brakes replaced again on 2001 maxima

Unless the earlier rear brake job was botched, I would first suspect a stuck parking brake cable, especially if in a cold climate where road salt is used or used in cold weather when frozen moisture could make the cable sticky.

Another possibility is the parking brake not set firmly enough, and your husband not noticing it was on. I have done that a number of times with a friend's car, not realizing that the parking brake was dragging until I smelled the brakes.

I initially drove my 95 SE frequently in competition (autocross), and typically got 30,000 miles out of front pads (replaced rotors about 90k miles due to heat checking). Rear brakes have only been replaced once in over 10 years, along with stick parking brake cable and rotors somewhere around 90-100k miles. So 2 years @ 15k/yr for front pads might be normal for hard driving, but rear pads should last indefinitly (until they fail to release for some reason).

I would have someone else take a look at your brakes and make the needed repairs. And not return to the Nissan dealers service Dept. who did the past brake work for you.

Brake wear is entirely dependant on the driver and how they use them. I've seen people who warp rotors every 6 months, other people can get 100,000 miles out of a set of brake pads.

Automatic?

The brakes don't wear when sitting still. That isn't it.

???? Never seen their brakes as being anything close to "sub-standard".

What I have seen is brake shops who replace brakes when there is nothing wrong with them or over turn rotors so they need replacement etc. I had a customer who had 8 rear brake jobs, 5 fronts (calipers rebuilt or replaced every time) and 6 master cylinders in a 3 year period of less than 40,000 miles! Goodyear was doing this "service" for him.

Thanks for the reply.

The car is an automatic.

When we have brought it in it is always because of the behavior of the car (squeaking and/or difficulty in stopping). This last time the noise started Friday and was so loud it was obvious something was wrong. The people at the Nissan place are always very helpful answering questions, and the mechanics have been very earnest when explaining what they did and why. Last crisis they showed my husband the worn parts and explained that the noise was being caused by an inexpensive metal part scraping against the brake system, acting like a sensor. This felt more realistic than the whole "pull the blackened air filter out of the car to convince owner she needs a $200 replacement" spiel.

If they are deliberately messing with things like the rotors to force a brake job then I am not sure I want to know...all I can say is that such deception will lead to them coming back in their next lives as the bugs squashed on my windshield. :-)

I have read several postings in other forums where owners complain about the sub-standard brake pads on the Maximas, that they made them too thin on the 2000 and 2001. But since I know little about cars I can't qualify this statement without digging up those old posts.

I plan to start getting the brakes checked every few months. I know parts wear out but it seems like I could avoid some of this extensive cost by keeping a closer eye on things.

That isn't a good description. This "inexpencive" part you are talking about is called a brake wear indicator and is on every car made now. That doesn't = cheap brake parts.. This squeeler probably saved you from buying more rotors.

Doubt they are..I was just thinking about some of the "tire stores" and how they operate.

And those people likely have no idea what they are talking about. "Too thin" brake pads? They look the same thickness when new as most other cars. I guess these people want extra thick ones so they last longer??

Exactly. Letting the brakes get down to the metal (which is what sounds like has happened in the past) very quickly wears out the rotors no matter what kind of car it is.

A powerful heacy car like this with an automatic is going to be tough on brakes. And like I said, brake life is so variable and dependant on the drivers braking style, there is no way to say what a "normal" brake life for -you- should be. The best thing to do is to have them checked more regularly. There are service intervals every 7500miles where this is supposed to be checked which most people skip. They do an oil change and forget about the rest of the car.

We do about 12K/year on our 2001 Max SE Automatic. Mixed hwy and suburban driving. Original brakes still look good at 45K miles. I check them twice a year when I rotate summer/winter tires. Quality seems fine, though I have a new set of Raybestos QuietStop pads on the shelf when I need them, plus a new pair of Brembo front rotors just in case ($35 on eBay--couldn't pass it up).

Matthew

I may be able to shed some new insight into your problem. I just replaced the rear brakes for the first time on my wifes 00 max se. The genuine Nissan brake pads that I use were a VERY tight fit. They felt unusuallt sticky before I even re-installed the caliper. I actually had to grind a small amount of the metal that holds the pad material. After measuring both pieces, the new pads were in fact a little bigger which would lead to them to possibly ride on the rotor causing premature wear. Were your wheels getting unusually dirty/dusty? If you have any questions, email me @ snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com .