Pad Recommendation for 07 Saturn VUE

[barlowc]

Does anyone have a front pad and rotor recommendation for the Saturn in my signature?

This is my wife's vehicle. It's the proverbial "grocery getter", used for a lot of short trips around town and a few family road trips every year. When I drove it yesterday, I noticed a moderate pulsing in the brakes, indicating that the rotors have warped. With just about 49K miles on the vehicle, I'm not at all surprised that it's come time to do them.

In general, I thought the stock brakes were pretty poor. There was no real bite to them. So can anyone recommend a pad that will give me added bite, but in a controlled and predictable way? I don't want things to get squirrely and lock up easily.

One guy on the Saturn forum suggested EBC Green Stuff, but I'm concerned that may be a bit too aggressive for this vehicle and its use. Another suggested Raybestos Ceramics.

For rotors, I'm assuming that everyone is going to say to replace and not bother turning them. I'd probably go with Wearever rotors from AAP because the manager at my local store said that within the warranty period, if the rotor warps, he instructs the store employees to exchange/replace them even though the warranty doesn't really cover it.

 

[The_Jeff]

I would consider runout beyond factory specs to be a defect in workmanship, which most if not all warranties cover. I'd hold any auto parts store's feet to the fire if they don't warranty rotors-- but I've had good luck in the past. I think most people don't have second cars with which to run defective parts over to the store, and sheepishly give up. IOW, just plunk them on the counter, and say the runout exceeds .005", or whatever the stock spec is. Let them prove you wrong.

I got some Hawk pads for my S-series on closeout and can't really feel any difference between them and stockers. They might fade or dust less but they certainly don't lock up the wheels uncontrollably.

I think the hawk friction rating is "FF".

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I would consider runout beyond factory specs to be a defect in workmanship, which most if not all warranties cover.

I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow and see what they say. The vehicle has 47K miles on it and is outside of the factory warranty, but I do have a GMPP extended warranty that provides coverage until 60K miles. I guess I just figured brakes were a wearable component and with 47K, it'd be considered normal and therefore not covered.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
I'm going to call my dealer tomorrow and see what they say.

I called two dealers this morning. Both said that it would not be covered under warranty, which is what I expected. One quoted me $150 to turn the front rotors. The other quoted me $90. Though, whether I need new pads or not, I'm sure both would try to push them on me so the cost would be higher. So I'll do it myself since I can do new rotors and better pads for the same or likely less.