Frustrated at cars

[drglinski]

Wife's car (2009 Pontiac Vibe) has been giving her problems as of late. We had brakes and rotors put on all 4 wheels last September (7K miles ago) and it's been grinding the rear. Upon inspection of pulling the wheel, one pad on the rear has been worn off on a 45 degree angle and the top of the pad has torn into the rotor and part of said rotor was gone. Parts and labor were under warranty, so take it back to the repair shop. They inspected the issue and told us that the calipers and such are shot and is causing the uneven wear. That's only going to cost us an easy $500. Not bad for having to work two weeks JUST to get the car back under repair again. They warrantied the old work/parts but the new parts and labor is where the 500 is coming from.

I hate work work work work working and then something like this comes up and kicks you square in the nuts and puts you back when you thought you might be actually getting somewhere. People wonder why I'm not a car guy- all I seem to do is put $$ into them and it's something you gotta have.


Sorry for the venting. I'm hoping it makes the frustration a little bit easier to bear.

[bocephus1991]

Sorry to hear this! I wonder on your calipers what type of slide is on it? Sounds like they didn't lube it up when they put new brakes on and that's why they wore off at an angle.

[mortten]

The Vibe rear calipers slide on 2 pins. Unless they were worn very bad or bent I don't see how the calipers would cause the pads to wear on an angle that badly. It would be bad enough they should have seen it the first time.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by mortten

The Vibe rear calipers slide on 2 pins. Unless they were worn very bad or bent I don't see how the calipers would cause the pads to wear on an angle that badly. It would be bad enough they should have seen it the first time.

I've seen it many times. May have had a torn boot, and they didn't replace it, or may have been stiff. I've had calipers that were fine when we did a brake job, that one slide pin locked up on before the brakes wore out. I finally got where it was just part of a brake job to install a slide pin kit. They are really cheap.

Daniel:
This is why you need to find a good shop to work with. I don't know if you take your car to a dealer or not, but at those prices, I would assume you are. Rear calipers are under $100 apiece at O'Reilly's and they take less than an hour to install. Should not have been $500. Besides, it's likely they could have installed a pin kit and been golden.
Although, it is possible that you are not sure of all the info. Maybe the caliper is stuck to the base and they are having to replace the caliper mount and the caliper..... too many variables and not enough info.

I'm actually kind of surprised you didn't just repair it yourself. Although, when I had my shop, I loved customers like you. Brakes are so easy and profitable repairs.

[Sam Mac]

If you can fix an old Cub you can do a brake job on a car. I'm 65 and have never had anyone do a brake job for me and that includes my race cars and if they aren't done correctly the results get very entertaining. I'm sure we have enough talent on this forum to help you if you have questions.

[drglinski]

Originally Posted by J-Mech

I've seen it many times. May have had a torn boot, and they didn't replace it, or may have been stiff. I've had calipers that were fine when we did a brake job, that one slide pin locked up on before the brakes wore out. I finally got where it was just part of a brake job to install a slide pin kit. They are really cheap.

Daniel:
This is why you need to find a good shop to work with. I don't know if you take your car to a dealer or not, but at those prices, I would assume you are. Rear calipers are under $100 apiece at O'Reilly's and they take less than an hour to install. Should not have been $500. Besides, it's likely they could have installed a pin kit and been golden.
Although, it is possible that you are not sure of all the info. Maybe the caliper is stuck to the base and they are having to replace the caliper mount and the caliper..... too many variables and not enough info.

I'm actually kind of surprised you didn't just repair it yourself. Although, when I had my shop, I loved customers like you. Brakes are so easy and profitable repairs.

Long story: the rear brakes are disc. I've done disc brakes- the fronts are easy and so are the fronts on my truck. No problem. About 3 years ago the rears were worn from age, and I figured I got this. Push the piston back in with a C clamp and somehow the pads were dragging and weren't working right. I took it to a dealer. They told me the pistons have to be "clocked." Doing more research on it on my own I discovered that the piston has to be pressed in and turned just right with a special tool and that's how it got screwed up.

We drove it for about a year and it started giving us issues. We were fed up with the work and price that the dealers were charging so we took it to an independent shop for new pads and rotors. I had service done there before and liked that they were reliable and affordable. They had new owners which turned out to be a downfall. When I told them I wanted rear pads and rotors put on, we got the car back and the issue remained (pads were worn down and the rotors were destroyed.) I discovered that the shop replaced the fronts because "we thought they needed it" but ignored the issue I sent the car in for. After arguing with them they put the rears on but didn't charge us. We had other problems with them re-negging on free oil change vouchers and with all of the problems they were giving us I vowed not to return there again.


I would not be taking the car back to the same shop to have them repair the rotors/pads issue (AGAIN) but it's under warranty and I'd have to pay even MORE somewhere else. It's a giant snafu and has been for the last 3 years. Besides the brakes (and the water pump wearing out) it's been a solid car. I just need to find a place that'll work on it right and won't screw us over. If it was my truck I wouldn't care as much but I don't like worrying about if my wife is going to be ok driving around.

[mortten]

Need a tool like this

[REDDHOGG]

Just curious was it the in side pad? That was worn at an angle

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by REDDHOGG

Just curious was it the in side pad? That was worn at an angle

It would have been both.... that's kind of how it works.



Daniel:
Yeah, they went to a funky caliper design on cars for the rear. It's because the parking brake is built into the caliper. The tool pic posted is what you need. Like everything, there is a trick.

Better luck with shops. Sorry you got tangled up in a mess.

[drglinski]

Guess you live and learn right? I'm (trying) to think more positive today.

I need a tool like this



Or maybe one of these