So i was at a acura dealer of valley stream about two month ago. I was told by the tech that my car needed two new front brake pads ASAP. BTW my cars 08 TL-s. I was suprised that i needed new brake pads at 10,000 miles. I hardly ever use my brake. According to the tech, i had about 3mm left which equals to about 500 miles prior to replacing the pads. I was quoted $420 for replacing and resurfacing the front brakes. So today I went to a local mechanic with my new set of brembo brake pads that i had purchased from ebay. According to my local mechanic, i've only used 50% of my brake pads. He said i still have about 4 to 5000 miles left. I was kind of skeptical thinking that my dealer wouldn't try to scam me. So the mech removed the pads that were on my car and compared them to the brand new set of brake pads. He was right, i only used up about 50% of the brake pads. So the dealer tried to pull a fast one on me. Can i report this to HONDA/ACURA corp?

 

Yes u can and you should report them. I bought an 05 TL from them and they have been trying to rip me off from day one with brakes and resurfacing and emissions and gas flushes and all this other crap, not to mention they damaged my car when it went in for a failed transmission. They were nice enough t fix everything and always be courteous but the amount of time and headache and gas spent on driving back and forth to valley stream is not worth it. If i could, i would take my car somewhere else but valley is the closest one to me. i've reported them to honda corp many times for thier bad service.

 

So how do you stop?

And yes, you can report them if you'd like.

And your mechanic needs to brush up on his math. If you have 50% left on your pads after 10k, you have more than 4-5k left on them.

 

true.

but just a piece of info for the OP. i have an 08 TL-S also and my pads need changing. im currently at 12500 miles

 

I hardly use my brake as in I don't slam on the brake just because a car ahead of me thats 500 ft away is slamming on their brake. Obviously on local road i'm using my brakes but on highway, you don't necessary have to use your brakes if theres no traffic. Lets not get technical here. My mech said somewhere around 60-40%. He's telling me to check the pads after i hit about 5K miles whether i need new set of brakes.
BTW you guys think i need a new rotor when i only have 11K on my car? When is a good time to get new rotors?

 

talk to the original dealer service manager- not corp, management needs to know what the techs are telling the service writers--and what the writer is selling the customer

ask how the tech determined the pad remaining,(probably visually) and then tell the story of the new brembo pads
Min thickness on most pads is 2mm of material remaining, BUT they are working less efficiently long before that. Once they lose thickness- so goes the ability to shed heat--makes for increased stopping distance etc
Doesnt matter how you drive- every push of the pedal causes wear- thats normal
Slow dragging stops in 35mph to stop uses more pad than a series of 20mph speed lessening moves when at 80 and diving for the offramp
Do NOT use the trans to slow the car in normal driving!!- brakes are cheap when you compare clutch replacement price of $2500+ on the gen3 TL

 

rotors should be fine at 11, not even an edge ridge or any wobble-
just needs cleaning the rotors of old pad material and toss in new pads

If the rotors are grooved or warped then you resurface, understanding there is lifespan being cut away from the rotor when you do so

 

you dealer is just doing what they are trained to do, they arent trying to rip you off....

the dealership uses different standards for replacing and servicing items then your local service shop for liability reasons ofcourse...i dont usually agree with the dealer, but i dont go telling every one that they are trying to rip me off....

 

I go to Acura of Valley Stream for service all the time, and if the Service Manager is there I always say hello.

His name is Norman and he's been professional and helpful every time. Give him a ring.

 

I agree with this... I still dont understand why people do this.. My cousin used to do this all the time when he had a 2001 celica GTS .. go figure he blew up his tranny 2x!! After that he traded it in and stopped doing that.. Is it cool to do that? lollol I can understand doing that if you brakes fail, but other wise I do not see the point..

 

I don't use the trans to slow the car. Just knowing when to accelerate and when not to accelerate is what i meant by not using my brakes too often. I lift my foot from the gas in advance when i know the car ahead of me is going to brake. BTW i dont drive stick, my cars auto.

 

$ 420.00 is expensive, but typical Acura dealer pricing.

Figure 2 hours at $120.00 per hour and around $150. for your TL-S brake pads. The TL base model pads are around $50.

Even with liability concerns, it sounds like something is a little fishy
about the dealer's recommendation since your mechanic claims you
have 50 percent left. Too big of a disparity here......

You would need new rotors only if they were warped or were resurfaced too many times.

 

If you have good throttle control and drive a 6spd MT downshifting to slow down does NOT wear your clutch that much.

A perfectly rev-matched downshift wears your clutch as much as a normal upshift which is totally negligible. It's when people downshift and don't rev-match at all that causes premature wear on the clutch pad.

 

that's exactly what i do...and i see all these idiots on the highway rushing ahead to brake for the next clump of traffic.

 

Acura of Valley stream is perhaps the worst dealer I ever dealt with...was going to buy my TLS from them...made the deal, came back next day with a Cashiers check for full amt and all of sudden all sorta fees and BS came out...asked for the papers we made up back, ripped them up and walked away.

 

As far as the dealership is concerned, maybe it's worth going to another one that's farther away if you know they're going to rip you off. I'd rather spend the extra $10 on gas getting there than the extra $100 in nonexistent fees.

As far as the whole debate about braking and engine braking, your brakes are there for a reason. If you need to stop, use the brakes, not the transmission. very simple. The only time engine braking should be used is maybe when going downhill for a great distance to reduce brake fade. But otherwise, use the freaking pads. They're cheap. Clutches are NOT.

 

needless downshifting approaching a red light was what I meant- use the brakes

I drive an auto trans gen2, many use the SS mode and downshift as a slowing device..with our well known weak clutch packs, and that being needless wear

On gen3 there have been reports of 6M/Tclutch wearout at 16k miles from younger drivers -24 and up from moderate drivers...commute traffic stop and go-deadly!
better keep your foot off the clutch in N when stopped

 

absolutely!
use the trans in a lower gear when going down long hills-
save the brakes for when it gets too much speed building up,,reduce speed with a quick application and keep driving--dragging the brakes in that situation never lets them cool off- give them some breathing time between heavy or prolonged use or they wont be there at the bottem of the hill when you really need them bad

If there are Yellow signs that say `Trucks Use Low Gear` 6% downgrade- you may want to drop it down to 3rd and have some fun on the curves

Hint- you dont want to take a TL into the gravel trap runaway truck area!!

 

As for dealer and pad thickness-
has the OP contacted the dealer to establish what their `shop minimum thickness` is- and how the pads are checked?
A good tech can look thru access/viewing ports for just that purpose, and check the pad wear indicator/cooling slots for depth remaining- and visual the rotors for uneven wear or hot spots beyond normal heat bands

While 2mm is the manufactures absolute Min thickness- at which point the brakes are not useable at all,,
the dealers min may be 4mm because they find letting it go below that and the customer will drive it until the squeeler tabs gouge the rotors,,
fix it sooner rather than past the last possible minute- so you maintain best brakes at all times.
The brembos are awesome- keep them up to that spec

 

My OEM Pads = TOAST at 19k

StopTech Pads = Toast at 31K (12k)