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Am I getting hosed by dealer's service dept (warped brake rotors)?


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I'm a low-mileage driver. I've *just* put ~22,500 miles on my 2016 Legacy at the 30 month mark (bought in early Feb 2016). But I want to keep to the service schedule as best I can, so I brought the car in for its 'overdue' 24m/24k service, and plan on bringing it in for the 30m/30k service in the next two months or so (when the car should probably be at ~24-25k).

 

My question is, that in the course of the inspection process, they found my front rotors were minorly warped - evidently no more than 1mm, but that that warping was causing quite a lot of heat to be generated. I asked the service rep if that presented a danger to the car, and he said that it didn't, but that prudence demanded they be *replaced*, and not to worry, that such a repair would be covered under warranty. Again, key word there, *replaced*.

 

So I blocked out a period of time where I could leave the car at the dealership, and just picked it up today.

 

Let this be a lesson to always *read* your invoice.

 

1. The brake rotors were not replaced, they were *resurfaced*.

2. They did not put new pads on the rotors. Pads aren't that expensive, and while I'm not a mechanic, I know enough about cars that generally when you're doing a warranty replacement, you usually just put new pads on as a matter of common courtesy and logic. The reason I know the pads weren't replaced was that the service rep was quite 'helpful' in telling me that my pads "only have ~10-15k left on them."

3. My Legacy is my first AWD car, so it would stand to reason that when you replace the brake rotors, you should replace *all* of them, because otherwise you're going to have uneven wear between them, which is a bad thing which would only ensure my car would spend *more* time in the service center. Only the *front* rotors were serviced.

 

Am I being illogical here?

 

Lastly, upon hearing my rotors had been warped, I hit up carcomplaints.com and noticed that while the complaints are few, that there *are* NHTSA records about brake issues with the 2016 Legacy. Anyone else 'chewing' through pads and rotors? I'm not a brake checker/rider, either - so I've no clue how they could've gotten screwed up so fast, so soon.

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I'm a low-mileage driver. I've *just* put ~22,500 miles on my 2016 Legacy at the 30 month mark (bought in early Feb 2016). But I want to keep to the service schedule as best I can, so I brought the car in for its 'overdue' 24m/24k service, and plan on bringing it in for the 30m/30k service in the next two months or so (when the car should probably be at ~24-25k).

 

My question is, that in the course of the inspection process, they found my front rotors were minorly warped - evidently no more than 1mm, but that that warping was causing quite a lot of heat to be generated. I asked the service rep if that presented a danger to the car, and he said that it didn't, but that prudence demanded they be *replaced*, and not to worry, that such a repair would be covered under warranty. Again, key word there, *replaced*.

 

So I blocked out a period of time where I could leave the car at the dealership, and just picked it up today.

 

Let this be a lesson to always *read* your invoice.

 

1. The brake rotors were not replaced, they were *resurfaced*.

2. They did not put new pads on the rotors. Pads aren't that expensive, and while I'm not a mechanic, I know enough about cars that generally when you're doing a warranty replacement, you usually just put new pads on as a matter of common courtesy and logic. The reason I know the pads weren't replaced was that the service rep was quite 'helpful' in telling me that my pads "only have ~10-15k left on them."

3. My Legacy is my first AWD car, so it would stand to reason that when you replace the brake rotors, you should replace *all* of them, because otherwise you're going to have uneven wear between them, which is a bad thing which would only ensure my car would spend *more* time in the service center. Only the *front* rotors were serviced.

 

Am I being illogical here? YES

 

Lastly, upon hearing my rotors had been warped, I hit up carcomplaints.com and noticed that while the complaints are few, that there *are* NHTSA records about brake issues with the 2016 Legacy. Anyone else 'chewing' through pads and rotors? I'm not a brake checker/rider, either - so I've no clue how they could've gotten screwed up so fast, so soon.

 

 

Where would you get the idea that all four rotors need to be service because of AWD?

 

It's true that all 4 tires need to be within a certain spec of each other, but no such thing when it comes to rotors.

 

They resurfaced the rotors for free, why do you think you're entitled to new pads if nothing is wrong with them?

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It would stand to reason that the reason the pads only have 10-15k left on them is because of whatever caused the rotors to warp, and said warping might've accelerated the wear of the brakes. If, then, because of, basically.

 

The service rep I talked to initially said the rotors needed to be flat out replaced, and instead they were resurfaced.

 

As for replacement of all four rotors, if that's not the case, all the better, as I'd imagine that'd mean I'd spend more time without the car.

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Are you sure the rotors were warped rather than just having pad deposits on them? If you are a very light braker, you are likely to leave pads deposits on your pad. This can cause brake peddle pulsing like a real warped rotor. First thing to do next time this happens is to bring the car up to 60 or so and brake HARD down to 15 mph or so. Do this 3-4 times. If you do have deposits, this will rid you of them and there will be no pulsing through your peddle.

 

If that doesn't work, the shop can test for runout on the rotor to see if it is really warped.

