Mazda3Club.com : The Original Mazda3 Forum

My protege5 gets driven on a 30 mile one-way commute, so it has racked up a fair number of miles - 30K since September '03 when purchased new. I saw a few threads about the rotors being pretty crummy, and that has been my exact experience. At around 26-28k miles (a month or so ago) we started getting some pulsing in the brakes.

I called the service dept and they said if it wasn't covered under warranty, it would be @ $280 for pads and turning. From reading, it looks like they won't want to cover it. It's pretty inconvenient for me to get to the dealer, and turning doesn't really seem like a cost-effective solution for a car I need to drive for another 6 years. So I was hoping I could get a few suggestions about what to do from here.

1. If you guys think the dealer will likely do the work for me, I might try to get them to do it. Is turning and pads at a regular brake shop a better choice (Brake-O, etc.)?

2. Where can I get a longer life rotor (not necessarily a high-performance rotor)? Brembo doesn't seem to have anything specifically for this car, but I imagine something else they make is a good choice. http://www.buybrakes.com/brembo/am-apps-Mazda.html
The local parts shop (Advance) lists replacement rotors for as little as $ 27.99 (Raybestos 1096319) What's the difference between this and factory?

If I let it go another week or two, I can do it myself. On the other hand, I'll be taking it in for reallignment (ice+braking and turing=curb=out-of-allignment ), so it will be just as easy, if reasonaby priced, for me to have someone else do it.

and as a follow-up, I should do the pads anyway, shouldn't I?

Thanks for your help folks. I know I'm asking for too much help here, but it's tax time, and I don't have the cash, ya know?