remain dealer-only. No, none of the ones listed on RockAuto will fit. Up until a couple of months ago, the only brake pads available were the Mopar parts, a walloping $334.00 out back and $554.00 for the front dealer list. You read that right. Rotors? Not bad. The fronts are but $180.00 each, while the rears are a positive bargain @ $148.00 each. Assuming you don't need calipers, that's $1544 to do four wheels of brakes. Two calipers will quickly put you at two grand, and that doesn't include any labor.
Non-factory? Well, Powerstop is the only company doing pads, but the rears are backordered until at least the end of May (no definite ETA). The fronts ain't inexpensive. Dynamic Friction lists front & rear rotors, but I'm not confident yet of the fit (I'll find out). Right now, DF appears to be online-only, so expect a beating on shipping.
But Jass, you say, Shirley the parts will come down in price eventually. My response? Don't bet the bank on it, Laverne. It's two-plus years old already and none of the major brake players have jumped into this game. 2020 parts definitely don't fit, '22 is the same, and I've no idea about '23 yet. Based on what I've seen recently, I would not be surprised to see the Mopar parts discontinued in the next couple of years and that the aftermarket heavy hitters won't see the value in making them. Mind you, other law-enforcement-sounding models do not use the same brakes: Citadel and Enforcer are different. R/T and SRT are different as well. The Pursuit is its own specific model with a unique brake package, option code BR9. All BR9 cars are Pursuits and vise-versa.
Worse yet, the brakes don't apparently wear well. The specific vehicle to which I'm referring had new front brakes installed in November and the rears were done in September. All four wheels are screaming already. It's so bad they had to withdraw from a chase yesterday because the officer feared for his life braking at 80MPH. With no other option, it needs another $334 (list) set of Mopar pads out back. Some of the savings in the aftermarket rotors evaporated in the $85 shipping but at least I was able to save him a ton on the front pads.
I get a pretty good deal on OE Mopar, and I do whatever I can to keep my customers' costs down while keeping my lights on and the building warm. This go-round was almost $400 less than the last, but it's still ludicrous. The only reason it's this expensive is because Steliatgeopar or whatever they're called this week knows the government will pay it without question--screw the taxpayers actually footing the bill.
