Bought my FIT in Sept 2006. Have just under 14,000 miles, mainly my winter car. First oil change at 5K, dealer mentioned rusty rotors. My brake pads are worn out at 14K and the dealer says its not a warrenty problem - I have to pay for new brakes!
I've had a winter car for about 15 years now, this is the first that had the brakes disinigrate, the first new car, usually an old beater.

Has anyone else experienced low mileage brake repairs?

Dealers that refused to fix them under warrenty (they even charged me a $25 inspection fee!)?

I currently own two Hondas and had three other great ones in my past. I have NO other complaints about my FIT, but this brake issue concerns me that the Honda motors that has treated me fairly all these years is going down the tubes!

 

Crap! I thought from the title that you were gonna tell us how the brake rotor rust stopped happening after 14K miles. Sorry to hear that the reason was that you had to replace rotors and pads. Shit. I have so many interesting, and expensive, things to look forward to with my new Fit.

 

I dunno,
Every car I have ever had, the brake rotors rust.
Rotors are ductile steel castings, so they are gonna rust.
After I wash the car, after/during a rain and particularly if there is salt on the roads. It is not too bad if the car is driven everyday as the pads scrub it off.
But if the car sits for awhile, it's bad and very abrasive to pads.

Still, I have never had a daily driver where I didnt get 50K miles on pads, so thanks for the heads up, I will keep an eye on my Fit's pads and rotors.

 

I have 30K on my 1 year old and I still have a little less than 1/2 left on front disks and a little over 3/4 on the rear drums. The only time I see this happen is with my brother who drives a stick in the summer and an auto in the winter. he rests his foot on the brake in the auto like he normally does on the clutch. He is lucky to get 12K out of his pads on the auto.

 

I'd recheck the inside pad in the front, mine were looking great on the outside but inside was gone. I hit the metal indicator at 37k.

I painted my rotors because that rust is ugly, but I can't stop the rust happening on the rotors where the pads are. $25 inspection fee? Thats absurd!

 

I had to have my pads changed at the 15k service, shortly thereafter had to go back to the dealer cause I was experiencing brake shudder, they skimmed the discs- problem solved. Currently at 34 000km and the brakes are starting to go again. Actually had a employee at a different dealership tell me that the pads were only meant to last 12-15 000km...

 

depends on how you drive, also, whether manual or automatic transmission

 

I had 91k on my brake pads before I had to change them. 91K. Plus Im running cross drilled/slotted rotors.

 

it really is about the driver

 

I have 22k on my fit and its auto, and the brakes are like new. I use the paddle shift to slow down. I have ridden motorcycles my whole life and all my other cars are sticks. I use the engine/throttle/gear selection for speed adjustments. Braking = Momentum loss, whereas if you downshift, you can throttle back on better or upshift if you don't need the power and go back to cruise.

Sounds like you got hosed by the service drive. Unless you are in heavy stop and go all the time the fit brakes should last much longer. I changed the brakes on my accord at 50k, replaced with iRotors cross drilled and slotted brakes, metal master pads, and they still have plenty of pad over 100k now mileage. No way in hell should your brakes not even last to 25k let alone 30-40k

 

I think some Fits got bad sets of brake pads. Theres another thread talking about the pads going out quick.
Of course, as said above street conditions and the driver.

Im at 37k. I should probably check mine.

 

I've come across several posts claiming their front pads had to be replaced at or around the 15k mark. In every case i've seen in this forum, it involved people going to a dealer service center for either the 15k service, or for an oil change. Whereas, the folks responding with double and triple the mileage on the original pads are mostly the folks who inspected the pads themselves.

So, I don't know, man. It seems to be wallet rape. Maybe there are some rare cases of unusually fast pad wear out there...but, rust on rotors being the cause??? Wow, that's a new low for dealers....a thin layer of rust on wet rotors is normal. If the car sits for a year, well, then maybe it becomes a problem.

I know some folks just don't wanna deal with car maintenance...but, please take the 15-20 minutes each 7k-10k miles to inspect your own brake pads. All ya gotta do is remove the wheel to take a peek. Oh...and oem-level pads are $35, i believe. I wanna throw up a little in my mouth over what these service centers are charging.

Not trying to offend, here...I sincerely believe people are being ripped-off.

 

^i think that's some good advice. and if you don't even want to take off the wheels, you can check the thickness of the outer pads just by peaking through the spokes of the wheels.

 

i was thinking of the same thing lol

 

IMO:

Replace the stock brakes and upgrade brakes and rotors....Every test drive of the fit mentioned poor braking distance and I experienced some crappy braking and warping rotors at around 30k of driving my fit in NYC and NJ.

upgrading would even be cheaper than going to the dealership. Get the parts online and go to a local shop or recommended shop for the work. Honda wanted 300+ for a brake job.....i paid 300 for new tires mounted and balanced, an alignment, and rotors and pads replaced with parts I ordered online.

 

further rusty rotors happens all the time, even overnight. I've seen new cars on lots with rusty rotors the day after it rains.

Solution: drive the car....when you brake you will scrape that time layer right off...

some Service Advisors will say anything....

 

I seldom touch my brake pedal without first down shifting to second and at times first before gently applying them.... On cars and trucks that I personally use and are not also driven by anyone else I get well over 100000 miles out of a set of brake pads... That includes vehicles with automatic transmissions used for deliveries in heavy urban driving situations.... People that tailgate the car in front of them are the ones that wreak havoc on their brakes and front suspension components.

 

Also, you should use your brakes hard every once in a while. Modern (cheap) brakes use a sliding pillar design where the outer housing of the caliper moves along a pair of shafts. If you are in an area with lots of moisture or salt, rust can build up and the housing won't move freely. Braking is impaired and rotors rust up since the pads don't rub like they should.

Using your brakes keeps them from rusting solid. Counter-intuitive, I know. Use your brakes to make them last........ at least every once in a while.

A friend's mother was very gentle with her car. Needed new brakes every 15,000 miles. Finally the service manager told her son to take it out every couple weeks and DRIVE IT! Problem solved.

John

 

39,000 on my brakes and I think i will be changing them by next spring. I read a thread that said the honda OEM pads where soft and run out quickly. I dont find the latter part to be true.
I do alot of around twon driving of speeds 35 to forty with stops at inter sections. thats my story

Oh yeah rust on rotors is not a big deal... it happens to ferraries if you dont park em in the garrage. Rotors rust and they can handdle it. Sorry to here your experience and i dont mean to contradict you. I do my own brakes for twenty years and i do own a fair weather car.

 

I am also at the 39xxx mark, and my brakes are still well above spec. I mash the lil fit all the time, and deal with crappy traffic. I would seriously have flipped if my brakes were gone at 14k. All my cars have rusty rotors. Most of them are parked now since I am driving the 09 civic more. It's even at 29k miles after a year.