Resurfacing Rotors

[fabulous.amy]

I'm probably posting this in the wrong place. HELP! So heres the deal I went to Midas today cuz when i brake it makes a grinding noise. The same thing happened a couple of months ago. We went in on December 8th got new brakes & got the rotors resurfaced. Then when i went in today they said the same thing had to be done & they wanted to charge me $300! So all you car experts help! I somehow convinced the guy to do it for free. I'm a lady what can I say :) Anyway he said its probably wearing down so fast because I'm doing mountain driving or breaking hard after going like 100 mph....HELLO i don't drive like that...at all. So whats your advice....do you think it could be something else? Is the midas guy an idiot & I need to replace the hub or something...ok...I'm ready for whatever advice you have to give!

[gunluvS14]

yeah.. off topic forum isn't really a right place.
First question, what kind of car do you have?
Premature wear on pads and rotor can be related to many different issue.
From faulty installation, hardware failure, and driving habit.

No offense to all Midas/Meinkee techician, majority of them are not even certified and they don't give a damn about your car. I heard more complaint than praise.

good luck Amy

[RonSteinbach]

It sounds like Midas either didn't do a proper (or any) brake job the first time around, but charged you for one. Brakes don't wear out in three months.

[Riffster]

The job was either badly done or they are using junk materials and methods - three months is ridiculous!

If the brakes go bad again .... complain but also write Midas corporate (polite but firm in all communication - verbal and written.)

Good luck.

- Riff

[juls213]

OK, I am a infiniti tech and I will let u in on a little automotive tip. DO NOT TAKE IT TO MIDAS. Well when a vehicles brakes are worn, you have to inspect the rotor and check to see if they can be resurfaced, If they are in spec you resurface the rotors and put in quality pads.
Most of the time aftermarket companys go with a cheap alternative pads that may cause noise and premature wear.
*Here is my advise to you, go to midas and ask them why did the pads wear quickly, after they make up an excuse ask them to give you the phone number to their cooperate office. By this time they will know you mean bussiness. Well good luck and keep us updated

[skeller]

OK, I am a infiniti tech and I will let u in on a little automotive tip. DO NOT TAKE IT TO MIDAS. Well when a vehicles brakes are worn, you have to inspect the rotor and check to see if they can be resurfaced, If they are in spec you resurface the rotors and put in quality pads.
Most of the time aftermarket companys go with a cheap alternative pads that may cause noise and premature wear.
*Here is my advise to you, go to midas and ask them why did the pads wear quickly, after they make up an excuse ask them to give you the phone number to their cooperate office. By this time they will know you mean bussiness. Well good luck and keep us updated

Almost every forum had at least one person complaining about Midas and their services. They probably put in cheap pads in there, that's why they wear out so fast. Same advice here. I'm sure they'll straighten things up with you.

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[sct240]

I had this problem with my 240sx. The park cable had seized up. The cable is attached to the inside pad on the rear so it would never completely disengage which caused me to burn through 2 sets of rotors.

[mayhem]

Midas is supposed to warranty their parts and work for life.

Alot of cars seem to be coming with really cheap rotors these days, the ones that came with my 2002 Altima were badly warped in under 10,000 miles off the showroom floor, second set (free replacement from Nissan) were gone in another 12,000. The third set that I put in myself were still true adn warp free when i got rid of the car at about 74,000 miles. Cutting the rotors that are prone to warping will only put a short term band aid on the problem...sure it puts it back to being true, but you've now made it thinner and there is less mass to help dissipate the heat...net result is they warp even mre quickly.

The only good solution here is for you to put some decent quality rotors and pads in there...the rotors you have are going to keep giving you trouble.

[detroadster]

Knowing the make and model of the car would be helpful. As Mayhem correctly pointed out, there are a lot of cars these days that are coming with cheap, under designed, rotors and pads that are harder than they should be. The Altima is one, Acura TSX and Dodge Stratus are a couple others that come to mind.

Hard brake pads extend the life of the pad but at the expense of wearing the rotors down faster. It used to be that rotors were rock hard and the pads soft. It was common to wear the pads out every few years. These days, folks expect to get 50,000 miles or more out of a set of pads and they don't want brake dust all over their shiny chrome wheels. This requires a harder pad.

Here's what I think you have going on:

1) You own a vehicle that has rotors that are prone to wearing out and warping, even with the relatively soft stock brake pads.

2) Your rotors warped so you brought it into Midas for repair. They replaced your relatively soft factory brake pads with rock hard "lifetime guarantee" pads. Then, they turned your rotors and removed enough material to remove the warpage. Remember, the thinner the rotor the less effectively it can handle heat cycling and more prone to warping it is.

3) You drive around on now thinner and even MORE prone to warpage, rotors. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that your once forgiving brake pads have been replaced with abrasive, rock hard, "lifetime guarantee" pads that serve to scrub material off your rotors every time you brake, making them even MORE thin than they already are.

It all adds up to early repeated brake failure. As Mayhem correctly stated, the way to cure the problem is to buy new pads AND rotors. I'm a big fan of factory pads as they tend to be soft and easy on the rotors. Tell us what kind of car it is and maybe we can help steer you toward a quality set of aftermarket rotors (that will be better than the factory ones) to pair with factory pads. That combo should give you the best results. Short of that, I'd recommend having the dealer (not Midas) do the rotors and pads as most dealers will give you a year warranty on both.

[fabulous.amy]

Wow you guys are amazing! I have to admit I was searching the internet forever, came across this site & crossed my fingers. My car is not awesome its a Oldsmobile Alero.... a '99 to be precise :) So what do you recommend I do now? Should I take it somewhere right now while everything is good and maybe only replace the rotors? What is a good place to take it? Do you think there is another problem other than the brakes/rotors if its happening after only 3 months...like the hub is messed up(don't get me wrong i know squat about cars I just read up on it haha). By the way i really appreciate all of your advice...i just moved to California away from all relatives that would know how to handle this situation. so THANKS!

[pwhitersxs]

Just for your safety, make sure if there was any recalls for that vehicle, that they were done to your car.

First off, go to a different place! Maybe a CA guy can point you to a good place.

There could be another problem, make sure wherever you take your car next checks the ball joints for play and other vital parts. Although that wouldn't contribute to excessive brake wear. Also, calipers do go bad and can tend to stick. This might be a problem you are experiencing. If you got new rotors and brake pads and they are gone after three months, either midas' stuff is junk, midas ripped you off, or something is wrong.

Did you ever smell some funky smell that seems to come from the wheels? If so, I would say something is sticking. Is it hard to accelerate and hard to keep a constant speed? Even a little bit could mean excessive wear to your pads because the caliper is sticking.

Oh btw, car places will try to rip you off. So becareful not to pay too much. If you are concerned about prices, just ask here.

[M_TYPE_X]

That's seriously scary. Some guy moves away from the Midwest to California and meets some chick in a bar ... from the Midwest, with an Alero.

That would warp my rotors.