my 04 has 41,000 miles on it and front pads are low. rotors look good, feel smooth. has anyone replaced just the pads and not turned the rotors? what are the results?

 

You can but it is not advised. Both the rotor and the pads are worn down over time. As they wear down, the pads and the rotors develop grooves together. If you simply replace the pads alone, you present a new and flat pad to the grooved rotor. This mismatch can greatly reduce brake performance. When they 'turn' a rotor, they are putting the rotor onto a lathe, and then cutting the faces of the rotor with a tool until the rotor is perfectly flat again. This makes the rotor and new pads match up again. The good news is that turning rotors isn't very expensive at all.

 

thanks for the reply.