brought my GF's car to pepboys for a brake check. theres been alot of grinding and whatever dash lights are on. the guy said he needs to install new ceramic brakes (guessing rotors and new pads) and that the brake sensor is faulty in both front hubs, and that the whole hub has to be replaced to fix just the sensor. is this guy yanking me or what? 807 bucks.

The sensors on the hubs (all four wheels) are used to tell the computer the rotation speed of the wheel. The traction control, and ABS systems require this info. If a sensor is bad, neither ABS nor traction control will work. Normal brakes will work, however.


The sensor is part of the hub, and cannot be fixed separately. Find out if he tested the sensor, or just read a code with a scanner. The wiring to the front hubs on Aleros is known to break, either at the connector on the hub, or where it flexes as the wheel turns. Bad wiring will cause the computer to think the sensor is bad.


Hubs ought ot cost about 125 apiece, plus labor.