We used to love our Santa Fe. After this week, not so sure any more. We like the ride, comfort, handling etc... but not so sure on the reliability anymore. After only 27,000km's the rear brakes on the drivers side are completly worn down. Absolutely nothing left of them. I went out to pick up some brake pads and was hoping for aftermarket ones due to lower prices but they are not yet available. So, I had to go with the stock brake pads. Ordered a set from the dealership(a 3 hour drive from where I live) only to find out that they don't have any in stock and it will take a week to get a set in and have them shipped to me. Not very impressive. Also, the price on the pads is almost double than the ones for my 2008 Chevy pickup(and I can get a set for it within a day......I checked) So now, we're paying for a vehicle we can't drive and have to wait a riduculous amount of time to get parts for. Not a happy camper at the moment!

I've talked to a few other people I know who have the new model santa fe's and they all report the exact same problem around that mileage. Driver's side rear brake pads completly worn down and the rest are all around 75% pad left. So, obviously there's a problem here and Hyundai better do so looking into it and do something about it or allot of people will be getting slightly upset and switching to another manufacturer for their next vehicle.

Sounds like a warranty issue - certainly not normal wear.

Bummer. Your dealer should carry brake parts in stock... definitely bad service there.

When rear disc brakes fail prematurely, especially on one side, it is usually due to a stuck caliper. Unfortunately this is not a warranty issue; it is a maintenance issue. The sliders sometimes need cleaning and lubrication, especially in areas where road salt is used. The rear brakes are especially vulnerable, because of all the road spray landing back there.

I never did this preventative maintenance on my previous car - a Nissan Quest - and when a rear brake seized and then self-destructed the dealer gave me a polite "told you so". They say it's a common problem with cars that use disc brakes in the rear, especially in conjunction with open-design alloy wheels. Drum brakes would actually be more resilient, since the moving parts are sealed inside, but they are going the way of the dodo for performance reasons. I guess that's the price of "progress" :whistling:

Totally agree. 27K is not normal at all.

I just got my 2007 Santa Fe back from an oil change at 34000km and I have exactly the same problem. My service man told me the drivers side was 80% gone. I don't use the emergency brake and can't understand why they are worn so much. Most of my mileage is on the highway. There is definately a problem that Hyundai is not telling us about. He also never mentioned anything about warranty.

Mike

My dealer/service guy charges $80.00 per axle to service my brakes each. They require it they say. I have never heard of this thru any other manfacturer. Anybody else had their service people tell them that? Why did my back brakes wear down if they are servicing them each year and are supposed to slide easier with the greasing they are to give them?

Mike

Just a thought... could the ESC be out of whack and causing this?

Usually when manufacturer designs an automobile, they pay special attention to important parts like brakes. I inspected the caliper and everything appears to be fine with it. There are no parts sticking and everything is working as it should. I should note that the brake pad was completely worn down on the side that seats on the outer portion of the rotor but the pad on the inside still has plenty of pad left on it. This leads me to beleive that the pad either stuck in the extended position causing it to wear down or the bond holding the pad together let go and the pad fell apart. I'm no expert here but I beleive this to be a part failure due to a poorly designed brake. Normally there is room for clearance where the pad sits in the calliper to allow for things like brake dust, corrosion of metal parts etc. I've taken enough brake apart on other vehicles to know this much and have never seen this before on any other vehicle I've owned. The pads sit in the callipers so tightly that I could barely fit a couple peices of paper between the pad and side of the calliper.

So, my theory is that with just a slight bit of corrosion on the metal parts of the brake pads, the pads will cease to move freely resulting in the pads remaining applied against the the rotors after the brake pedal is released.

$80.00 x's 4 = $320.00 plus tax
2 days wages at $200.00 a day cause our dealer doesn't do service on weekends and I have to take 2 days off work to head down to the city and get it done = $400.00
meals and motel = roughly $150
gas to and from city = $150.00

So thats over $1000.00 outa my pocket just to have them look at my brakes let alone if they find any parts that need replacing. Yup! That makes financial sense when I can bring any other vehicle down to the local garage here and have the brakes done for a couple hundred bucks.

