Is Firestone lying or my dealership about my brakes?

davidbn

Last month I bought a 2014 Sonata with 96K miles. I noticed the brakes were making a rather loud grinding sound when I let up off the pedal. My dealership said this was normal and that they looked at the brakes and they were ok. Firestone looked at the brakes and said they were down to 1s and 2s and that one of the rear rotors was damaged heavily with a crack going almost all the way around one of the rear rotors. My dealership say that the rotor was damaged when Firestone pulled it off. They said that the lack of rust in the chip and cracks(confirmed, I have the rotor) demonstrated that the damage had not been present when the car was on the road as rust builds up almost overnight. Who is telling the truth?

Mr_Shiftright

This is a "he said, she said" kind of thing and really, and for the price of one rotor on a Sonata (less than $25 apiece online and decent quality) it doesn't seem worth trying to "prove" anything by going to Small Claims court.

If the car was sold without a warranty (that is, "As Is") then if there's any lining on the pad, the dealer is pretty much off the hook.

In any event, you were going to need brakes done soon enough anyway, and it's always a good idea to do the rotors as well if they are in any way grooved or don't meet minimal safety thickness. Every rotor has a minimal save thickness stamped right on it.

The dealer is being pretty petty here, stonewalling you for $25 bucks worth of rotor, but I don't see what recourse you have if you don't have a warranty.

And yes, you can break a rotor by mashing it with an air wrench, but I don't think you can damage it by taking if OFF---only putting it back on.

Here again, Small Claims might believe you, but is it worth the hassle?

Be sure that Firestone shows you the worn brake pads by the way. They can show you with the car right on the lift and they can also show you a new brake pad so you can compare the two thicknesses.

isellhondas

A well known tire shop (not Firestone) recently told the prior owner of my Trailblazer that the rear pads were "down to nothing". I was given that information by the honest seller. Four months (1000 miles) later I took it to my Indy shop because a CEL came on. Needed an 80.00 sensor and the rear pads were at 7MM.

He told me to bring it back in 10-15,000 miles!

I don't mind honest upselling but that was too much.