1994-2002 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I brought the car back to the dealership today, which is Symes in Pasadena. Rich, the service manager spent time with me and we addressed some additional concerns. They then lifted my car and I looked at the brakes with Rich and the Saab service manager.
The front brake pads were over two times the thickness of the supporting plate. The back pads were a little less than a single-plate thickness. The rotors on front and back had "hot spots" scattered on the surface. The rust was not on the rotor surface itself, but on the edges, where there is quite a lot of rust which could be picked off with a screwdriver. I did not feel that the rust interfered with the rotor's integrity, but I am certainly not an engineer.
Based on this appearance, Rich backed up the mechanic and he said that he would recommend replacing the pads and rotors. He qualified this by saying that he operates in a very litigious environment and always must make a conservative recommendation, especially with brakes. Although he is aware that they do not see much rotor rust in Pasadena, he said that the amount of rust was not trivial and could interfere with the structural integrity of the rotor. He also said that the hotspots affect the integrity of the pad/rotor interface. He also said that although the front brake pads do not need to be replaced as they are, they always replace pads with rotor replacement.
I thought that this was a reasonable explanation. I elected to keep the rotors for now and replace only the rear brake pads. I did come into the dealership complaining that the brakes felt weak, and based on that and the condition of the components, I thought a recommendation of full replacement of pads and rotors was not unreasonable. The charge for the rear pads was about $200 with installation. Yes, I could have took the car back to Anders, but elected not to, although I will see him again.
This got me wondering how often rotors need to be replaced in Chicago and the salty north. I believe the car spent two winters only there (not with the previous leasee).
I'd welcome comments and other's experience, including from Anders.
posted by 205.184.7...
, Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:43:50
, Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:55:42
, Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:04:14, Fri, 11 Mar 2005 05:17:55, Fri, 11 Mar 2005 04:33:27, Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:26:19, Tue, 8 Mar 2005 15:59:09
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