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I noticed some 'feedback' when I applied brakes, but just assumed it was ABS. They were very vague in describing the problem - they told me there was a 1mm warp on one of the rotors - both were resurfaced - and that they were getting very hot (which no doubt caused the warping).

 

But I never felt anything anomalous.

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front brakes do most of the braking, whether the car is front or rear or AWD, and explains why they usually place larger rotors in the front, or why cheaper cars have rotors in the front and drum brakes in the rear.

 

I haven't been to my dealer since I bought the car, but if they offered to turn the rotors that is a reasonable thing for them to do, they might have offered to let you buy new pads at that time, but it sounds like you will get a year out of the old ones.

 

FWIW if I was keeping the car, and the brakes needed servicing, I don't bother trying to turn the rotors, I just buy aftermarket rotors and pads and put them on in my garage.

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Rotors do not magically warp by themselves unless you routinely run the car through a car wash after driving for a prolonged period of time.

 

A guide pin could be sticking or the pads could be stuck in the hardware.

 

 

Yeah, and that's just the thing - I was given no information on *why* it was happening, even after they resurfaced the rotors.

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These days with the price of rotors being less expensive I would never resurface the rotors. You will have warped rotors in much less time now that they are thinner.

 

Plus you are paying for labor to run those rotors out when that money could be spent toward new rotors. Just my two cents but those lathes are used less and less these days.

 

"minorly warped" I am guess that you felt the brakes pulsating?

 

What kind of pads are you using semi-metallic, non-asbestos organic, low-metallic or ceramic? Something heated those puppies up.

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Yep --- pretty much agree on this one.

 

Rotors do not magically warp by themselves unless you routinely run the car through a car wash after driving for a prolonged period of time.

 

A guide pin could be sticking or the pads could be stuck in the hardware.

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These days with the price of rotors being less expensive I would never resurface the rotors. You will have warped rotors in much less time now that they are thinner.

 

Plus you are paying for labor to run those rotors out when that money could be spent toward new rotors. Just my two cents but those lathes are used less and less these days.

 

"minorly warped" I am guess that you felt the brakes pulsating?

 

What kind of pads are you using semi-metallic, non-asbestos organic, low-metallic or ceramic? Something heated those puppies up.

 

The poster didn't pay for anything, it was done under warranty.

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True. But IMHO the dealer should have just put new rotors on the darn car. The labor (dealer cost) to turn down the rotors is probably close to their (dealer) cost for new rotors.

 

Of course I know people who feel that even new rotors should be put on the machine to make sure they are exact.

 

All the dealer did for free was make a rotor with less meat on it and a thinner rotor and making it warp quicker.

 

I know a guy that once upon a time he owned a car that used ceramic pads and wow did that chew through the pads / rotors. It was a new car, a company lease car so he didn't need to pay the invoices.

 

The age of this car should not be having such brake issues. Is the owner heating up those rotors and then driving / sitting through deep water? I doubt it --- so there is something going on around the rotor, sticking pin, pistons that are not working well.

 

Free is not necessarily free if you have to take your time to go through this again.

 

 

The poster didn't pay for anything, it was done under warranty.
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Am I being illogical here?

 

Subaru's sole obligation under warranty is to repair or replace (at their option) parts that are defective or fail prematurely. They have no obligation to replace serviceable items that might fail during the warranty period.

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." ~ The Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)

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Ok, even if I had to pay out of pocket for them, I still would have popped for the new rotors. So now when these thinner rotors warp, next time labor, et al will quite possibly be on the owner.

 

At least with the current warranty arrangement labor was on Subaru. In fact the dealer would have been happier because the rotors had to be removed, they wouldn't have had to spend labor time cutting the rotors and dealer would have come out better.

 

Subaru's sole obligation under warranty is to repair or replace (at their option) parts that are defective or fail prematurely. They have no obligation to replace serviceable items that might fail during the warranty period.
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Ok, even if I had to pay out of pocket for them, I still would have popped for the new rotors. So now when these thinner rotors warp, next time labor, et al will quite possibly be on the owner.

 

At least with the current warranty arrangement labor was on Subaru. In fact the dealer would have been happier because the rotors had to be removed, they wouldn't have had to spend labor time cutting the rotors and dealer would have come out better.

 

That's not how it works. :rolleyes:

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Yep. If you can replace pads, you can replace rotors. I remember the days of drum brakes and the springs, the tools needed, etc. and they could be a PITA. Unless something has been neglected, the pads are normally a piece of cake.

 

 

QUOTE=chowser51;5823780]It takes a few minutes to swap rotors. Just save some time and money and do it yourself.

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I'm sitting at 82k on the original rotors and pads, that's crazy you are already having problems.

I was told by another dealership just yesterday that "all it takes is one sudden stop." I'm not a brake-happy driver, so I'm honestly mystified that this happened as well. I know you sometimes roll low when it comes to MTBF, but the car only has ~22.8k miles on it.

 

As for this happening again, I've got the 7y/70k Gold Plus Warranty. If/when this happens again, I'm going to dig my heels in and demand new rotors.

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