Brake cleaning?

[ruxCYtable]

I dropped my Elantra off for a minor warranty repair this morning. A couple hours later the service manager called and recommended a brake cleaning. He said they take them off, clean and lube all the parts and reinstall them. He said it would keep them from "seizing up" next winter.

I already knew I was going to say no, but out of curiosity I asked how much they charged for this service and was told it would be about $100 and they recommend it every 15,000 miles.

Are you kidding me? I could just about by a new pair of brakes for that much! I wonder how many people they get to fall for this scam?

 

[Corvette Owner]

That's a new one to me, and I totally agree with you !

This on a NEW, one year old car !

 

[dgee]

[censored] you can do it yourself every 2 years and it takes less than an hour

 

[skellyman]

The service manger may have seen rust jacking on your brake parts.
BTW rust jacking is caused by the products used on Hi-ways in the winter months, its a real problem in the trucking industry.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

And now I know what rust-jacking is........love learning stuff here.

I agree, I'd skip it.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I never used the name "Stealer" out of respect and all dealers deserve benefit of the doubt. But this $100 for cleaning the brake of a year car is way out of bound, and "Stealer" is a the correct name for this dealer.

 

[chevys10]

I was at a dealership awhile ago and heard one of the service managers offer this service to someone. I don't recall what the price was but kind of laughed when I heard it thinking "there's another dealership upsell".

Not that I would have the service done, but I can see where it might be useful on an older car that shows rust on the braking system. I am currently replacing calipers, rotors, pads, etc. on my Mazda because of some rusting issues. The rust was pretty bad to the point the pads basically crumbeled apart when I took them off...obviously neglected for several years and I consider myself a pretty diligent DIY guy.

For someone who does not work on their own cars, might be worth it???? But definately not on a 2012 unless the thing was parked in salt for a while!

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
take them off, clean and lube all the parts and reinstall them.
Remove at least some of the brake parts, clean them, and smear on some grease. Four wheels. Less than an hour. Really? They probably do nothing. I'd spend an hour on each if they were actually rusty, not just dusty.

 

[KB2008X]

That truly is a scam. Every which way you look at it. Nothing but a scam. These are the kind of guys that give a bad name to the few dealer service departments that are not scam artists, and there are a few.

Contact the BBB, your states Attorney General, AAA, your local TV news consumer affairs dept.etc. It's entirely possible that the dealership owner doesn't know that this is going on. You should talk to him.

Or not.

Keith

 

[JTK]

You guys must all be non rust-belters?

This is a common procedure for those who live in the rust belt.

A necessity if you want your newer vehicle disk brakes to last more then ~20K miles- especially the rears. You will increase your pad/rotor life 2-3x by doing this.

With the [censored] they spread on the roads in the winter, pads seize right up in their retainers unless you pull the calipers and de-gunk all contact points every year or so. Even the caliper pins get sticky unless you clean and re- sil-glyde them. The backs take twice the [censored] spray as the front and don't see the range of motion as the fronts, so they're effected most.

I have to do this yearly to my van. Haven't had to do the Soob yet. It takes me about an hour. Shops in my area typically charge $75-100 to do all 4.

Joel

 

[sciphi]

It's sometimes necessary. I've done it to the Fit a few times now when the brakes have started pulsing/shimmying. Once I found brake dust completely bridging the cooling gap in the middle of the pads. After cutting that out with a hacksaw and re-installing/re-lubing, they were smooth and linear again. It's on original rotors and pads (with half the pad remaining) at 57k miles.

It's needed the brakes checked over about every 20-25k miles. So not unreasonable, if having to pay dealer rates for work.

 

[Kestas]

I too see value in this. I've got 10 years on my brake pads and they're squealing. I'm sure the antisqueal paste has dried up, and all other lube points likely need to be refreshed.

 

[mechtech2]

Keeping the brake parts lubed is a GREAT idea, and not just when you replace the pads/rotors.

But $100 to grease pins? A rip. And for a 2012 car, it had better not be necessary.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: ruxCYtable

Are you kidding me? I could just about by a new pair of brakes for that much! I wonder how many people they get to fall for this scam?


I hope the 2012 Elantra rear brakes are bit more forgiving than they were on my 2008 Santa Fe.

Even though I had done regular "cleanings", when it came time to replace the rear rotors. I couldn't remove them because I couldn't back the parking brake shoes off. The manual adjusters for the shoes had rusted solid. During the process of horsing the rear rotors off, I broke a bunch of hardware for the p-brakes. Luckily Carquest can get you an aftermarket kit, otherwise you have to order each little bit individually from a dealer at huge cost.

Joel

 

[Donald]

Some area are spraying the water from hydro-fracking for ice. So now the rust will be iron & heavy metals and maybe radioactive. Delightful.

 

[bdcardinal]

It is a good thing to go every now and again, but not for $100. I have seen some "tech's" idea of clean adjust on a drum be to take the drum off, spray everything with brake cleaner and put the drum back on. These individuals usually have had no proper training on working with cars, or else they just don't care.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: JTK
You guys must all be non rust-belters?

This is a common procedure for those who live in the rust belt.

Joel

So true. Never done it and never hear of brake cleaning either.

 

[SteveSRT8]

It scares me a bit when I hear of folks who do not check their brakes regularly. While I am much more complacent these days I still never go more than 6 months without a real wheels-off inspection.

But I use mine often in heavy traffic.

As for the rust belt comments, this is a great reason why I live down south.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: dgee
[censored] you can do it yourself every 2 years and it takes less than an hour


Every 2 yrs is about. A little lube, a quick bleed and we're good to go!

 

[scottyducati]

My brother toom his chevy uplander with 43kthe miles to a local dealer for a headgasket replacement under warranty. They told him that the spark plugs need to be replaced to and they are not covered so he would need to pay 600 bucks in parts and labor for spark plugs.... I had inform the service writer that when they do the heads they take the plugs out anyway so they were trying to charge him 450 bucks in labor to take the parts out of the box. Lol that quickly changed to no cost after a heated argument on there sales floor.