The part pages · Brakes
No part generates more warranty arguments per dollar than brake pads — because the belief ("lifetime = free brakes forever") and the text ("defects covered, wear excluded") are both half the story. This hub sorts the claim the way the documents do, chain by chain.
| Chain | Brakes — as published |
|---|---|
| AutoZone | Duralast pads carry the limited-lifetime framing; coverage = defects in materials/workmanship. Delamination, cracking, chunking are the claim patterns. Full read: the brake-pads page. |
| Advance | General terms: 45 days or the longer period printed on your receipt; defect coverage; normal wear excluded; the original-receipt anchor applies. |
| O'Reilly | 1-year default / Limited Lifetime while you own the vehicle; §1.4 exclusions; commercial 90 days; replacement covered 90 days or the remainder, whichever is greater. |
| NAPA | NAPA Brakes document: original receipt + repair paperwork; the Alleged Defective Merchandise Tag; the part goes to the Warranty & Technical Service Department; claims within 30 days after discovery of the defect; NAPA Gold select lines carry limited lifetime; labor never included; the published discretion to give a monetary remedy instead of a replacement. |
NAPA's 30 days run from discovery — the day you (or your mechanic) identified the defect. Photograph and date-stamp the discovery day; it becomes a fact in the claim. At every chain, the second clock is evidence decay: pads get discarded, rotors get machined, the pattern disappears. Keep the old pads. Always.
Both pads in one frame; backing plates; the separation or crack close-up with a coin for scale; rotor faces; install and failure mileage. The classification argument is won by the file, not the adjectives — the wear-or-defect page is the method, and the kit's guide is the shot list.
Not sure which wall you hit? The free checker sorts it in a few picks — chain, part, purchase date, your proof, and the store's own words — and gives you where you stand under the written policy, the proration math where it applies, the exact next counter move, and the ladder above the store. Run the checker →
The pages above are the map. The kit is the paperwork: the word-for-word counter scripts, the per-chain playbooks, the worksheets, and the complaint templates.
One payment, yours to keep. You do every step yourself — at the store, on the phone, in writing; we never call a store for you. See everything inside the kit →