My senior mother booked appt at Hyundai to have summer tires put back on @ $ 40. Was told at the dealership it was time to do the maintenance package - 234$. An hour later they called her at h ome and told her she needed new rear brakes. She’s excellent driver 2007 Hyundai Elantra 28,300 kms. - bought brand new. They told her because she doesnt drive that much, rust collects on brakes and therefore she needed new ones. She drives every day - not marathons but does drive it. I dont buy it- Her total bill with 15% discount was $ 534.00 Everybody I speak to says bull - and especially at 28k. - They told her after driving in 3 winters it happens. Thoughts???
While it may be silly to say that rust wore out the brakes, it’s not beyond imagination that they just wore out at 28,000 MILES instead of kilometers. So I think you might mean miles, which is how most odometers measure distance; where dollars are usually spent anyway.
Short trips and that many miles will wear out a lot of brakes. If the brake adjusters work very well, it can happen. Sometimes the bull is only in the way the shop tells the story. An inexperienced story teller will only reveal the fables he has heard. Drum brakes don’t fall victim to rust as often as disc brakes do.
As far as the money goes, it still doesn’t match medical bills. Just ask my government insurance providers.
Brakes can wear out easily at 28K especially OEM brake components. We can’t see the brake shoes to determine the real wear but it’s not an unrealistic scenario. Older individuals also have a tendency to ride the brakes a lot (including my mother) and that will wear brakes shoes and pads down quickly.
28,300km is roughly 17,600 miles. So, if mom does a lot of short hop, stop’n’go driving, then I can see them wearing out this quickly.
Where do you live? The km`s give away canada, I assume?
Is this car 4 wheel disc? Or disc and drum? My 06 Elantra was 4 wheel disc, and both rear calipers were seized, which wore the pads and rotors out. I had them replaced under warranty, but I also worked for the dealership, so I got the pads and rotors goodwilled. I was in the mid 30,000 km range when that happened.
I also discussed with a mechanic at the dealer, he mentioned on disc/drum setup sometimes the parking brake is improperly adjusted during Pre Delivery Inspection, which can lead to poor pedal feel and improper wear.
Proving either at this point will be difficult/impossible. I`m just throwing out personal experience.
All of this experience is on 01-06 Elantra`s. 07+ is a new animal. ( I was never crazy for them).
Ryan
My son’s 2007 Hyundai Sonata needed new rear brakes last year at 24000 miles and theytold him in our climate he should have the caliper slides greased annually for $ 160.00. After he complained loudly they split the $400.00 bill with him.Sounds like they need to put stainless steel shims on the caliper slides.
Everybody you’re speaking to is saying bull without knowing one thing about the car and what it does or does not need. Not liking a mechanical recommendation or price and equating it to thievery is a pretty common disease unfortunately.
A lightly driven car that sees mostly shop hop driving can certainly go through a set of brakes in that mileage span; and this can be exacerbated if she lives in a snow prone area where they salt the beejeezus out of the roads.
What can I say? They saw a woman and rolled out the BS script. $500 for one axle!!! Next time send Mom my way. I’ll only charge her $250 and I’ll still make a killing.