My wife's 2001 Accord has been having brake issues and I wonder whether I'm being taken by the dealer's mechanics.

We had the front and rear brakes pads replaced just under 29k miles. The car's now got about 45k miles and we took the car in for service because the brake light was on continuously. It turns out that the driver's side rear caliper hose was leaking. The service rep mentioned that the rear brake pads "needed replacing" again, and that the best time to replace the pads was whle the caliper hose was being replaced. I asked how much pad was left and the service rep couldn't tell me. So....

1. Is it common for these 6G Accords to have the rear brake pads replaced this soon? I'm more familiar with Acura TLs, since that is what I drive and am an enthusiast for these cars. Does the type of driving matter? My wife drives her car like a granny, and primarily in the city, not often on the freeway.

2. Is what the service rep is mentioning a reasonable request? Especially if he can't even tell me in what shape the brake pads are?

What questions should I be asking the mechanic?
TIA!

 

Did they ever replace or cut the rotors the first time around? If you put new brakes on bad rotors that will cause pad wear too. I'm not to sure about the caliper hose though, that might just be a fluke.

 

Dunno about whether it is normal for the rear to be replaced so soon, but even if the guy couldn't give you a percentage amount, he could have taken a caliper and measured the thickness of the brake pads. He should easily have given you some idea of how much pad material was left.

 

i have a 2001 accord ex coupe with 120k miles as my commuter. I am recently experiencing the same issue that you might be having. I keep seeing my brake light (I am referring to the brake light signal on your dash when you engage the parking parking brakes) on for some reason. I don't quite know what the issue is, but my car runs like a champ. I should take it in to correct it... but then again, I have so many miles. I might as well let it die and have an excuse to buy a new car. As for the brake pads, I've changed them about 40-50k miles ago. I'm not sure how your wife drives, but I drive it like I'm racing all the time and my brakes seem to be fine. I checked my pads about 2 weeks ago and they still look good.... There must be something else wrong with your wife's car....

 

i have an 02 accord and yes the stock brakes are horrible. my rotors warped at 8k miles, dealer resurfaced, then warped again at 10k. i ended up getting aftermarket pads/rotors put in instead.

never had the brake light come on though

 

Be it OEM or the current Brembo xdrill/Raybestos setup, my 99 Accord (now used by mother inlaw) never had any brake issues. (I experienced with my 02 Maxima what Infamous experienced with this 6G.)

 

Thanks for the comments, guys. Still waiting to hear from the service rep about the amount of pad left. The tubing fix is free as it's covered under the extended warranty. That's why I wondered whether the rep was making up extra work to get paid. We'll see tomorrow.

 

Honda brake pads SUCK. I've gone aftermarket because I was sick of replacing pad prematurely. Check tirerack for some ideas