First repairs (wear and tear)

[7eregrine]

So my back brakes were making a bit of a grinding noise. Thought that was odd. That went on for a few days. Then it got REAL bad, like there would be a scraping noise after letting OFF the brake. That scared me a bit, right to the shop. Hoping something simple, maybe a caliper broke or something? Take it in: brakes are SHOT. I mean S H O T. NO pads left in the rear, basically metal on metal. Hardly any pad left on the front. As a result, all rotors need replaced. I was stunned. 44K miles BTW. Not stunned because I needed all this work done. I certainly expect to need to replace these things over time. But stunned by absolutely ZERO warning that this was occurring until it was near total failure. Did Mazda not use those squealer type brake pads in 2016? Y'know the ones that I thought every car on earth had that start to squeak when they get too low? Surely they did. How could this get this bad with no warning?

Quoted $800 at a local shop. Bought all the parts from R1 Concepts for $225. Local shop installing for $300. Cannot say enough good things about R1, especially if you can do this work yourself.

Colorado did you order from them? I know you were thinking about it.

 

[RedBaron]

Same thing happened to me, but in my case the fronts had a lot of wear left, rears not-so-much, in fact just metal like yours.

Bought new rear discs and pads from Amazon, along with new front pads and spent an hour or so doing the R&R.

 

[ceric]

Normally, front pads should wear much faster than the rear.
My Mazda3 ('14) just had the front pads replaced at dealer for $230 at 40K. Front pads were emitting noises (according the driver, my daughter). So, the metal fragments do make noises against the rotors. The rear pads still have 5mm left. (3mm is the decision point)

When the same Mazda3 was at about 15k, the rear left pad wore down to 2mm, while the rear right was at 7mm. I pleaded my case against MazdaUSA to pay for it, and they did. I told them, "Tell me how I can make the left wear faster than the right.....". They obvious had no answer to that.

CX5 is much heavier than Mazda3. So, 44K is not outrageous, compared to my Mazda3. Main drivers were my wife, then my daughter. They don't drive aggressively.

 

[Nevada CX5]

I wonder if the adaptive cruise control, torque vectoring etc. that apply brakes are significantly impacting brake life on newer models?

 

[RedBaron]

^ I think that is why the rears are wearing faster than the fronts. I agree with ceric, all my previous cars have had the fronts wear out first - which is why I hadn't taken much notice of the rears. My mistake!

 

[dunhillmc]

lots of crossover SUVs have the brakes working in a way that they most of the initial braking with the rears. this is to prevent the front end from nose-diving when applying the brakes hard. around 40k miles is pretty normal for CX-5 brake pad replacement.

were your brakes not being checked when you did oil changes?

 

[sm1ke]

lots of crossover SUVs have the brakes working in a way that they most of the initial braking with the rears. this is to prevent the front end from nose-diving when applying the brakes hard. around 40k miles is pretty normal for CX-5 brake pad replacement.

were your brakes not being checked when you did oil changes?

I'm pretty sure this is the way the brakes are set up on the 2nd gen CX-5 and the 2nd gen CX-9. Can anyone else confirm that there is a similar rear brake bias on the 1st gen CX-5 and CX-9?

Btw, here's a video that shows a quick and easy way to check brake pad life on the outer pads using vernier calipers or a drinking straw and a marker.

 

[Chocolate]

Same thing happened to me, but in my case the fronts had a lot of wear left, rears not-so-much, in fact just metal like yours.

Bought new rear discs and pads from Amazon, along with new front pads and spent an hour or so doing the R&R.

Is this on your 2019 CX-5? (Assuming it is from the phrasing). Around what mileage?

 

[erhayes]

I have original pads on at 61,000 miles and no noise yet. Ed

 

[RedBaron]

Is this on your 2019 CX-5? (Assuming it is from the phrasing). Around what mileage?

No, it was on the 2014. The '19 doesn't have much mileage yet (only ~8 mos old)

 

[hal2]

As many comments on people's experience that they thought front brakes should wear first. It used to be the case. While logic would show that due to weight distribution during stopping the front brakes would be asked to do more, with computers, brake in the rear are now being asked to do more of the work. Not Unusual at all for rear brakes to wear first

 

[Buzzman12]

As many comments on people's experience that they thought front brakes should wear first. It used to be the case. While logic would show that due to weight distribution during stopping the front brakes would be asked to do more, with computers, brake in the rear are now being asked to do more of the work. Not Unusual at all for rear brakes to wear first

Second that.

Every vehicle I have ever owned that had 4 wheel disc brakes, the rears always wore out faster than the fronts, no exception. The same is starting to play out on my 2017 6.

I don't have a lot of miles on it (about 12,000 in 3 years) and the rears are already looking bad. Front discs are nice and shiny and smooth, but the rears rotors are grooved and corroded.

I'm going to take it back to the dealer before winter sets in and see what they say.

 

[Mazdiod2]

Good thing disc brakes are so easy to change pads.

 

[yrwei52]

Good thing disc brakes are so easy to change pads.

And be aware the Maintenance Mode on rear disk brakes with EPB!