2004 Forester brake rotors finished after 27,000 miles?

This reminds me of an experience I had about 15 years ago in Alaska. I was in the Army stationed in Fairbanks. A friend and I spent all of a Saturday and Sunday at the Autocraft shop working on our cars. He as in the bay next to me working on a Chrysler minivan. Bob completely replaced the front suspension in the van. New rotors. calipers, pads, struts, bushings...everything. Monday morning he took the van to the local Sears for an alignment and was told he was lucky to be alive because the vehicle's front brakes and stuts were completely worned out and he or his wife would die in a matter of days if all the recommended repairs were not i done.

Moral of story is don' believe everything you are told and always get a second opinion. Hard to believe but there are lots of folks out there that will lie to you to get your money.

I have to take my 2005 Forester 2.5XS in soon to do the 30,000 mile service. It will be interesting to find out the condition of my brakes after reading your post.

I had to replace my disc brake rotors and pads in my Ford Ranger XLT at

38,000 miles due to a cracked rotor but the pads on other side had only about 50% wear.

The brake fluid flush is in the 30,000 mile service. There is another thread in the group discussing this.

By wanting to adjust the alignment, does that mean they checked it and found it to be off?

Just saw this in the warranty,

Wear Item Limited Warranty Wear item coverage for all models is 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Items covered include brake pad/shoe linings, clutch disk linings, and wiper blades.

Blair

My present Forester with 110,000 miles has never needed rotors turned or replaced. I suppose if their not torqued correctly & to the correct value that one could warp rotors. Another cause might be dragging brakes, either by driver or stuck caliper causing over heating.

I had a 2002 Outback that the rotors went after 40K. Typical out of round brake pedal pulse. Bought new rotors myself and pads... A little over $120. The rear brakes started to pulse at 50K and I just replaced the pads. Sold it at 58K and never had a problem once they were replaced.

Wait... let me get this straight... They want $1600 for new pads/rotors, tire rotation, brake flush, and an alignment??!! NEVER take your car there again.

First of all, your car shouldn't even need new brake pads, not to mention rotors. There is no way they can wear out in 27,000 miles! I have almost 100k miles on my original rotors, with most of my driving being stop and go, and I autocross the car to boot...

Second, all that service should cost you around $500-$600... no more.

Like I said, don't take your car there again.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

I get an easy 40k miles out of the front pads and 80k from the rear. 129k miles total and have never replaced the rotors.

*EVER* see a "Firestone" Midas Muffler or Pep Boys..that was NOT a rip-off???? The speech starts off...."Sir..you are very lucky to make it here alive!" Your brakes were SO bad a terrible accident was soon to happen.....BLAH BLAH BLAH....

That's what I'm thinking. I usually go to this place for easy stuff, like rotating tires (because I don't want to sweat over lugging 4 large tires around in my own garage, although I do like doing my own oil changes). I never had rotors go, either. The price was for the "lifetime" brake and "lifetime" alignment package. Either way, I'm bringing it back to the local Subaru dealer (local is 10 miles) since all this work can be covered by the original warranty (I'll be really mad if the dealer tells me that all is okay).

Dmitriy wrote:

News back from the Subaru dealer...2mm left on the fronts, 4mm left on the rears...rotors were okay and did not need replacement. The service advisor noted there was enough brake pad left on the fronts and could not replace them under warranty. However, they suggested I bring my car back in before the 3yr/36,000mile period expires and if new pads are needed, then they will replace them. Because of Firestone, I spent an extra $35 for the brake inspection and one full day of leaving my car at the Subaru dealer...I won't be going back to that Firestone again...

Porgy Tirebiter wrote:

Based on your experience at that particular Firestone dealer I would pen a letter to the Firestone rep and cc the company. I would describe just what happened. I'm sure Firestone does not want that kind of person/dealer representing them.

...........

Had a friend who worked for a short time as a service advisor for Montgomery Ward. They were told to recommend replacement when 20% was left. In general that is a long ways from the actual minimum war limits. At least a year's driving for me.

Caveat emptor.

It also pays to learn how to check these things yourself. In most cases it just takes a second once the wheel is off. And the thing is not going to catastrophically fail once you hit the wear limit, you still have time to arrange an appointment for replacement.

Send a copy to your State Attorney General office, too...they might find it worth investigating.