Brake Rotors and Pads replaced under warranty

[saberz]

Well, most of you know I replaced my rotors and pads at 30k, and just had them done again at 33k. My buddy who is a mechanic warrantied them to the auto parts store he gets his stuff from.

Taking off the rear rotors, wow ugly(i have a pic i'll post soon). Basically both sides of the rears had only half of the brake pad making contact with the rotor. The top half of the pad touched the rotor, bottom half made no contact. Rear side of the rotor on the bottom half had rust as no contact was made, front had scorching/glazing. Pads were glazed over.

Turns out my parking brake didn't fully release and one of my slide pins wasn't lubricated enough(and I did lubricated it before but again it was stiff). He cleaned up the calipers and really gave the slide pins a work out. Front rotors were warped, can't really say why as I do an easy 3-4 miles to work in the morning, no traffic, just back roads at 35mph.

I just can't figure out how they went. Gave the rotors a good bedding, so hope they will be able to last for more. Last time I didn't bed them in, normally I don't need to but see how it goes.

 

[JustinH]

Most brake rotor warranties are very specific, they don't replace for anything but defect.

They consider warped rotors to be the consumers problem.

 

[dparm]

[censored], that is terrible.

 

[The Critic]

This is exactly why in situations like this, all of the hardware should be replaced.

If new hardware (pins, bushings and clips) were installed at the time of the brake job, this would not have happened.

 

[saberz]

Well typically i've never had to get it done the clips are always replaced, the pings I've never had to worry about. Warranty was pushed through because of the long standing relationship between his supply store and his shop. They've been in business together for some 40 years(shop was his fathers, and now his). They are also the shop I had my Bendix pads always replaced as they were lifetime exchanges. Great shop.

Everything else was in top shape, just the one pin, which was tested to be working and fine after the lube job. Parking brake was adjusted and corrected and it seems like the pads are touching all the rotor now after bedding.

 

[eljefino]

I've had great luck returning warped rotors under warranty. I think very few people have second cars so they can take the duds off and bring them over. So the odd rotor return doesn't get on anyone's radar.

 

[doitmyself]

No offense to your mechanic buddy,but it seems that maybe he botched the original brake job and "warranteed" the mistake out of common courtesy to you and to save face.

The fact that you still had a sticking pin in the rear is an obvious sign of a "pad slap" job. Why the fronts messed up is a mystery.

Maybe he has a good relationship with his jobber and did warranty the parts. Or, maybe he just accepted responsibility and "ate" the parts cost because it was the right thing to do. At least he made it right, so good for him.

 

[SAATR]

Brake parts' warranties are an issue even for those that sell them. Most employees (and customers) are under the impression that pads or rotors with a "lifetime warranty" are guaranteed never to wear out and will be replaced with a fresh set as they wear out ad infinitum. The warranty (as previously stated by JustinH) is in fact extremely limited (and is usually stated as such, e.g. limited lifetime warranty) and only covers defects in the workmanship and construction of the product. If a pad separates from its backing plate, it is covered. If it is poorly machined and will not fit the caliper, it is covered. If it starts squeaking, creaking, rattling or simply wears out, it is NOT covered. Brake pads are a wear item, ie they will wear out over the life of the vehicle, and a manufacturer would have to be daft to offer a true "lifetime replacement guarantee" on a wear item without charging an exorbitant price to cover replacements for said item.

That being said, most pads that wear out or fail to live up to a typical driver's NVH standards aren't defective, and the culprit is usually a failure of some other component in the braking system, be it a stuck slide pin or caliper piston, improperly surfaced rotor, overtorqued lug nuts, poorly lubricated backing plates, worn out wheel bearing, etc etc. I have been in auto repair and auto parts for many years, and have yet to see a truly "failed" brake pad. That's not to say that they do not occur, but only that they are sufficiently rare that I have never personally seen one.

Note that none of this is an attack on the OP or anybody else, but simply a statement of fact. I see situations such as this on a daily basis and often have the onerous task of explaining the way these warranties really work to an upset customer, and then calling a meeting to explain, yet again, the warranty on brake pads.

Anies, if you have a shop that is willing to keep exchanging the pads, keep them! That's wonderful from a consumer's standpoint, but it's obvious that parts salesman either doesn't know or doesn't care how the warranty really works.

 

[doitmyself]

Autozone is one place that I know of that still has the old-time type warranty that even covers wear on their house brand pads and shoes.

