NYDesi80

Alright I have 18000, on my TL, and I bought it in the othe day due to warped rotors. Tech resurfaced the rotors for free, and then told me that I need new pads and wanted to charge me for them. I told him that I thought due to the warped rotors, it also causes uneven wear of the pads too, and it calls for the pads to be replaced. He told me that wasn't true, and at 18000 miles, its time for new pads anyways. I didnt change the pads at the dealer as the price was a total rip, something like 200 bux for just front pads and install, so I told them to put the original ones back on.

Now I just read the TSB over at Ray Laks Site, and it says the corrective action should be to re-surface the rotors and then replace the pads. I mean I started to get the vibration at 15000 miles, but just didnt get a chance to take the car in, or didnt realize that it was warped rotors. My question now is, arent' stock brake pads suppose to last longer than 18000 miles? And is the dealer not doing what he's suppose to and trying to get out of it?? Also they didnt resurface the rear rotors at all, is this normal?

Thanx guys, I was going to buy some OEM pads and replace them myself but if I dont have to spend that cash on pads, then I will go back and bitch.

wanker256

I just took my car to have its 15000 mile service. Although I didn't actually do the whole service (total ripoff but that's for another thread to bitch about), I did have them rotate my tires and check my brakes. When I looked at the service sheet when they were done, it said "All brakes at 75%".

I might add that I have never had any problems with warped rotors.

pmptx

If they wanted to charge you, they are the worst dealer in the world. It is an Acura issue not yours. If you would have paid, you would have been bending over to take it in the a#$.
Bring in the TSB, and tell them to do the job right.

pmptx

Forgot to mention, I took mine in at 35000 mi, and they resurfaced and replaced pads no problem.

wanker256

For good measure, I also just called my service advisor to ask about the typical lifetime of our OEM brake pads. He said it depends on how hard you drive/use your brakes. On Hondas he said that he's seen some people burn through their brakes at 9,000 miles and some other people only needing to replace their pads at the 45,000 to 55,000 mile mark. Since you have warped rotors, I'm sure that contributed greatly to the wearing of your brake pads. Or else you drive like a maniac, I don't know.

NYDesi80

Yeah I dont drive like a maniac, I obviously haev those occasional sprints, but when I brake I never brake hard, I always brake gentle as I dont like to make passengers in the car nausious.

Pmtx, when they re-surfaced your rotors, they resurface all your rotors and change all your pads.... front and rear?? And yeah, the 15000 mile servies is a bunch of bull shit, that is why I didnt do it myself.

Im going to call them up tommorow and bitch and schedule it when they do my oil change.

dj5

The TSB only tells the dealer what needs to be done to correct a problem.

It is up to the dealer to repair it at dealer cost or not. A lot of dealers will repair for the sake of Goodwill.

NYDesi80

From my understanding, they dont have to fork the bill for any TSB or Warranty repairs, they submit it to Acura and get paid for their work. So therefore, Dealers dont lose ne money, they prolly dont make much either, but the point is, if its their problem it should be fixed by them.

I honestly think they were bullshitting me, and I felt it but couldnt prove to them at the time with any facts, so therefore, i didnt wanna argue. But with facts and TSB .. I think I might give it a try.. ne one else have any input??

ResidualFreedom

If I were you I would tell the dealer that refused to replace the pads, that another dealership said that they typically replace pads when the rotors are re-surfaced. If the dealership wont, AT LEAST, do what other ACURA dealerships do, WHY THE HELL should you bring them any further business? Simple question, what will be the next thing they try to screw you with?? If another dealership won't question replacing pads when resurfacing rotors (typical of ACURA dealers), what other repairs are they planning to charge you with that another dealership wont???

Tell them you are going to get your warranty work done at another ACURA dealership, plus if you actually do go to another dealership, tell them that you are TRYING their dealership because of horrible customer service at another ACURA dealership. They love to take away business from their competitors, plus they tend to treat you better if they know that with bad service you will leave them too.

I paid $80 CAD for four pads from Acura, so that might be your only solution to this problem, dealerships usually stick to what they say, haven't heard a dealership go back on a repair yet. only about 50% of the cost, for me ..one time....out of many....with my truck.

goldendragon576

I'm so sick of the warped rotors and pads issue and dealing with the dealer, i just got new ones. at 25000 they replaced the rotors and pads and now 10k later they said I have to replace the whole thing but NOT under warranty! What's the difference if it was a new car and 10k miles later I went back with a brake problem? NOTHING! I hate the dealer!

