Brake Calipers 2003 Sonata

Hi there --I took my Sonata in to the dealer to get the one year
service, and they wanted to do 100 dollars extra work. They said that
the brake calipers were binding and didn't have enough clearance, and
they wanted to take them off and sand them down, or sand down the
drum. I didn't have the money at the time, and so I couldn't go for
it. Does this sound like a rip-off?

Since taking it in, I've noticed that the car has trouble doing a an
acceleration after I put on the brake (if you change your mind about
slowing down and need to speed up suddenly), and I wonder if they've
screwed with my car, or if it's just the usual shift problem I
occasionally encounter. I've got about 10,000 kms on it.

Thanks for you help,

Jack

 

There certainly could be an issue with the brakes causing your symptom, but
the suggested remedy sounds suspect. I was going to say that I thought it
was more incompetence than rip-off, then I saw your mileage and age of
vehicle. The calipers are warranted (at least in the U.S.) under the
bumper to bumper warranty. If there's an issue with the caliper, it
should be warrantable (unless you somehow physically damaged them, which I
can't imagine in 10kkm). How 'bout they tell you specifically what the
issue is and which component has the problem. If they can't do that, I
hope you have another dealer nearby. I'd certainly start taking my
maintenance work elsewhere where I knew the facility was honest and
competent.

 

Thanks for the info --I'm going to ask them to be more specific on
which component is at fault. And I'm going to look into the warrantee
issue. I just thought it was ridiculous that they'd be asking for
money to fix a brand new car, as if the cost of regular servicing
under my lease wasn't enough. It was certainly driving fine before
they messed with it. And actually, it was doing pretty good today.

As for dealers... the only other one in my city is one that I KNOW is
not honest. (They were selling new Sonatas with knock-off tires
instead of the standard Michelins, as if they switched them before
putting them on the lot.)

Thanks for your help.

Jack

 

Heh... Knock-off tires couldn't be much worse than the ones that came
on my car. These things are almost bare after 14000 Miles. I was
reading reviews up on TireRack.com and everyone seems to think that
these tires suck something fierce.