Driver rear rotor warped right out of the lot, Toyota refusing fixing it under warranty

[sanasupra]

I took my car to Toyota this week to have my break-in oil change done with roughly 1550 miles on her at the time. I told them that I suspect the driver rear rotor is warped and I'd like them to fix it since it's felt that way since I drove it off the lot a month ago.

They confirmed my suspicion and that it's warped, but the service manager is refusing to fix it under warranty because "you took so long to bring it in." .... At 1500 miles? It's not so obvious I noticed much to begin, and figured it would resolve itself after my initial drives, but after time didn't which is when I started suspecting this issue. This was the earliest I could even get my car scheduled in for service anyway.

They are quoting $900-1k for the replacement rotor and pad... for one corner. Gotta love Hawaii pricing, but i'm pretty pissed off. This isn't acceptable for a brand new car. Any thoughts or experience here?

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[Eastwood]

If they won't do it, then open a claim with Toyota Care/Customer Service.

 

[MisterSkiz]

That's weird! Bad vibration when braking?

 

[lucky phil]

Just take it to a brake shop and get the disk skimmed if it's warper but it's more likely to just need a hit with a brake disk hone to remove the unevenly deposited pad material on the disk. Alternatively for way less than the dealer quote you could simply fit an aftermarket rear disk or pair of aftermarket rear disks.

 

[tracer bullet]

Agreed it might be warped but is unlikely, usually it's pad material on it unevenly. Creates spots with more and less friction, feels messed up but really isn't. Some high speed braking multiple times might clean it off (look up pad bedding procedures). Assuming you can get the rears hot enough before the fronts turn to mush.

So easy to replace, too. Even if you aren't a DIY'er, if you have any friends who have ever done brakes, they can do this too. Pay them $100 or something.

 

[sanasupra]

Yeah, I'm leaning towards just replacing them myself, done brake jobs before so not concerned there. Just kinda surprised they're denying this.

That's weird! Bad vibration when braking?

Its an uneven lurching feeling. Not.. the worst thing in the world, but certainly annoying.

I'll probably deal with it for now, see what Toyota themselves says, and replace with my own stuff if it comes to it.

 

[concept]

Agreed it might be warped but is unlikely, usually it's pad material on it unevenly. Creates spots with more and less friction, feels messed up but really isn't. Some high speed braking multiple times might clean it off (look up pad bedding procedures). Assuming you can get the rears hot enough before the fronts turn to mush.

So easy to replace, too. Even if you aren't a DIY'er, if you have any friends who have ever done brakes, they can do this too. Pay them $100 or something.

I agree. Uneven pad deposition is not uncommon. I had the same thing happen to my C5 Corvette after 5000 miles or so. The dealership resurfaced the rotors at no charge, but told me that the next time it happens, they'd have to charge me. Later, I bought slotted rotors and never had it happen again. My car had 52,000 miles when I sold it.

 

[tracer bullet]

Its an uneven lurching feeling

Uneven pad deposits for sure. Drive harder!

Do a bed-in process, see if it doesn't go away. It's fun and free.

 

[razorlab]

$1,000 quote is madness.

Rear pads (both sides) cost $80
Rear rotor cost $132/side

 

[Gringo1960]

My ‘23 AT developed a high frequency vibration during medium to hard braking early on (at about 6,000 km). Toyota service checked it out; 4 rotors were not warped but had developed ‘dimples’ at mid radius, uniformly all around. They replaced 4 rotors (said BMW had a bad batch of rotors)and 8 pads under ‘good will’ gesture, saying it would not be offered again. Fixed the problem and now 2 years later and 35,000+km total, brakes are very fine.

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