LiQiCE

I've got almost 18K and my rotors started to warp. I could feel it mostly when the brakes heated up a lot ... like when I went on long trips (1+ hours). I took the car in for service on Monday and got them to do a few things, one of which was to resurface the rotors. No questions asked they looked at it, said the front and rear rotors both needed to be resurfaced and they replaced the pads for free. No problems at all ... No telling me "We'll only do this one time" or anything either, although they might tell me that if I try to take it in a 2nd time.

Anyways, I think the dealer did try to rip you off. Maybe they thought they could make an extra buck or two off of you by trying to sell you the pads for $200, instead of getting the warranty dollars from Acura. When I was at the dealership, the lady accidently handed me the sheet that has all the dollar amounts that they charged Acura for the warranty work. To resurface the rotors and replace the pads (parts and all) it was ~$200. So charging you $200 for the pads would have made them more money than just what Acura is doing. They may have even charged Acura the ~$200 and then tried to charge you the same $200. If you want to be an ass you could call Acura Corporate and tell them that you think they tried to double charged the work, once to Acura and once to you. (Acura Corporate probably can look up your service records and tell if they got charged for the pads). You should also be able to tell if they charged Acura for the pads as well ... The part number for the Front and Rear pads should be listed on the receiptl that you got from Acura.

fla-tls

I brought mine in at 14k and they resurfaced the front rotors and replaced the pads for free.

At about 30k I needed it again. They initially wanted to charge me for the rotors (could not be resurfaced again), pads and everything. I appealed to the service manager - who called the distirct manager - and they did it for free, but I had to pay for pads (less than $100).

It sounds to me like you're getting screwed left and right. It's time to raise that to their service manager (not a district mgr). I find it best to let them save face and work through it as best as they can and contact the Dist. mgr. directly.

You catch more flies with honey....

etxxz

little off topic, how do i know if my i have wrapped rotors? what are the simptoms?
NYDESI: you can get some nice AEM pads for a lot less...you can install yourself.

EddieXo

i took my car in at 15k for brakes and tranny then at 21k warped rotors again and now at 32k taking it back in for warped rotters and tranny again... lets see what happens this time around car should be going on monday the 3rd...

Whizzbomb

I took mine in at 15100 and they resurfaced and replaced the pads. I also handed them them a copy of the TSB, not sure if that had any effect.

As a rule of thumb, how many miles (under normal street condition) should rotors last?

Thanks,

Joe

fla-tls

That can vary quite a bit I imagine. The rotors on my former car were resurfaced once and never warped again. That was a '96 Altima, and I sold it to a friend with about 100k miles on it.

He's now got 120k on it and hasn't had to touch the rotors since.

LITypeS

Hey NYDESI which Acura dealership did you take your car to?

njtls

arent that pads the source of the warping?...i thought replacemnt was par tof the tsb

etxxz

WHAT does wrapping feel like?

just fron listening, if pads cost so much at the dealership, any aftermarket (aem, irotora,etc) are the solution.

fla-tls

Warping is most felt when you are braking from higher speeds. The steering wheel shakes in your hand as you brake to slow down.

shimbo519

My OEM pads lasted me 30k miles. Around that time, I switched out my pads and rotors (AEM pads and Raceconcepts Rotors, i dont recommend either). The AEM pads lasted no more than 10k miles. The rotors rust like a mofo, not just on the rotors itself, but along the edges. If you do switch out your rotors, i suggest Rotora rotors.

LiQiCE

This link has an explanation of how you should break in your new rotors/pads ... They claim if you do what they're saying that you shouldn't ever have warped rotors. Don't know how true this is though ...

http://stoptech.com/whitepapers/warped_rotors_myth.htm

Bxscig

Damn, is ValleyStream that bad? I gotta see what they say to me in a week or two then. I assume if it is on the TSB they should do it. Like you said, warranty work they get paid by Acura once they submit the claim. That is what happened when they fixed my fog light fogging.

NYDesi80

After reading all this, basically I need to go back and bitch. I should've done my research before I went, I guess learn from this mistake. If I had the TSB I would've just printed it out and brought it in.

Someone told me that they dont neccessarily have to replace the pads and they can just resurface the rotors and thas it. And I'm assuming if you do a lot of highway drivining, compared to a lot of city/local driving, your brakes should last a lot longer. And I do mostly a lot of highwya driving.

