DenSmith

I don't think you all can magically fix my situation, but wanted to see if anyone else had this experience.

I'm not usually a dealer service type customer, I go to service shops outside the dealer, but I've got a CPO and I am using up my free service visits. Last visit they said I needed new tires up front and brakes in the rear. I think they made an honest mistake on the tires with all the hub bub in the service bay, I did need 1 new tire in the rear, hit a pothole pretty hard at night, not the front.

The brakes though, it's fairly new to me the car and CPO and is about 11 months in use with many miles, BUT, I drive in the country all the time with no traffic, I'm talking zero and long long long stretches of road, I hardly ever use the brakes, not the normal usage. I might be in the city with stoplights one day a week. My question is, do you think they recommend brake changes based on mileage? I'm getting a 2nd opinion from my local country service tech, rural, but go to Lexus in the city for these free services.

One curveball, I'm getting another service done today, haven't changed the rear brakes, now they tell me the front brakes need replacing without mentioning the rear brakes, and don't mention the front tires, although I think, like I said the tire thing was a mistake perhaps, however, they said I needed 2 new tires in the front when it was only 1 in the rear.

So, that's it, I'm a car guy as far as enjoying them, but I am pretty ignorant as far as simple things like brakes and changing the oil myself, I don't do that. Thanks for any thoughts.

LoSt180

Without looking at the car, we can't really determine if you actually need those services. I'm sure someone will chime in right after me with a typical "derher, stealerships just want to rip you off, buy these cheap brakes off rock auto and do it yerself."

Your car made need brakes, it may not. It comes with performance parts that do tend to wear out faster than more generic cars. Same with tires, summer tires wear out faster.

Your best option is to get a second opinion from someone you trust, then determine if you want to have work done at dealership or your local place.

nigel821

iTrader: (2)

Probably time to start researching about brakes/rotors. It's a fairly straight forward and one of the easier things on cars. It's pretty easy to visually see if the pads are worn and need replaced. Rotors you can measure the thickness and then see if they fall within the specs... if they do, you are probably fine depending on driving conditions. If not then you replace. The exception to this rule is if you are running carbon ceramic rotors. You don't measure the thickness, you weigh them.

Unfortunately, if you don't know, you will always be at the mercy of a tech/dealer telling you what you need/don't need and as you can see in your statement that can change from visit to visit...

Brakes, rotors, oil change, coolant are all very easy items to start with on our cars. Then you'll build your skills and move forward with future projects if you like it :-)

-Nigel

mcomer

The traction control feature on your RWD RC-F pulses the rear brakes to control wheel spin.
You mentioned not using the brakes often but how much throttle do you apply?

buister

iTrader: (1)

Regarding the tires, you should change both left & right together. If one wore out faster than the other, you likely have a wheel alignment problem. About the brakes, did they tell you how many mm of pads you have left? If they really inspected them, they must have it written down in the report.

DenSmith

duplicate message

DenSmith

Oh, I did hit a pothole with the rear tire that needed replacing, although that is good advice to do 2 at once, the one non-pot hole tire has quite a bit of life left on it.

DenSmith

Ahaha, guilty, often. But keep in mind if I wasn't clear, First visit, "you need new rear brakes", I don't do anything at all, don't get new brakes. Second visit some time later "you need front brakes", but they don't say anything about the rear brakes that I never replaced or fixed?

Roche

They should have indicated how much break pad you have left when they did an inspection. Breaks are inspected based on mileage but replaced based on wear readings. I went 12 years in my last vehicle without needing to replace the breaks once. It was a hybrid, which meant that light breaking was done by the generator force rather than the pads, and I drove it like a grandma.

CinFulxgs

OMG, this explains why I need rear discs already... LOL