joseph1976

Hey fellow TL-erS,
I have about 12800 miles on my 2002 TL-S.
She's starting to show a bit of wear and tears.
I noticed that my front tires have relatively less tread than rear tires, understandable 'cuz I've never rotated wheels.
Also, I can "feel" or I think I can "feel" the f-a-d-e on brakes. It wasn't too strong to begin with when I purchased the car on July 2001, now I have to put a bit more pressure on my foot to stop my car. I don't think I need to change or resurface them yet.

That's my wear and tear story. Now here are my questions.
I understand everyone has different driving habits and no two cars serve the same purpose. But i'd like to get some idea on your first changes. Being said that..

1. When did you first change tires?
2. When did you first resurface/change brakes?

p.s. is it normal for MAINT-REQUIRED light to come up @ 12800 miles? I understand it's a reminder that comes up @ certain miles. I don't recall seeing 12000~13000 miles on manual. Isn't it on 6000, 10000, & 20000 or something like that?

Thank you!

mp3coupe

joseph1976,
I rotate tires every 7,500 miles or less depending on wear...
Look at your rotors if they look like a mirror then have them resurfaced

"is it normal for MAINT-REQUIRED light to come up @ 12800 miles?"
Yes its preset nothing to worry about.....just a friendly reminder to give your money to the dealer

snapple

I get everything checked out when I go get my oil changed.

roadman

Check the brake fluid level, it would be very hard to detect your pads wearing down via pedal pressure. I have almost 50k on the stock tires. I rotated at 10k, and checked tire pressure then as well.

drcookie

I currently have 13,000 miles on my baby TL-S.
I rotate my tires everything 5,000 miles... when I change my oil.
Yes ... the front tires will wear out quicker since it is a FWD.
As far as the brakes, they still feel pretty good.

Southbound

I have 10K miles on my 02TLS. I rotated my tires at 7,500 miles. Yes, I noticed that the fronts had less tread than the rears, but they were wearing VERY evenly. I keep the tire pressure right at 32psi(cold) like the manual says. I check it at least once a month. They will usually lose 2-4lbs in a month, so it's important to check them monthly... not every 10K miles. Everything still feels really solid with the car... no rattles even! The tires and steering wheel track straight down the road with NO shimmy or vibration in the steering wheel from 0-120mph. The brakes still feel the same as day one. I admit that they have always felt a bit soft... but they have never changed. The car is a bit heavy and can take a bit more pressure to brake down. I drive the care fairly conservative. I have never laid scratch or smoked the brakes. From all of the warped rotor stories, I have tried to baby my brakes and anticipate stops.

So far, so good... No tranny problems either... crossing fingers!

phatratpak

12k+ and you haven't rotated your tires, are you kidding me? you need to do this, otherwise they will wear uneavenly... and greatly shorten the lifespan of your tires... I'm at almost 12k miles on my car, already had one oil change and tires rotated, drive halfway between regular and harsh, my car still flies and runs perrrrrfectly. No fade on my brakes and I do some serious highway driving sometimes needing to slow from 70mph to 20mph for traffic....

snapple

I let the dealer handle all that stuff. I'm just to lazy to go out and find a good shop to do it for me.