I need some guidance and opinions. I found an F-Type R coupe with carbon ceramic brakes. Car has 90k miles. Everything else about the car is good. There are no records for pads or rotors. Current owner has done light commuting, no track. Prior owner put 50k of use on the car with no track use. First owner put 30k on, no history here.

I've read the rule of thumb that rotors last 100k miles. Where does that number come from? Other than disassembling and weighing the rotors, is there anything that can be done to assess their health?

As I project to have the car for three years and 10k miles, that means I will be looking to sell it right at 100k miles. Am I basically guaranteeing myself that I'll need to do a full brake job during my ownership?

Other than getting lucky and finding an inexpensive take-off set (with the associated risk of also not having a good history on what I would be purchasing), is there any pathway to making this a reasonable cost endeavor?

 

Inspect the front rotors for wear. If there is a lip at the OD or a step at the ID, then they have worn and you can measure how much. If there are no signs of wear, I would not be surprised, if it has been a road use only car. It would be best to weigh at least one rotor, they are not hard to get to. I would make getting a weight of one front rotor a requirement of the seller.

As you stated, you can get used rotors. I got a pair of front rotors from www.car-parts.com for $3k (none listed right now). I think they are $10k each from the dealer.

What year is the car? 90k miles is among the highest on this board, if I am not mistaken.