Hi all.
Have not been on in awhile, but had to tell you about my recent brake problems (ongoing). Quick refresher, I have a 2LT that is serviced every 3000 miles by the dealership. Every 3000 miles I have either had the rotors turned down (twice) then they were replaced, and my last service call (12,000 miles) they resurfaced the new rotors. The day they were resurfaced i drove my "baby" home and put her in the garage - 10 miles. The next day I drove 11 miles to go to my sisters and as I tapped the brakes on the curve of an exit ramp I felt a little "burp" or something. Well, when I went to stop the car at the end of the ramp during rush hour, I was jolted forward as my car was laying a little patch of rubber. I thought the brakes had locked up as it would not go forward. I called my husband to get ahold of the dealer who told him to call the chevy help line to get it towed. In the mean time I am sitting as the first car on an off ramp during rush hour traffic. Needless to say hubby told them that they had just worked on my car the day before in which the flatbed was sent. It was very sad and tramatic to see my silverstone on the back of a flatbed!!!! But I have to say I also told the guys I wanted my Eagle Talon back!!!!! I went on my way and called the dealer an hour later to see what the h____ happened. Well, they said that it may have been their fault this time as the caliper (hope I spelled it right-I really do know what it is as I painted them on my hubby's Corvette) had come loose and was sticking out my shiney right front 17"alloy wheel!!!!!!!! No wonder lightly touching the brakes almost gave me whiplash!!!!! I really did not look on that side as I was busy directing traffic around my locked up car. Well, I told them I did not want the car back until it was fixed RIGHT. I got a little nervous after the fact as I drive down a high Pennsylvania hill to get to town. Thank God I was only going 20-30 miles an hour instead of the 60 on the hill. Well, it is back in the garage with a new wheel, bolt (that was either tightened too much or not enough when they resurfaced the rotor), and so far it is running fine. But have to say I am still very paranoid. With this last regular servicing (when they did the routine maintenance) I mentioned the lemon law and asked if writing to GM would help the brake problems but was told that GM would just drop it back in their laps. I did take all the information that I got from all of you and told them that I wanted the brakes fixed according to the way GM states they are supposed to be done. The manager was on vacation that week but has told me that he is going to contact GM about my car. I will keep you posted on what happens. In the mean time I am thinking about trading it in for a newer one, but don't think I should have to take the beating for something that I have no control over.

Thanks for listening. I love my baby, but it is not the chrome we are talking about...

Thanks for all your input as it does help me.

 

Yeah Brake problems have finally caught up to me.LOL I Went in for the 3000 mile oil change, (yeah I don't follow the recommended) The car has 33,000 miles on it. Had the dealer rotate the tires and check the brakes. At 33,000 miles I have half pads left. I had a SLIGHT rotor pulsating and they turned the rotors under warranty .002 on the right and .004 on the left (inside). Yeah crap brakes ! LOL At this point I get 70,000 miles out of my crap pads.LOL All kidding aside . The rotors looked like good heavy rotors and the pads have lasted good. GM did a great job on this. One question to the ones who have had problems. Did you bed your brakes in when your car was new? I did and always have.

 

For anyone keeping track of these brake problems, add my HHR to the list Just after 10k miles, a violent shudder started occurring in the steering wheel when coming to a stop. This began during a recent trip to Atlanta (where I did alot more stop & go driving than usual).

Does anyone have a link for good aftermarket performance rotors?

 

Does anyone think GM will step up and replace these bad rotors or are we just
S.O.L. ?

Would it do any good for all of us to make some noise with the NHTSA all at the same time?

 

tomdent1

um, what is 'bed your brakes' mean???

 

New brakes have to be "broken in" or bedded. Resurfaced rotors (which if you are running the old pads need to be sanded) need to be bedded in. The easiest way to illustrate it is to describe how we do it at the race track. Going into the corners (1 and 3) at around 40 mph brake pretty hard for about 5 laps ( 10 times) then run about 10-15 laps off the brakes (letting them cool). Repeat process except let the brakes cool completely. This can be done on the street, It's just easier to describe this way. Some people say it doesn't help, but I got half pad left and over 30,000 miles. Yeah the rotors were turned but only needed .004 took off on the worst side. The rotors looked plenty heavy to me. JMO.

 

I have developed a slight brake pulse, nothing major, but I talked to my dealer and he tells me that with 51,000 I should just have them resurface my rotors with a brake job...only $169.00 with lifetime brake pads...what a guy...not ! I will handle this myself and go to full ceramic and aftermarket rotors...Still I ain't whining, the HHR has given over 51,000 nearly trouble free miles, and from a 1st year vehicle...

 

Believe me I am not whining about my HHR as am very happy with the vehicle itself, but the brake issue is driving me NUTS!!!!! I was told on the last resurfacing of the brakes by the service assistant manager that they have at least 5 complaints a day about this issue on GM vehicles. He stated that they make the rotors out of a softer metal now due to two things;
1. the government makes them use so much recycled metal and the rotors are one place, and
2. people complained that the older brakes were "noisy" when a harder metal was used.

AS for me, give me the noise- at least I know they are working!!!!!!!

 

My HHR brakes are crap once more. This is getting to the point of being unsafe. Not only does the car shake but now they are trying to lock up.

 

Got a call yesterday from the service manager regarding his contact with GM etc. over my brakes. He states that GM says that it is an isolated incident (not their quote just easier to write) and that they have no more problems than normal. Sure does not sound like it here though. Perhaps we should get a group together that is having the same problem and address it in numbers that they cannot "blow off." I would be happy to sign my name to something.

The service manager has even gone so far as to offer to do aftermarket rotors to see what is the problem. He knows us well and knows that our cars are well cared for. I am going to ride it out as it is starting to pulsate AGAIN after 1000 miles. Will keep you informed.

Linda