ABLUETYPES78

My dealer replaced my rotors and pads the 1st time at 15k, and then at 22k resurfaced and replaced pads...both times no hassle and no charge. My dealer is Paragon Acura....need i say more!!! Go back and bitch to them or call Acura Services!!

Ajay_RENAMED

Both my front pads and rotoros were replaced twice for free; once at 6k and again at 17k .

JGsTL-S

had to pay for my pads the second time.....Im calling client services to see if they will reimburse me...I swear I take this car in every month for something!!

dj5

I have talked with Acura client services before and they say pads are a normal wear item and they will not cover. However, if you don't ask you don't get so it's worth a try.

NYDesi80

Alright I just called up a bunch of dealers and here is the idea that I am getting from them all. First off, if you get your car serviced at that particular dealership regularly all the time, and you've spent money there for repairs other than free warranty work, including oil changes and major services, most dealerships will give you pads free of charge as a goodwill one time. If you only do oil changes and dont do services, basically not spending any money, then they will be less likely to extend that good will to you.

Most dealers, told me that our expectancy in the north east region for our brake pads is about 15k-20k miles. If you're in this range, they consider it the normal time for replacing brake pads and therefore wont be given a set for free. Also, if your brake pads show that you have less than 50% life left, that would mean, that the dealer won't get reimbursed for the pads from ACURA. ACURA will only give reimbursement to the dealer if the pads have more than 50% life on them. So this will play a major factor in deterimining weather or not you get a set of free pads from the dealer.

My case was I had 18k miles on the car and less then 50% life on my pads. Therefore they cut the rotors under warranty but didnt change the pads, as they said it was not under warranty. Also, I never got any of the major services preformed there, only oil changes, so they didnt see any reason to extend the goodwill to give me a set of free pads. However after arguing, they told me to come in and said they will give me a set of free front pads.

All in all, basically dealerships are just plain annoying to deal with and to me the life expectancy of our brakes are horrible. You have to talk your way if you want to get anything done. There is no set rule on what is suppose to be done, it is all left to the discretion of the dealer. For those guys who have had all 4 rotors cut and all 4 pads replaced under warranty, consider yourselves lucky, cuz its not that common. I would also like to kno from those people, how much money they've spent at that dealership and if it was a goodwill thing they did.

I would love to go aftermarket rotors and brakes, but since car is leased, I rather not do that, or else I might have picked up a set of IROTORS and Pads. Hope all this helps.

I'm Batman

I just had my brakes looked at because of a vibration. It turned out to be warped rotors. The tech said the original pads were fine with 65k miles on them. The rotors just needed to be turned.

ABLUETYPES78

NYDESI 80,

I only really have done Oil changes too at my dealership. I just had a wheel alignment done but this was after they resurfaced my rotors and replaced my pads. Its just comes down to each independent dealership and what they are willing to do. Like i mentioned before my dealership is Paragon. I have been bringing the car there since day one and have become friendly with the service guy. He had told me that when it comes to the rotors he can take care of it with no problem and no questions asked. So its probably a goodwill gesture each time.

NYDesi80

ABLUETYPES78,

You're right, its all a dealer thing, did you purchase your car from Paragon, or another dealership? Cuz Valley Stream Acura is not where I purchased my car from, my car was purchased from Manhattan Acura. I'm think this would play a factor also, into the good will gesture they extend to customers, for obvious reasons.

ABLUETYPES78

Yes i purchased it at Paragon and before my Acura, i had purchased a Civic at Paragon Honda...so this could play into it. But it also depends on the service guy, if he/she is an a**hole then your pretty much screwed and they will do nothing extra for you.

SoLo1183

I also purchased my car at paragon and when I brought it in for an oil change they told me that the rotors were warped. They said it would cost 980$ to replace them and the brake pads and that it is not covered under warranty because it is caused by normal wear and tear. I know Acura is aware of the problems with the rotors and that it should be covered under warranty. When I brought that up to the service guy he completely denied it. He pretended that he knew nothing about the TL's warped rotor problem and said it can only be caused by my driving habbits and that I should have replaced my brake pads earlier. When they asked me if they should go ahead and replace them now for 980$ after the oil change I told them I would have them done another time. Im planning on going back with the TSB report and try to convince them that it is under warranty. Does anyone know where can I get a copy of the TSB?