I took my car into the dealer today to have front and rear pads replaced and machine the rotors. I had my rear brake pads replaced roughly 30k miles prior, I haven't touched the front brakes since I've owned the car. The service manager told me that the rear brake pads are 3 mm and front are 4 mm. He attributes the faster wear in the rear to the after market installation. He said that the pads were missing a few pieces of hardware (clips, aluminum plates, the rotors weren't machined when pads were installed, and perhaps something else) and that is likely the reason they wear faster. He noted that this was something he saw very frequently with aftermarket brakes. Has anyone else heard of this? I want to do work at non-dealer shops, but if stuff like that is what happens I don't see the value of going outside the dealer. Should I contact the shop about this?

Thoughts?

 

Something doesn't sound right. After 30K miles, how can he tell the rotors weren't machined when pads installed? This doesn't help his credibility with the rest of the story.

 

@Jsolo - what I should have said was he said it's likely they didn't because some shops don't have the equipment to machine rotors and that, in addition to the missing hardware, can cause pads to wear more quickly.

 

I still don't buy it. Missing hardware might cause more noise. I still fail to see how missing hardware (shims?) would contribute to excessive pad wear. Pads wear from normal use or sticky calipers (caliper which doesn't release from the rotor once you remove foot from pedal).

Did the service writer actually show you how much thickness remained on the pads (front/rear) with the wheels off the car?

Most shops do have lathes or sublet rotors out to a machine shop to get cut. Look at your paperwork, did you pay for rotors to be cut? Any shop worthy of their name would not just slap pads on without either cutting rotors or new rotors. Customer comebacks cost them money.

Were the rear pads replaced with OE brake pads or aftermarket? If the latter, it is possible soft pads were installed which wear faster than originals.

Also, for what it's worth, brake pads are like tires. You really should have the same compound on all 4 corners. The car is designed with a certain braking bias front/rear. If you have different brand pads on the front/rear, this bias will change and can affect braking performance/safety.

 

Thank you JSolo- I will take a look at the paperwork and see exactly what happened. The rear pads were replaced with aftermarket per infiniti, but were sold to me as the "infiniti standard equipment" by the shop. I'm just getting jerked around by everybody.

While it cost me an arm and a leg to get things fixed yesterday, at least the car stops quickly and easily and to your point, all 4 corners have the same compound now!