Nissan Repair: brakes and radiator, 2002 nissan altima, leaking radiator

Question
Von,

I own a 2002 Nissan Altima 2.5, which I just took to the dealer
for a recall on headlamp problems. They located a few other
items that need fixing: front breaks and a leaking radiator. It
seems strange to me that that radiator should be totally shot at
this stage (roughly 48,000 miles), and in need of replacement.
They priced the front brake repair at $188 and the radiator
replacement at $655.

I will be taking the car to a local garage that has been
trustworthy in the past.

1) Assuming that the radiator DOES need replacing, what price
range should I be looking at here?

2) How much should I expect to pay for replacing the 2 front
brakes?

3) Finally, and again on the matter of the radiator, I had the
radiator repaired a couple of times under warrantee for a non-
serious issue: a "sloshing" noise said to be typical of the year/
model. Have radiators in general been a problem on this model?

thanks,
Aaron Szymkowiak  

Answer
Aaron,

The brake quote seems to be within reason.  The radiator cost is totally out of hand.  I would take it to a radiator shop and get the tanks replaced if it is the tanks.  If not, the core cannot be that expensive.  Again, I would take the car to a radiator shop and get that checked out.