my baby needs brakes

[shimmer5]

my 2004 cavy needs brakes badly. im pretty sure ive waited too long and i need rotors too. im a poor college student and can only afford to get one of them done in the next week and then it will probably be another 2 weeks before i could afford the other. is it a bad idea to get them done separately? is one more important than the other? im pretty clueless about this. please help !

[OverAllComa]

04 = Still under warranty...they shouldnt' go bad this fast, and if they are, you need to get it looked at and fast

[PsychoJJ]

For some reason the 04 rotors suck so much ass its not even funny. If they where not so heavy I would sware they where made out of paper or maybe cardboard. My rotors warped only a week after driving on bad brakes and my buddies 04 rotors turned black and pulse like a MF thanks to him taking the pads all the way down.

I suggest since you dont have alot of money to pick up a set up hawk performance brake pads first then when you get more money pick up a set of slotted aftermarket rotors. Those two things was the best things Ive done to my 04. I stop great there is no more pulsing.

I say screw getting your dealer to replace your rotors just make due for now and get aftermarket rotors. Right now you have crap and the dealership is just going to put more crap back on so in the long run you just end up with...well, crap.

[Mod'd_Cav]

they might give you crap but at least its cheap crap..so you might as well go thru as many brakes as you have too until you get the aftermarket ones cuz of those ones are shot who knows how long they will last till you really need them in an emergency and they wont work...just get the warrenty done on it and replace them after you get the ones you want on

[01Cavy]

Originally Posted by shimmer5

my 2004 cavy needs brakes badly. im pretty sure ive waited too long and i need rotors too. im a poor college student and can only afford to get one of them done in the next week and then it will probably be another 2 weeks before i could afford the other. is it a bad idea to get them done separately? is one more important than the other? im pretty clueless about this. please help !

If you really want to save money, buy your own rotors and pads and find a friend or relative or someone that can put them on for you and won't charge you. You pay more in labor than you do for the parts to have them done at a dealership or brake shop.

[Mod'd_Cav]

ya but for an 04 it should be completely covered by warrenty...he wouldnt have to pay for anything..just has to drive it in lol

[PsychoJJ]

Originally Posted by Mod'd_Cav

ya but for an 04 it should be completely covered by warrenty...he wouldnt have to pay for anything..just has to drive it in lol

Not so. Brakes and rotors are one of those nice few items that dealerships can shake their heads over and tell you to go fuck yourself on. Brake pads and rotors are a wearable part of the car and in the end dealerships look at it as a non-warrantied item. You will every so often find a kick ass dealership that cares about customer relations and repeate business enough to do something to help you out in this kind of a situation but 9 out of 10 will tell you to suck it just like mine did.

[Mod'd_Cav]

everything on the car is a wearable part...you start wearing the throttle linkage from day one..that doesnt mean if it snaps that they dont have to replace it when its an 04...the lifters are wearable from day one and if one goes they replace those too...EVERYTHING on an 04 and when its 05 is covered by warrenty...and if they go within a year..its faulty product so they are forced to replace or legal action can be taken.

[shimmer5]

i got my car in 2003. ive had it for close to 2 years im pretty sure the warranty is gone. hmm

[Mod'd_Cav]

warrenty is 3 or 4 years or 60,000km or 45,000 miles i think

[Thor06]

My warranty was 3 years/ 30,000 miles on my 2001. Yeah, I would definately hit up the dealership first. If they will replace them, I would drive those until you can afford the aftermarket ones. If they wont replace them then start saving. Drive on the crappy breaks as little as you can and dont mash on them hard if you can avoid it.

[01Cavy]

Originally Posted by PsychoJJ

Not so. Brakes and rotors are one of those nice few items that dealerships can shake their heads over and tell you to go fuck yourself on. Brake pads and rotors are a wearable part of the car and in the end dealerships look at it as a non-warrantied item. You will every so often find a kick ass dealership that cares about customer relations and repeate business enough to do something to help you out in this kind of a situation but 9 out of 10 will tell you to suck it just like mine did.

Exactly!

[cousincletus]

I was able to get the pads and rotors for my 2002 Cav for 40 bucks tax included. They have been on the car over 6 months and are holding up well. Only tool you really need is a 3/8" allen socket to remove the calipers. A C-clamp is nice to have to compress the piston back into the caliper but you can get by without it. I would check out the service manual from the library (any year Cavalier manual will work as the brakes are the same and are installed the same way) and do the job yourself. Very easy and you will save big bucks cause the shop will make a profit on both parts and labor. BTW once you buy the tools you will have them next time you need brakes and they will more than pay for thrmselves first time you do the job. Count on a couple of hours first time. Next time will be easier.

[BorgKing]

Yea, like above, I'd highly recommend the C-clamp (or something that can squeeze) as they're really hard to squeeze with just your hand