Took my car to the local dealer for an oil change and asked them to check my brakes because the steering wheel vibrated a bit when braking. So he calls back and says we cut your rotor "just a little" and replaced the pads under warranty. Is it a bad thing that they had to cut my rotors down? Will I have to replace the rotors sooner than normal?

 

I think he means they turned your rotors (which is to smooth em out by polishing them on a machine).

I think you're a victim of warped rotors. How old is your car?

 

You are a victim of the warped rotors...As lot of us have had this and the rotors were turned more than once...
There apparently are defective pads and they wear the rotors down. I bi+ched enough to get new ones instead of turning them again...
Your rotor life has indeed decreased...

 

I've had my car for 10 weeks now and it's a 2003 TLS so if this happens again I should demand new rotors?

 

So not only should she get new pads but new rotors as well?

 

ASking for stuff from dealers is iffy. But if you have to get your rotors shaved again, i would definately ask for new rotors.

 

Hey, it won't hurt to try. Better yet, lets hope I don't have the problem anymore.

 

Now that your pads are replaced, you likely won't have problems...
I don't know the exact, but say a rotor was last 80k miles. You can usually turn them twice and it is okay. Say that is like at 27 and 54k miles...If you had to turn them at 7500 miles, you essentially just lost out on about 20k miles of use...
You could argue if you have to now replace them at 60k miles that the defective pads caused the original turn early, so you should only have to pay 75% of the cost of new rotors...They'll usually buy into something like that since you simply had them turned...
I just bi+ched enough up front about this to go ahead and get new rotors...

 

Do most of you take your cars into service at the dealer where you bought the car?

When do you STOP taking it to the dealer and into the neighborhood mechanic? After the warranty is up?

 

My dealer is cool about service. You get free oil changes and $79 7500 mile service checks when you get the regular 30/60/90 stuff done there...
I choose the dealer simply because I abuse the car. If I drove it like something normal, I wouldn't be all over the service. I had Toyota's in the past and never used the dealer for service...
I suppose it just depends. If you drive it daily, and don't abuse it, I really wouldn't see a need...

And before the rest of you chime in, no, I'm not doing routine stuff myself. I'd rather pay and spend my time playing...