Hello,
I bought a used kia soul from the lexus valencia dealership with 36k miles on september 30th. I noticed loud squeeking noise from my brakes 2 weeks later so I took the car back to the lexus dealership on october 18th. They said that the brakes had glaziing and needed to be resurfaced. so they turned the routers and said the car should be good at no charge. Now 5 months(2500 miles) later I heard the same loud squeeking from my brakes and decided to take the car to the Kia of valencia dealership which happens to be owned by lexus of valencia(where i bought the car) and Kia told me that I need front and rear brake pads and the routers now have hot spots which will require the router to be resurfaced again to remove the hot spots. They also mentioned that the brake pads should have been replaced to begin with before when the glazing was found on the routers even though at this moment 7mm(70%) of pad life is there.
So I ended up taking the car back to lexus without doing the recommended repair by Kia because to me this is a connected issue to when I first had problems with the routers. Lexus is now pretty much placing the blame on me saying that I could have caused the hot spots by braking too hard when I drive too fast or riding my brakes which is a lie because I dont drive like that. They also started saying that their lexus techs are better than the kia techs and would like the lexus techs to take a look at it instead so the sales manager can speak to the general manager to see if they would help us out.
To my knowledge if glazing is occuring there is something wrong with the calibration, possibly after market pads, resurfacing and turning the routers caused to router to be thinner which caused the hot spots due to the router heating up more than it could take since there was not enough heat distribution, or taking the advice of the Kia dealership, the pads should have been replaced from the start.
What is the proper way to fix this issue? Should I ask for the pads to be replaced and routers to be turned like Kia recommends or is there another issue? Would getting new routers instead of pads be a better idea since there is 7mm left? How can I prove these lexus b@stards wrong?
Thank you so much in advance,
Soulwoman
Uneven rotors are probably not going to make a loud squeaking noise. Does the steering wheel shake back and forth when you brake? If not, and your rotors are not below minimum thickness, then the rotors are fine and you can leave them alone.
Squealing usually means the pads are worn down to the point where a little piece of metal called the wear tab comes into contact with the rotor and makes a squeal to let you know that your pads are worn down. But if your pads are at 7mm, that’s not likely to be the case unless the wear tab somehow ended up being too long and is contacting the rotor prematurely.
Glazed pads can also cause a squeal/squeak, but it is not necessary to replace glazed pads. Pads glaze because they get to the right temperature to harden the surface layer of braking material. Sanding that layer off with 80 grit sandpaper will deglaze the pad.
As for what to do with the dealership, we need more information. Did the car come with any sort of warranty, or was it “as-is?” If it was as-is, then the Lexus guys were already nice to you when they turned the rotors. You don’t get free maintenance for life just because you bought a used car from them.
The dealership that told you you could have destroyed the brakes in 2500 miles is correct. It’s very easy to jack up brakes in far fewer miles than that. It’s not a lie - they aren’t with you when you drive and have no way of knowing whether or not you drive like that. And they hear customers lie to them claiming its all the dealership’s fault all the time.
At any rate, brake pads and rotors are a maintenance item and are generally not covered under warranties except in special circumstances. In my opinion you should take the car to a local independent mechanic, tell him what’s going on, and see what he thinks you should do.
Are they saying all four rotors have hot spots?
If it’s one or two it could be bad calipers.
Take it somewhere you can drive at a steady speed a couple miles then coast down without using the brakes.
Then carefully feel the wheels. Do any feel warmer than the others or hot?
Good ideas above. Another to consider is the car at some point before you purchased it had the wheel lug nuts installed too tightly. This will warp the rotors, creating high and low spots.
If I had the problem you are experiencing I wouldn’t argue about it with the vendors any more. Its a used cars, and used cars have these kinds of problems. Since they are unwilling to budge, get you and your car to a well recommended inde shop and ask them to replace the rotors and pads with new ones. And to not use a power tool to install the wheels, but instead have one of their techs carefully hand torque the lug nuts in the correct sequence.
Whenever I have new tires installed, the first thing I do is loosen then retighten (with a torque wrench) all the lug nuts. Most every time I find they were installed too tight.
Sometimes the solution can be as simple as applying anti-squeal grease to the backsides of the brake pads.
http://m.autopartswarehouse.com/brake_anti_squeal_paste~pop.html
Unfortunately some shops won’t bother trying this because they’d rather sell you new pads and/or rotors.
Hot spots on rotors and drums is an indication that the metallurgy has actually changed, in that particular spot
You can machine them on the brake lathe, and get them looking great . . .
But those spots will return . . . they’re not only hot spots, but they’re also hard spots
I’m speaking from experience
When encountering this situation, best off just replacing the rotor/drum. Replace the hardware, if there’s any doubt, make sure sliders are lubed, and make sure the caliper piston is not stuck
And yes, the thinner the rotor, the greater the
chance the rotor will develop those spots, or warp
let me clarify “thinner” . . . the more material you remove on the lathe, the greater the chance those things will happen
If the Awesome town (AKA Valencia) Lexus is willing to fix it for free, I will let them do the work, but you have to be more critical this time. I question the rear brake diagnosis by the Kia dealer, to me it sounds like they just want to do more work. I think you are better off finding a good independent mechanic and get a second opinion, esp if they are not doing the repairs under warranty.
Silver bullets are rare these days and if faced with the OP’s complaint I would insist on a complete brake job on the front and rear axles. A shop could go broke making nickel and dime shots at correcting problems that have so many possible causes that cannot be determined other than trial and error.