Used brake parts, yay or nay?

No, I'm not talking about buying 2/3rds used cheapo parts store brake pads or twenty year old "NOS" rubber brake lines from a dubious CL seller.

I'm slowly getting my behind in gear on the parts accumulation phase for the S2000. One of the items on the todo list is to build something akin to the FM "little big brake kit" as I'm not super keen on the existing brakes and figure "while I'm in there...". I know what (JDM yo) parts I want for that, the question is - do I try to save a few hundred bucks by trying to buy a set of used calipers for this endeavour or do I just go "berk it, new all the way". Bascially we're talking something like $1300 for used calipers vs $1600 for new.

I mean, the parts are used as soon as they are on the car, the ones I have my eyes on are on the other side of the country so I can't just go look at them, but then again I can't check if someone "stored them" in their rain bucket for future use.

The iffier part is that I'm also looking at a set of two-piece rotors for the front. Someone's selling a set of used ones with meat left on them, and I figured if I can talk them down a bit I'd still save about a benjamin even if I had to throw new rotors on the centers immediately. OTOH is that worth $100 over a set of new ones?

What's GRM's opinion?

At those price points, and with all the unknowns, I'd just bite the bullet and go new. Then you know what you're dealing with. Small price to pay for peace of mind, especially when it comes to brakes.

I bought a set of Spoon calipers used. Then rebuilt them and was good to go, all the seals were readily available. 

I would do it again. 

In reply to Slippery :

That's actually exactly what I'm concerned about (and yes, i'm talking about the Spoon calipers) - if I spend $1300 on used calipers and have to rebuild them, I might as well hold my nose, buy new and not have to use my non-existing spare time to rebuild the calipers.

Also, not related, but many years ago I found an e30 at the junkyard with almost new brake pads. I pulled them and rectified them on a Bridgeport. 

Those were the BEST pads I have ever bought   Very little dust and the bite was amazing. 

My thoughts were that the asking price on the used equipment is too high. If you can drive that used price down significantly lower then it could be a deal but at the small price delta, I don't see them as a deal. 

In reply to BoxheadTim :

I did not like the flashy blue color, that is the main reason I rebuilt them. 

I took them apart to paint them and changed the seals at the same time. 

The seals were cheap as its just o-rings, no dust boots on those calipers. 

What year is your S2000? I can offer the deal of a century to you as long as the car is 2006+. 

I just had an idea 

I know nothing about calipers named after the popular eating utensil, but. 4 piston calipers are a cakewalk to "rebuild" as it is just a few rubber seals to replace while you are cleaning them. On Wilwood dynalites it is under $10 per caliper to do. 

No one here would bat an eye when someone grabs some Toyota 4 pistons off a 4runner, hits them with paint and new seals and makes them fit another car. I can't see how aftermarket calipers would be any different.  

Is there a JDM tax on spoon caliper seals?

Jumper K Balls (Trent) said:

I know nothing about calipers named after the popular eating utensil, but. 4 piston calipers are a cakewalk to "rebuild" as it is just a few rubber seals to replace while you are cleaning them. On Wilwood dynalites it is under $10 per caliper to do. 

IME dynalites aren't worth rebuilding, even at $10 because by the time the rubber seals need replacing there's too much bore wear.

$1300 vs $1600 is a 20% savings.  I agree that's not enough to be worth the hassle of dealing with used parts.

Hot rod parts, I dunno.  Everyday reman calipers, you are probably better off with clean junkyard parts than poorly rebuilt exchange units.

In reply to Jumper K Balls (Trent) :

I want to say I paid $13 for the seals for both calipers. 

Slippery said:

What year is your S2000? I can offer the deal of a century to you as long as the car is 2006+. 

I just had an idea 

Mine's a 2004...

I hear the brake parts interchange, though .

Streetwiseguy said:

Hot rod parts, I dunno.  Everyday reman calipers, you are probably better off with clean junkyard parts than poorly rebuilt exchange units.

Yeah, for "reman" calipers we wouldn't have this discussion, the parts to reman them would be on the way already.

John Welsh said:

My thoughts were that the asking price on the used equipment is too high. If you can drive that used price down significantly lower then it could be a deal but at the small price delta, I don't see them as a deal. 

I think that the same thought has slowly be gestating in the back of my mind. I usually expect used parts to come in at 50-60% of new and at that price point I'd take the risk, especially with the cost of parts to overhaul the calipers. I've asked Mr 1300 if he's willing to play let's make a deal, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

I've rebuilt a bunch of four piston motorcycle brake calipers so I don't think there is an issue with my rebuilding them, it's more a case of time vs money.

BoxheadTim said:

Slippery said:

What year is your S2000? I can offer the deal of a century to you as long as the car is 2006+. 

I just had an idea 

Mine's a 2004...

I hear the brake parts interchange, though .

I sold my Spoon calipers in 2011 for $1000 unfortunately. That was the going rate then, and its what I would expect to pay for them now. 

I have quite a few S2000 mods left and I was going to offer you included a Hondata Flashpro. Unfortunately to make use of it you need a 2006+. 

If you ever decide to go standalone, let me know as I have a very nice SC that put out 395 rwhp on a conservative Dyno Dynamics. I would cut you a very good deal.

No idea on the market for those specific parts but used parts I won’t pay more than half retail and they have to be in really good shape. Like new for me to pay that much. Otherwise new it is for me. 

Agree with dean, half price of new makes sense, more than that doesn't.  I'm running into this with a brake upgrade on my 996 Turbo.  I want the larger GT3 front calipers, which are $1500 new and everyone wants $1200-1400 for their used ones. 

Nope, at that point I'll buy new and not have to worry about rebuilding them.

Looks like some ebay sellers that look reasonably trustworthy are actually knocking out new ones for similar money than I'm being asked to cough up for used ones. I think that may sway me in the direction of new ones anyway.

Buying all four corners of new looking brake parts for $50 at the local U-pull-it  is different from shelling out $1200.

I'd just go new at that price point.