 

[saberz]

I do the work with him, its a way for me to learn. I am the one that lubed the pin and it went in flawlessly, but probably didn't lube it well enough. My buddy does good work, and has always done it with care and precision. The rotors initially were fine, and then after 1500 miles blam. Parking brake wasn't fully disengaged and probably from low usage. Some parking mechanism's stick if not used frequently.

In either case it was taken care of. He's a child hood buddy and is honest, grew up together and hook each other up. Me with PC work and him with Auto work.


Thing with the warranty is that the auto store keeps it customers happy and they also come in and buy other things, at least thats one of looking at it. I've bought bundles of stuff and also picked up parts etc for my friend when he's strapped in the shop. That and he has leeway with them since he's the only repair shop that has their inventory system available in his shop. He can see what they have, cost of the part and order it. It's at his place in 15-30 minutes tops.

Most other places have to phone it in, pretty nifty to see them sharing their POS with him. All in all, i'm glad and hopefully won't go awry again with my granny braking to a stop.

 

[saberz]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Autozone is one place that I know of that still has the old-time type warranty that even covers wear on their house brand pads and shoes.



That is true, a g6 forum member keeps returning/exchanging them as the rotors warp(this was an issue with W-body Impala's 2000-2005). OEM rotors are garbage and after 2 sets on the Impala under GM warranty I gave up and went with my buddies shop. Bendix and never had issues since.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: Anies
My buddy does good work, and has always done it with care and precision....... In either case it was taken care of. He's a child hood buddy and is honest, grew up together and hook each other up. Me with PC work and him with Auto work.......

Thing with the warranty is that the auto store keeps it customers happy and they also come in and buy other things, at least thats one of looking at it.


Well then, I retract all the false assumptions I made. Shame on me. Sometimes "poo" just happens, and I know that from personal experience.

It sounds like you have a fantastic relationship with both the mechanic and the supplier and that is worth it's weight in gold. I try to culture the same relationship with everyone I work with when feasible. I have a awesome semi professional home mechanic to help me and I treat him with great respect.

Again, my apology for making a bad assumption. Keep us posted. Maybe you have other brake issues...bad calipers, bad/pinched brake lines not releasing, etc..

Best Regards.

 

[saberz]

No need to apologize bud, was just stating the relationship I have with him. I've had oopsies from dealerships and other shops, and I usually goto him when he has time. I try to not pester him to much since he has a business to run, but I trust him with most everything.

 

[sciphi]

Glad to see everything's being made right!

AutoZone's "house parts" warranty on brake parts is pretty nice. I mean, wear on the brake pads? Sweet, that's free ceramic brake pads for the next few years. It's a good deal considering their Cmax Gold ceramic pads are excellent pads.

 

[XCELERATIONRULES]

Highway braking will do that to rotors.
I'm rough with my brakes,and expect to change rotors at each brake job.

 

[saberz]

Yeah but after 2-3k miles? I am very rarely on the highway, and Saturday was when I had enough of it, was driving me nuts and making the ride tiresome. Can't just enjoy the ride when you gotta fight wobble/shimmies.

They should make diamond/titanium rotors.

 

[sciphi]

Those would still warp. There'd be something to make them warp...

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Autozone is one place that I know of that still has the old-time type warranty that even covers wear on their house brand pads and shoes.



That is true, a g6 forum member keeps returning/exchanging them as the rotors warp(this was an issue with W-body Impala's 2000-2005). OEM rotors are garbage and after 2 sets on the Impala under GM warranty I gave up and went with my buddies shop. Bendix and never had issues since.



I bought some Duralast Gold pads recently. I specifically asked the counter guy if the warranty covers them just wearing out. yes was the answer.

 

[SAATR]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Originally Posted By: Anies
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Autozone is one place that I know of that still has the old-time type warranty that even covers wear on their house brand pads and shoes.



That is true, a g6 forum member keeps returning/exchanging them as the rotors warp(this was an issue with W-body Impala's 2000-2005). OEM rotors are garbage and after 2 sets on the Impala under GM warranty I gave up and went with my buddies shop. Bendix and never had issues since.



I bought some Duralast Gold pads recently. I specifically asked the counter guy if the warranty covers them just wearing out. yes was the answer.


I would get that in writing, or an official copy of the AutoZone brake pad warranty policy.

 

[musicmanbass]

That's the AZ policy. Ask any AZ employee next time you're in. Pads wear out... bring them in... get new pads!

I, nor any of my dozen or so friends that do their own brake jobs, have never had a problem getting brakes replaced at the Zone. I have been there and watched them take back stuff they NEVER should have taken back just to make customers happy. Kinda' crazy if you ask me, but that's the Zone.