Sienna brake job?

In their mind, you will hear the scraping before the next oil change, so get
them changed now.

Also the chirping sometimes is not heard as a chirp.  You may not recognize
the noise when it is happening.

You have to trust your dealer on the need for brakes.

I had one lousy experience with a Toyota dealership's service department
and no longer use them. All the others have been fine and seem  
excellent. If you suspect it's baloney ask them for the mm pad thickness
and how many miles that approximates on average or % of wear. If your
next scheduled service is beyond that mileage maybe you can bring it in
early for the change.

I've got over 50 K on my 2004 and get it checked regularly.  Nobody has
told me I need new brakes yet.

Why don't you take it to another Toyota dealership and have it checked
again, or a reliable independent.  35 K seems too soon.
--
 

I've got over 67k on mine now, and the brakes are still fine.
Of course, I don't drive like speed racer, and meter my braking
to be as minimal as possible..
Kinda like avoiding the need for speed brakes when descending in a
737-700..   :/
Constant spoiler usage is a sign of poor energy management skills.
lol..

If her brakes were as bad as they claim, they would be making
noise. They don't install wear detectors just to be stylish.
Of course, the best way to tell is just take a tire off and
look at em.. I check mine every time a tire is off.. The last
being when I got new tires at appx 57k or so.. They were fine then..
And still no noise now. The brakes will let you know when it's time
for new pads if one does not want to take a tire off, and instead
just go by sense of smell.  :|
Being as they said they were worn out, I'd want to check them out
of curiosity, and just to be on the safe side in case they are
almost down to the wear squealers..
But, normally one would have to be a braking fool to go through
OEM Toyota pads in 35k miles.. I'm almost double that now, and
mine are still fine.

I'm afraid that 35K miles is not too soon,even for a mild-mannered
driver like me, and dealer greed is not always the answer either. At
that mileage, I noticed front end vibrations only when applying the
brakes at highway speeds on my 2004 Sienna, right more than left. I told
the dealer's service writer what I felt, and that he should check the
front brake rotors for warpage. Well, he examined the vehicle and said
that the brakes are fine, and the pads only half worn.

Inasmuch as the vibrations persisted, I took the Sienna to a local
mechanic that is a good friend. Guess what he found. The left front
rotor was moderately warped, and the right front rotor was severely
warped. He replaced the rotors and put in new brake pads.The brakes then
worked perfectly with no more vibrations when applying them.


Here's the kicker. The same day that I got the Sienna back from my
mechanic, I was driving about 60 mph on a local highway, when all the
cars in front of me suddenly slammed on their brakes. I did the same,
and when I stopped, my front bumper was only six inches from the rear
bumper of the car in front of me. If my brakes were not fixed, I could
have been killed.

When it comes to safety items, including brakes, you should not rely on
statistics and probabilities.If my brakes failed, and I were killed, for
me that would have been 100%.

I might add that my 1999 Camry has 74k miles and still has the original
brake rotors.

Regards,

Mort Linder

Did your anti-lock brakes prevent you from sliding out of control?

Makes me wonder about some of these car mechanics.  

My dealership has given me excellent service.  Other than new tires
bought elsewhere I've had all my service work done where I purchased the
2004 Sienna, new in Sept 2003.  That service work consisted of oil
changes and nothing else.  This is my second Toyota and both have been
the best vehicles I've owned over the years.
--
 

My bad experience with one Toyota dealer does not necessarily mean that
others are also bad. However, the problem was so obvious,and so clearly
explained to the service writer, that it defies the imagination to
figure out why they screwed up royally.

That's life.

Mort

My guess is the dealer was needing some extra shop work. Same thing
happened to me Thursday when I brought my '04 Highlander in for oil and
filter. Rep says, "Front pads are down to 3 millimeters!"
(Lemmie see: 1mm= about .040", 3mm= about .120", that's almost 1/8",
lots of pad left.)
Me, "I'll wait 'till I hear the squeal springs, okay?"
Rep, "(silence...)"

I'm posting more on this visit in a few minutes under another subject.

Ed Maier
Arlington, TX

I AM NOT HERE TO BRAND YOUR DEALERSHIP AS LOUSY OR LIARS,
But my daughter had a Tacoma PreRunner that she took for some manner of
service not long after she bought it as a Used Car. In any event, they told
her that she needed front brakes, she declined and bought new pads on the
way home because she knows how to put them on. They told told her there was
small percentage of material remaining, and since I do this sort of stuff
for myself, and my kid knows how to do it she needs to, then it was no big
deal.

I took the pads off, and the material remaining was somewhere above half --  
if the new pads have 11mm of material, the "worn" pads had 7mm remaining.
So, considering that some dealer techs work on commission, selling a brake
job early is not an unheard-of practice.

The ONLY way to tell is to take the tires off and look for yourself. Without
regard to your driving habits, it seems to me that 35k miles is a bit early
to be needing brakes.

At age 83, I am not a jackrabbit driver,and try to gently brake when I
see a red light or traffic problem ahead of me. I am not hard on
brakes.Remember that the Sienna is a heavy vehicle with much of the
weight in the front. Some years ago I had a Dodge Caravan which needed
new front rotors every 25 K. One should not take chances with brakes.

Again, the point of my response is that 35K miles are not too soon for
brakes to need fixing.

Drive carefully.

Mort