Warped Rotors...

JoSHMaN

Contributor
:
Velocity Red '04 3 5-Dr
While braking (especially from higher speeds) I noticed my steering wheel has developed a bad shimmy from side to side recently.

I am almost certain the rotors are warped. The cars got 24,000 miles on it.
Is there any possible way the dealer may take care of this under warranty?
Has anyone had this fixed at the dealer and how much did it cost?
If they don't cover it under warranty I'd say it's a safe bet to take it to another shop where it will be a lot cheaper...
 
Warranty for "wear and tear" items like brake pads, rotors, and clutch are only covered for the first 12,000 miles.
 
I had the same issue on both my 5 and 3.

JoSHMaN said:
While braking (especially from higher speeds) I noticed my steering wheel has developed a bad shimmy from side to side recently.

I am almost certain the rotors are warped. The cars got 24,000 miles on it.
Is there any possible way the dealer may take care of this under warranty?
Has anyone had this fixed at the dealer and how much did it cost?
If they don't cover it under warranty I'd say it's a safe bet to take it to another shop where it will be a lot cheaper...


Dealer replaced both sets of rotars under warranty. Turned out they were pitted, which shouldn't happen with so few miles (5 had 10,000 and 3 had 25,000). If you have a good realtionship with your dealer you should bring it in and talk to them about it.
 
Thanks for the responses, my dealer has been really good so far, so hopefully they will be nice enough to cover it this time around.
 
Just a follow-up on my own post, the dealer is replacing the warped front rotors under warranty! :)
 
Probably a part issue

JoSHMaN said:
Just a follow-up on my own post, the dealer is replacing the warped front rotors under warranty! :)

It sounds like the rotor problem could have abeen a parts issue. A batch of bad rotors maybe?
 
I have had this problem, it's gotten quite worse because mazda refused to fix it. They have recently 'caused my wheel berrings to go bad and develop a noise. I've got 30k miles on my car now, but when the issued was presented i only had about 10k on the car. Still, my dealer decided to **** me. So I drove on them, now they 'caused more problems. Fortunately for me, I've got connections at a land rover dealer thats associated with mazda and they are going to cover the rotors and berrings for no charge. Not sure why the rotors went bad, but it's definately not an issue thats uncommon from what I understand.
 
I hate this thread. I have had brake issues with several of my japanese cars, but no problems with my two VW's. I don't believe I drove them any differently. There really might be something to be said for designers and engineers (mostly) from a country where high-speed driving, and consequent hard braking is an everyday thing, vice one where 80kph is the highest speed limit.

And here I sit waiting to pick up my 2007 3s Touring. I sure hope they have figured it out...
 
its funny you mention that, i have had the opposite experience. All my japanese cars have had very good brakes (not excellent) but definitely much better than vw. Some rotors do have issues but the way i see it; if the dealer takes care of you then ho harm done. Good luck trying to get a vw to thelp you out. I could swear they bring managers straight from the 3rd reicht to manage their shops.
 
ZoomVT said:
its funny you mention that, i have had the opposite experience. All my japanese cars have had very good brakes (not excellent) but definitely much better than vw. Some rotors do have issues but the way i see it; if the dealer takes care of you then ho harm done. Good luck trying to get a vw to thelp you out. I could swear they bring managers straight from the 3rd reicht to manage their shops.

I am happy you have had good fortune, maybe things are getting better. The last car I bought was a new 2000 MPV right before moving to Thailand. It has given us over six years of virtually trouble-free motoring around the Kingdom. I will be picking up a 2007 3s Touring when I get back, and am really looking forward to driving something other than the family-transpod.
 
I'm having the same issues with front rotors. At 15k the rotors were warped. They charged over 200.00 to turn rotors and replace pads. Today I dropped it off again for the same issue. It now has 25k and 13 months since the last time they had it for the same thing. The service guy said the warranty is 12 months on any service. Crazy dealer. Waiting to see what they will do this time. Any ideas?
 
wow they replaced the pads too? i honestly don't see that as being neccessary. if you're rotors are getting warped, i'd either reccommend taking them off and having someone resurface them yourself ( which will save your hundreds) OR buy slotted and/or cross drilled rotors to distribute the heat a little bit better.
 
It's weird because they re-surfaced them last year. I have run x-drilled rotors on my FD3S for years. And that's with driving crazy. I'll just wait till they call me back. Thinking of going with some X-drilled ones. Any good places to pick up a pr from?
 
zoomvt a couple of posts above is sellin his. but if you don't want to buy used, check out www.protegegarage.com . Ken the manager there is an awesome knowledge filled guy. plus they have good prices with most of their stuff is Free Shipping. i just bought quite a few things from them and plan on buying more soon.
 
glad to see i wasn't the only one with these brake issues. take that parents who think i'm a rough driver!!

i started noticing the speed wobble thing around 20k, and my dealer told me the front rotors were warped, but are wear and tear and couldn't be covered. (eekfu) vegas!
so plans now are to just swap them out with the power slot, slotted rotors, that i should be getting for 326.00 along with pads.

is that a deal or no deal?
 

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