4 broken rotors

[Lee Ann]

I'm an owner of a 2021 MachE with 9700 miles. When the new key was offered, I brought the car in with 9400 miles and asked if they could do the 10000 mile check. They reported brakes at the time were normal. Two months and 300 miles later, I was told all 4 rotors were broken and needed replacement. Not covered by warranty. I'm an ignorant grandmother who drives like a grandmother (no heavy braking, speeding, etc.) I live in south Florida and it's hot, but I've never had this issue with any other car. Can someone explain to me how this could happen? Thank you.

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[21st Century Pony]

This doesn't sound right...

When someone told you that "4 rotors are broken", can they explain exactly what they meant?

"Broken" can mean "cracked" or it can mean "not braking well" or really about 200+ other things.

Also, as massive as a car disc brake rotor is, I cannot think of any time I've ever read or heard about all four rotors on all four wheels "breaking" all at the same time or closely together. This alone raised my eyebrows.

 

[AZBill]

Do they have rust on them? EVs are known to get rust on the rotors because the use of one-pedal driving does not engage them to keep them clean.

 

[Logal727]

Sounds like a dealer is taking advantage of you, do you have any issue with the brakes or brake pads?

 

[21st Century Pony]

Do they have rust on them? EVs are known to get rust on the rotors because the use of one-pedal driving does not engage them to keep them clean.

Good point. And BTW, rust on rotors indicates they are cast iron which is a good thing... cast iron has a high coefficient of friction which = good braking. Cast iron disc brake rotors are thus preferable to rotors made from other, prettier metals, and their surface rust clears right up with no harm as soon as you start driving.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

@Lee Ann, what triggered the conversation about brake rotors with your dealer? Did you complain about something with the functionality or noise? I find it very strange that they’d claim brakes are broken, and even more strange that brakes could break! Their claim makes no sense to me.

 

[bshaw]

Two months and 300 miles later, I was told all 4 rotors were broken and needed replacement. Not covered by warranty.

What was the reason to return to the dealership again in such a short time?

Do you use 1-Pedal driving mode?

I have ~19k miles and use 1PD driving pretty successfully. Other than a little rust build up like others have mentioned, my rotors and pads are in really good shape.

 

[Lee Ann]

This doesn't sound right...

When someone told you that "4 rotors are broken", can they explain exactly what they meant?

"Broken" can mean "cracked" or it can mean "not braking well" or really about 200+ other things.

Also, as massive as a car disc brake rotor is, I cannot think of any time I've ever read or heard about all four rotors on all four wheels "breaking" all at the same time or closely together. This alone raised my eyebrows.

You are correct- they said cracked

 

[Lee Ann]

@Lee Ann, what triggered the conversation about brake rotors with your dealer? Did you complain about something with the functionality or noise? I find it very strange that they’d claim brakes are broken, and even more strange that brakes could break! Their claim makes no sense to me.

My tire pressure light went on and we found a nail in the tire. They fixed the tire but when their driver was returning the car to my house, he noticed it thumping and jerking.

 

[Lee Ann]

Based on experience with my wife, she complains about brake noise I can never hear. Are you hearing any noise when you apply the brakes?

It might help if you post some well-lit closeup pics of each wheel (the spoke area) so we can look over the surface of the brake rotors.

Brake rotors are quite difficult to "break". As others have stated, given you reside in Florida, there is a good chance the salt air accelerates accumulation of surface rust on the brake rotors (assuming you live near the ocean or GOMEX).

Once you determine the issue is just surface rust, the best protocol to follow is every few outings, make sure the road is clear behind you and perform a few successive stopping events from 60 MPH to 30 MPH in a rapid manner to exercise the brakes. (Yes, I know it is against your grandmotherly nature )

Lol. I'll have my husband do it. I bet you all are correct. We do live near the ocean. It' s been very rainy and maybe rust has built up

 

[bshaw]

My opinion is the dealership is just trying to get a brake job out of you.

Seconded

 

[HuntingPudel]

My tire pressure light went on and we found a nail in the tire. They fixed the tire but when their driver was returning the car to my house, he noticed it thumping and jerking.

Thumping and jerking could be caused by any number of things, rust high among them. Cracks in the rotors would not be high on that list and correct diagnosis of cracks could be performed visually or by special process (Magnaflux, X-ray, etc.), but not by a test drive (unless they exploded the rotors). Did they bring the car back to their shop to perform a brake inspection on all 4 brakes? ?‍?

 

[Lee Ann]

Yea, I probably got taken. Sad. It was so odd that 2 months ago they said everything was fine and I didn't experience any problems. They called to get it covered by warranty but were told it wasn't covered. Something about the brake pads being wider than what they would cover (?) We called Ford who said the same. I'll never go back to the dealership again for repairs.

 

[Logal727]

Yea, I probably got taken. Sad. It was so odd that 2 months ago they said everything was fine and I didn't experience any problems. They called to get it covered by warranty but were told it wasn't covered. Something about the brake pads being wider than what they would cover (?) We called Ford who said the same. I'll never go back to the dealership again for repairs.

Huh? That makes no sense.

 

[Monke]

Yea, I probably got taken. Sad. It was so odd that 2 months ago they said everything was fine and I didn't experience any problems. They called to get it covered by warranty but were told it wasn't covered. Something about the brake pads being wider than what they would cover (?) We called Ford who said the same. I'll never go back to the dealership again for repairs.

When I lived in South Florida, some AC companies were trying to sell new AC every year to retiree.

A car dealership kept sending postcards stating that I need new tires at 10k miles. One time, the postcard said it was unsafe to drive my car because my tires were too old (less than 2 year old and less than 20k). At that point, I was sick and tried of those people. I drove to the dealership and told them I needed a new set of tires. They were so happy to help until I told them that I should pay a prorated price. Service manager was called and she said the tires look great. I told her the postcard said it was not safe to drive the car. If something happened, I would go after the dealership. I had not received any service reminder for that car until I sold it.

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