Are my brakes out already?

Question

I had my brakes done last March, which included getting all 4 of my roaters replaced and new brake pads. The whole thing ended up costing around $800 dollars because of the high cost of the roaters for my volvo S40. When I first got my car back the brakes were squeaking really loud which I found odd considering they were new. I took it back to the mechanic and he test drove it with me and told me that new brakes sometimes do that and to be hard on the brakes to break them in. Well it's now almost 6 months later and the brakes are still squeaking, and most recently the brakes are grinding when I press down on them. I think this means my brakes are out but is this possible already when I got them done less than a year ago? Is this the mechanics fault, did they rip me off? Please advise me on this as I know nothing about cars.

Answer 1

is the noise/grinding coming from the front or rear of the car/did you replace any of the calipers?go to Midas/carx and get a free brake inspection/get there print out of the quote it will tell you what is wrong, but ther are a lot of factors that can burn up brakes, oversized wheel and tires,towing or hauling,riding the brakes,{mostly new drivers are guilty of this}other factors,brake hoses swell,emergancy brake cables freeze,rust,stick.it is possible that the mechinic didnt clean all the surfaces well enough and the brakes are fine, just noisy.first step should be to get an inspection from a well know business the forementioned are the free ones most common

Answer 2

yes your brakes could be out and for all the people saying that mechanincs are lazy or incompetent then think about this a doctor works on two models of people on average sometimes three but we need not go into that, a mechanic can work on anywhere from 15 to 100 different makes and models of cars all with thier own given differences yes a mechanic doesnt need to go to school or have any certification but the ones that do do so voluntarily to improve thier skills and to show that they are really knowadgeable in what they are doing, i get so tired of hearing people say that mechanics are lazy and incompetent or just plain stupid when i have been a mechanic for over eight years know i have a college degree in mechanics and am ase certified also i have a very good comprehension of literature and am in to arts and theater but i am just a lowly "grease monkey" how bout this why do you check your driving habits and see if maybe they are to blame i know more then one person that has examined thier driving habits and found that if they changed the way they drove thier car would not need repair as often i know its hard to admit that you arent a perfect driver but hey guess what no one and i mean no one is so get over it and if you really think that you had a bad expirience with the mechanic that did your brakes last time then take it some where else its your choice no one has ever put a gun to your head and told you to take it ot a certian mechanic have they ?

Answer 3

There are varying qualities of replacement brakes. Once I went in to buy new brakes and my old ones had more pad left than the new ones they were trying to sell me!

As far as squealing goes, that's just a lazy mechanic. There's a compound that is applied to new brake pads so they don't squeal. Your mechanic is either lazy or stupid.

Front pads can go out in 15,000 miles (average annual mileage), but March wasn't even a year ago!

Sounds like your mechanic may not be ver honest.

Answer 4

OK HERE IS WHAT YOU DO (WHEN THE CAR HAS BEEN SETTING LONG ENOUGH FOR THE BRAKE ROTORS TO COOL OFF) TAKE AND RUN YOUR FINGER ACROSS THE ROTOR FROM CENTER TO THE OUTSIDE THAT IS OF COARSE IF YOU CAN PUT YOUR FINGER THROUGH THE RIM OF THE CAR, ANYWAY THERE SHOULDN'T BE ANY RIDGES OR BUMPS , THERE SHOULD'NT BE ANYTHING BUT SMOOTH STEEL. SOMETIMES NEW BRAKES WILL SQUEEL DEPENDING ON WHICH BRAKE PADS YOU GOT, THIS BOILS DOWN TO THE OLD SAYING YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND DEPENDING ON THE PLACE THAT YOU TOOK IT TO THEY MAY HAVE PUT THE CHEEP BRAND ON AND CHARGED YOU FOR THE REAL GOOOD ONES, IF YOU GOT THE SILVERS THEN THEY WILL SQUEEL BECAUSE THEY HAVE PEICES OF ALUMINUM IN THE BRAKE SHOE SPEICIALLY IF THERE LIFE TIME WARRENTY ONES AND YOUR CAR HAS DISC BRAKES ALL THE WAY AROUND, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU FIND OUT MAYBE I CAN HELP MORE.

Answer 5

they can be dirty or low quality brakes. Dirty brakes will squeel and so does cheapy brakes. I would go to Les scwab and get a inspection done just to be sure you didn't get ripped off by that mechanic. He might have put on some brakes that where used but good.

Answer 6

Have them inspected by an independent mechanic.

"Brake Check " may do an inspection free, but even a small charge may be worthwhile.