I bought a used Volkswagen Passat. The previous owner had recently changed the brake discs and pads. He showed me the old brake pads (photo). They look oddly broken. I’ve never seen anything like this. what has happened there? I hope the newly installed brake pads are ok.
Cheap brake pads.
Tester
1 Like
Yeah, hope he used better replacements. I’d keep an eye on all the pad thicknesses, make sure they’re wearing evenly, make sure there’s not a stuck caliper involved.
2 Likes
I’ve never seen wear like that w/either brake pads or brake shoes. Have to worry a little about the current pad’s provenance as well. Suggest to ask the prior owner for the current pad’s brand name, the box they came in, sales receipt, etc. Once you obtain that info, you are welcome to post it here for more ideas. The suggestion here may be to immediately replace the pads again, with a name-brand, or set from a VW dealership. .
I personally don’t see a good reason why the previous owner showed a picture of the old brake pads
1 Like
Yes, I still know why he showed something like that? Do they perhaps look like this if they are dismantled by force?
Cheap brake pad friction material can crumble like that after exposed to extremely high temperatures (overheated). Did you buy a race car?
On the other end of the spectrum, our 3 year old Powerstop Carbon Fiber/ceramic pads are still going strong. We’ve matted them up (for the time being) with the Motorcraft smooth rotors and stock FoMoCo calipers. We’ve reached a point where the 3 year old rotors are showing extreme signs of rust so we’re going to finally replace them with the Powerstop smooth coated 320mm rotors.
Do you drive on the beach with ocean spray?
Rust on the rotor surfaces is normal.
Tester
No but we do live in Maryland… Plus these FoMoCo rotors have about had it after only three years of use.
Include a photo of the “extreme signs of rust” Perhaps you are not the best judge of this…
I live in Virginia between the James River, the York River, and just off the Chesapeake Bay and not one of my five vehicles is having an issue like you indicate…
All brake rotors will have a layer of rust, it is normal for untreated steel. If the vehicle is not driven for several days, even the rotor surface that the brake pads contact will get surface runs. Drive it a short distance, applying the brakes several times (preferably in a parking lot or lightly used street), and the surface rust will be quickly removed…
If the vehicle has not been used for a longer period, several months or longer, the disks might need a light sanding, but again in most cases, simply driving it will take care of the problem.
You do realize that vehicles in the Northern states that have harsh winters and lots of salt on the roads are not having to replace their rotors every three years?
And one more point to scare the Cr@p out of you, if you replace the rotors with “inexpensive” (cheap…) rotors, some aftermarket rotors contain a lot less steel (less mass where the air vents between the two braking surfaces…) so they do not dissipate heat as quickly and are more prone to brake fade…
Now, this Rotor might need replacing, but I would try sanding it first… L 
L…
Not rusting like that which is in your photo, but the rust is very heavy within the center vented area between the two disks and of course the hub area. We’re going with the coated powerstop rotors very soon. Just don’t like how this looks when we’ve clean the Bilstein B6 struts, added the new Super-pro end links and new wheels and all this to top it off with rust covered rotors…
Isn’t that actually a drum brake?
Rust in the vanes is normal. If the rotor has rusted the outer 1/2 inch or more of the place where the pads rub… THAT is a rusted rotor.
The coated Powerstop rotors will NOT eliminate this, only delay is some. Trust me, I have personal experience in a rust belt state with this.
My guess, seller was offering up some proof to a potential buyer (you) the brake pads had been replaced. In other words, was attempting to do you a favor. If I were the seller however, given the old pad’s condition, I’d have show you a photo of the new pads being installed … lol … that sort of damage happens to the friction material on clutches too. The material has to be pretty tough, but it isn’t infinitely tough. The weak spot for friction material is very high heat. For example, you can rub your hands together slowly for an hour or more and not cause much in the way of skin damage. But if you rub them together very fast, you may get major skin damage in less than a minute.
Are you referring to the LoL Photo I included above? I Google and Googled looking for a disc rotor that was really, really rusted up, even looked at car photos recovered in police photos and none came up. So I went with the joke photo, it’s a submerged WWII war relic and the photo did not say from whose country, (US, Brit, Canada, Australian, Japanese, German, etc…) no hint, not even where it was located…
If you look closely, it is still installed on the vehicle and the tire is still visible… So, actually, it is probably some mechanism for engaging drive on this multi-drive vehicle and there is probably a drum somewhere under all that rust…