Brake pads R1 Concepts or OEM Subaru

I've had really good luck after swapping to R1 Concepts pads and rotors on my Taos. no brake dust and predictable stopping.

My wife has 2014 XT since new and we are at 93k miles all stock brakes including rotors and pads. The only thing changed was brake fluid as part of regular maintenance interval.

The factory pads/rotors on my 2011 Outback 3.6 have 90k on them (70% highway miles) and are still in good shape. I'll probably never buy discount parts store brakes again.

Bought top of the line brake pads Front and rear for 115 dollars a you tube video and a 7 dollar spanner got me through the job. Didn't need rotors I've learned shops automatically want to change those.

I just switched to R1 concepts Geomet pads, and drilled and slotted rotors. They're just as good as OEM from what I can tell.

R1 concepts were an upgrade on my 2nd gen and got me through 4 years of abuse because the OEM ones would brake fade terribly. On my Camry they only lasted a year.

I've had mine for like 60k miles. 87k ish on the clock. Just changed everything. Yearly inspection and the shop rejected it for brakes. Brake installer said the weren't that bad. I bought an R1 Concepts kit. Front and rear rotors plus pads all around. $220 shipped on Walmart+ (also found on Amazon or Rock Auto). The shop had a brakes special: $160 installed for new pads. Since I had the parts and rotors take like 30 seconds to swap out, they charged me for two brake installs at $150 each. So all in installed was like $550 after taxes.For reference: the shop that rejected it quoted something like $500 for the front and $500 for the rear. And I don't think it was all new everything.

Reacquainting with traditional brakes felt strange. Kept releasing the accelerator, expecting it to brake. Takes getting used to.

After two years or so I get horrible squealing when I stop in reverse. Rusting is pretty bad too.

They are the worst deal. They charge like what $93 now for an oil change? I can get a case of 12 quarts for like $24. And do it my self. I can’t even remember what they tried to quote me for a brake job. I got brakes and rotors for under $200.