Brakes again...

Hello, when it rains it pours...
my little accent treated me soo good for the first 35k, then now i have
all these little problems, i really think that getting in my accident in
april has messed my car up (note some asshole ran a stop sign)
Anyways now that that vent is over with, I got new brake pads today and
paid about 120, which is fine i know ithis is something that happens, but
i was also told that both my my rear wheel clynders are leaking, and that
my total would have jumpped to $375, so i called my hyundai dealer and
found out that this part is under warrenty, so big relief i dont have to
pay! But it got mt thinking i took my car in last week to get the light
problem finially fixed (the 3rd time my car was in for this), and i had
them also check my left break light becasue it was not always working (my
boyfirned drives behind me to work in case you were wondering how i knew
this). they told me its becasue my pads were low, and that was causing
brake fluid build up and thus my light not to come on. so being the "tight
ass that i am" i took my car to a local dealer to save money, and they told
me about the leaking clindyer.
I do have an appointment tomorrow to have the leak fixed, but i am MAD
becasue either they did not notice the leak or they did not tell me, and
if i would have gotten the pads done at the hyundai dealership, they might
not have even fixed it and i would have never known about this problem
until my brakes go out or something major happened.
What causes a leeking break cylinder anyway? I have about 40 k on my car
(closer to 39 actually) and its only 2 years old.
sorry this is long i am just pissed, thank GOd i bought the extra warrenty
and now have 10 year bumper to bumper i have a feeling that i will need it

 

Also when i take it in tomorrow will they need to bleed the breaks? I had
something like this done to a car before, and i just want to make sure
that they actually do the work

 

The brakes on a 2 year old car with 40K miles/kilometers/what-have-you don't
leak. Ever.

 

So what should i do when i take my car in tomorrow? Just be happy that they
fix it?

 

35K miles - Yes, it's time for new front pads.

Absolute, total bull s***

Very wise decision. You'll never regret it.

Personally, I'd find another dealership to have the car serviced at, even if
it means driving to the next town.

 

Claims of "leaking rear brake cylinders" is a common scam perpetrated by
unscrupulous undercar service centers in order to run up big bills.
"Seized calipers" is another one. In reality, neither of these is going
to happen to a car with only 40K miles on it. When someone tells you
this, run the other way and NEVER go back to them. I take it that this
was not told to you by a Hyundai dealer, since they would have had to
fix the problem under warranty.? I'll be willing to bet that the dealer
will look at your car and discover that there is no problem with the
rear brake cylinders.

BTW, when I replaced the rear brake cylinders on my Excel (one was
really leaking), it cost me less than $50 for the parts (both cylinders)
at Pep Boys. Charging $255 for such a repair is robbery! It's a good
thing you passed on it.

If all you had replaced was the front brake pads, you got majorly
screwed. The pads alone shouldn't have been more than $40 and perhaps as
little as half that. It's a half hour job max, so there's no way that
$80-$100 in labor is justified. When you go to your Hyundai dealer, ask
them what they charge for a brake job.

Who gave you the line about the brake light? Was it the same place that
screwed you on the brake job? It sounds to me like a BS excuse for doing
an unnecessary pad replacement. It seems unlikely to me that your pads
were shot after only 40K miles, but it's possible.

Bottom line, it seems you are the victim of at least one con artist.
Unfortunately, this is a common problem for women and the elderly, who
these crooks assume are "automotively challenged" and easy prey for
their scams. Although there's probably no way to get any of your money
back on the brake job, I would file a complaint with your state Attorney
General's office (they will have a consumer complaints department) and
the Better Business Bureau. At least that way, the deceptive/fraudulent
behavior is documented and it may prevent someone else from getting
screwed or ultimately result in legal action against the perpetrator.

In the future, do not take your car to anyone other than a Hyundai
dealer if there is a chance that the repair will be covered under
warranty. If the dealer is honest, give them the rest of your service
business, too. Genuine Hyundai parts may cost a bit more than
aftermarket parts, but as you have seen, you can be conned out of a lot
more than the difference in parts cost if you don't know enough about
cars to be able to detect a scam when you hear one.

If you need to have out of warranty repairs done by anyone other than a
dealer, ask around to find out who are the honest repairmen in your
area. They do exist, but they're not as common as they should be. There
are a LOT of crooks in the undercar service business (brakes, shocks,
tires). I know, as I once worked for one, thankfully for a short time
and not as a mechanic, so I never actually had to screw any unsuspecting
customers. I've also had people try to pull these scams on me and one
recently tried the "calipers" scam on my mother. Believe me, I wanted to
strangle the sick bastards that tried to con a 70 year old woman!

Caveat Emptor!

 

Low front pads can cause then brake warning lamp to illuminate on the dash.
They cannot cause a rear brake lamp to not illuminate. It's possible
there's a misunderstanding about what was caused by the low pads.

It's likely that the drums were not even pulled off the rear until the car
was taken in to the other shop to have the brakes done. That would be a
reason why the dealer would not have known about the leaking wheel
cylinders.

I've seen some leaking wheel cylinders in my time. I've even had to
replace some under the 1 year-12k mile GM parts warranty on replacement
parts. It's possible they're leaking and it's possible you were being
scammed. I can't tell which. Let the dealer investigate. If they're
leaking, the dealer should be happy to replace them.