Has anyone out there experienced undue, premature, or surprising bad brakes on their Honda Elements at early mileage, s.a. 30K? I have, and I’m fighting with HONDA Torrance CA for my money.
I am not aware of any car manufacturer who warranties brake pads/linings, since they are a wear item that is mostly affected by the driving habits of the car’s owner. If there is a defect in…let’s say…a caliper…and this led to premature wear-out of a set of brake pads, the replacement of those brake pads would be covered under warranty. But, simply having to replace brake pads earlier than you think is desirable is not a warranty-eligible situation.
If someone has a heavy foot on the brake pedal, and particularly if the car is driven mostly in urban settings, 30k is not actually considered to be an unusual point for pad replacement. Back in the '70s, there were some small GM coupes (marketed as Chevies, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles and Buicks although I can’t recall any of the model names) that typically needed to have their brake linings replaced at about 11,000 miles–and even that extreme situation did not qualify for warranty coverage. Those same cars, when equipped with a small V-8, needed to have the engine hoisted a few inches off of its mounts in order to be able to access two of the spark plugs. Needless to say, most of those cars went their entire life without having those plugs replaced–and this defect in design was also not a warranty item.
The perfect car has yet to be designed and manufactured. Your Honda Element, however, is a very good vehicle and having to replace its brake pads at 30k is not something that is worth arguing over since this is absolutely not covered by your warranty. If you would like to verify this, read the text of the warranty that should be sitting in your glove compartment, and you will likely see certain exclusions–including brake linings.
There are exceptions to every rule. Lincoln will sometimes(often?) replace brake pads under new car warranty if they wear out too soon.
That said, 30K seems reasonable if the driving style is aggressive or very heavy city traffic.
Re:HONDA BRAKE TROUBLES, additional information.
I maight not have explained my case well enough.
Fact is, the car had NEW ROTORS and PADS installed at the dealer at 23K per insistence of the original owner (Pulsating rotor…I understand that problem, but not the dealer’s FREE replacement). MY ISSUE has to do with the REAR AXLE, and ONE PAD OUT OF FOUR that was locked up on it’s slide, causing total destruction of that pad (REAR_OUTBOARD) The other 3 were good for another 30-40K miles. I saw a lot of corrosion on the slide, and the clip holder, indicating NO GREASE of the slide-EVER. I think that HONDA owes me $180. I’ve only owned the car for 30 days…1,000 miles. I usually get brakes to go 50K miles. Thanks for your comments though.