02 Protege ES - Total brake job needed?!?
 

I have 21,000 miles on my Protege ES - I brought it in for a slight warp in the rotors, and they're telling me my front pads are down to 20%! It's recommended that I replace pads on all 4 wheels and resurface all the rotors. It was in at 11,000 miles for a resurfacing too (which was under warranty then).

I'm not hard on those brakes - I've had a 1999 Elantra and a 1993 Plymouth Duster that didn't have brake problems like that, and those are not cars known for their quality!

I think Mazda should pay for this, and I've logged a complaint with customer service and attempted to get in touch with a zone manager. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting them to take me seriously? From what I've read on this forum it's a common problem and so far I've gotten no satisfaction from them. I love this car and it's the only problem I've had with it!

Thank you!

my car has 16K miles on it and the brakes look brand new (aside from horribly rusted rotors).

I don't think this is a common problem.....except on the new mazda3. Tell them to fix or ask them for directons to the nearest Nissan dealer.


p.s. if you're interested in upgrading your rotors I'm selling 4 brembo slotted and drilled rotors for the ES in the vendor section...$200shipped is WAY better than anything else you'll get especially stock mazda rotors.

i just did mine at 70,000 miles, i had the rotors resurfaced at 35,000

All 4 wheels? Can you say "up-sell?" Your rear shoes should last at least twice as long as the fronts. Sounds like the old Midas shops when a guy goes in for the "$49.00 Lifetime Brake Special" and walks out with a $800.00 bill for 4 rotors, 4 sets of pads, 4 new calipers, new master cylinder, and maybe even a new brake pedal.

What he said!

Seems like some abnormal brake wear to me, i've got 30,000 miles on my ES and i have 50% left on my front pads and the rotors are in good shape, but i guess everyone drives their cars differently. Just as an example my dads 95 miata has almost 90000 miles on his car on original pads and rotors, but probably going to replace those in a couple of weeks.

My P5 has about 24,000 miles on it now. I was curious to know how long the pads last on other peoples' cars. Mine seem like they have a lot of material left on them. On previous front drive cars that I've owned, the front pads would tend to go around 30,000 miles. The rears would last for a long time. The rears don't have to work as hard since all of the weight is biased towards the front in a fwd car, and thus so is the brake force. This front bias is even more pronounced on a pickup truck, where the front brakes do about 70% of the work stopping the vehicle.

At 72000 miles and original brake pads and rotors....no problems yet, but know it's coming soon.

yeah... i just hit 85,000 miles had my front pads changed about 3 weeks ago.... rotors were fine....

Well I drive like an idiot :laugh: and I have almost 20k on mine and I have aleast 90% left on the front. Of course you all have 4W disk but I but few are as hard on yours as I am! :D