Last August I purchased a 2004 Olds Bravada to tow my travel trailer so it doesn’t get used much in the winter. I put about 2000 miles on it from August to March. The brakes have been pulsing for awhile, but got better after a few longer trips. I recently had it in for its spring oil change and was told that the brakes had “lot rot”…corrosion and delamination. Is this possible, or is the dealer just trying to cover up the bad brakes that the vehicle had when I purchased it?
lot rot is a real thing - basically the rotors rust up from non use - the brakes may get better as you
drive the vehicle but they also may not - resurfacing the rotors might be possible if the rotors are not below min. thickness when done. If your not planning on driving the vehicle daily then this is only going to happen again. Drive it and brake hard a few times to knock the rust off but you will wear the brake pads faster than normal. If it’s not rattling the fillings out of your head just let it go until you need brakes then either resurface or replace the rotors
I don’t know what kind of de-lamination they might be talking about, but it is likely rust. No real way of preventing it. I do suggest that you don’t park it long term with the parking brake on, but do use the parking brake when you are driving it.
I have personally seen rotors that were on a car stored for months in a wet area on which moisture had settled in the cooling vanes that were topside of the disc and rotted so badly that they had rotted into the vanesides of the rotors and actually splayed the rotors out. With the car on stands I could turn the rotors and, with my finger and thumb on the rotor surfaces, actually feel the distances between the surfaces getting wider at the vane-rotted areas and thinner elsewhere. Visually, it was quite a sight. Such rot I’ve never seen.
Yup, lot rot is real.