Why are rotors consistenly failing way too soon?

LChase
Sat, 18 May 2013 02:17:54 +0000
Maintenance/Repairs

We have a 2001 Toyota Solara we bought in 2003 with 30K miles. Our issues with front brake rotors began after we installed new front rotors at 173K. 25K miles and 18 months later we brought the car into the shop b/c of a significant shaking/pulsing/shimmy when braking. We were told that the rotors were warped and appeared to have been under constant braking b/c they appeared to have turned blue/hot. On the shop’s suggestion we installed new rotors. 10K miles and 6 months later (209K) the same issue returned. Upon returning to the shop they agreed to resurface the rotors at no charge. Now at 221K miles the exact same issue and we are being told that we need new front rotors. It seems to me that there must be an underlying problem.

At no time do I recall constantly braking that would have turned the rotors blue/hot. Our driving patterns over the past 50K are the same as they were for the first 140K when we had no issues. The first set of rotors were installed shortly after we moved to Southern Oregon. While we live in a mountainous area our house and the places we drive are fairly flat so braking during normal driving is no different than when we lived in the Midwest.

Trying to find suggestions on why our front brake rotors are going bad so fast. Could it be a caliper issue? If so what should be checked? Poor quality rotors? If so what brands of rotors should we be asking for? Something else?

45 posts - 18 participants