This post has been edited by BDinNWO: Oct 5 2008, 09:14 PM

This is starting to get funny. BDinNWO's vehicle has 4 axles? Surprise, surprise. :P

One hour labour to service all four brakes. That's the most they charge. And YES. It should be done. Generally at least once a year, but it depends on your amount and type of driving.

On my last vehicle, a Honda, and on the one before that, a Subaru, this service also had to be done. And it paid off. Initial brakes lasted over 110K km's on both vehicles. I expect the same from my SF.

Oops.....thought it was referring to cost per tire, not axle. Guess I should have re-read the post before replying.

Just kidding. I knew that's what happened. Been there, done that. :bwekk:

If the dealer does the brake servicing they would have warrantied the work and parts. I would think you you had done the servicing elsewhere just give them the records. I never serviced my subaru brakes and I had to replace the front pads at 30K. My wifes Hyundai Tuscon is serviced at the dealer (as per manual) and it's got 65% left all around at 40K and no pulsations at all.

-SF

Geez, thank your lucky stars... I wish I made $200 a day. Trying to live on a mil pension and keeping up with the Jone's is impossible and my car maintenance is suffering for it.

But that's off the topic... Today I had my car (an 07 SF-GLS) at the dealer for a regular oil change and tire rotation. It's 18 months old now and has 28,000 kms. My dealer said the brakes should have a regular maintenance ($79) cleaning done every 24,000 kms. But, I told him I would do it at 30,000 kms and to just do the oil change and tire rotation for today.
A half hour later they come out with the drivers rear brake pad to show me the surface. It is heavily pitted (??) and becoming detached from the metal backing plate. Mechanic said the pads are supposed to move freely inside the caliper so the pad can move away from the rotor when the brake is off. Apparently my drivers rear pad has been sticking (seized to the rotor, was his words) and not coming off the rotor. This has caused enough heat to bake the pad and it is actually separating from the metal backing plate. There is still plenty of pad remaining. The dealer offered me full rear pad replacement pkg and service for $149. Pads guaranteed for life, and I just pay the labour to replace them from now on. I guess I will go back in 2 weeks when the check comes in and pay the piper. Note: My wife said a month ago she heard a squeaking sound coming from the car and I told her she was crazy. Today after the old pad was put back on (it's obviously still sticking) I could hear a definite chirping sound. Squeaking - mouse, chirping - bird. Perhaps were both crazy! :)

To add to my above post. I called around looking for options to my local dealers pads and prices. Here's the resulting options;

1. My local Hyundai dealer (20 kms one way) price for rear brake pads - $106.06 + tax for just the pads or they offer a $159.95 + tax "Package" to purchase + have the pads installed. The pads then have lifetime warranty for wear and I only need to pay the labour to replace them.

2. Another Hyundai dealer in a smaller town (50 kms one way) The rear pads are $76.89 + tax. Replacement warranty is 1 year or 20,000kms. They have no package deal for the lifetime free replacement.

3. The local NAPA auto parts store - Carry a "Premium Ceramic pad" for normal price of $100 which they will sell to me for $75 today. (? Business must be slow today) There is a lifetime warranty on failure but not on normal wear; and finally

4. Another local auto parts store say they have a Raybestos aftermarket pad for the 07 Santa Fe that has a 3 year replacement warranty for $ 88.00 + tax.

Some things I learned today:

- there are aftermarket rear brake pads available for the 07 Santa Fe.
- one Hyundai dealer told me there are two different types depending when in the model year the car was made. (depends if it was made in 06 or 07) But the aftermarket stores only show one option.
- not all Hyundai dealers are using the same price guide. ($106 vs $76 for the same pads)
- I guess not all brake pads are equal so I think I will go with the $88.00 Raybestos pad and install them myself with a friend.

I really think the OEM pads should last longer than 27,000 kms. But I hope this info helps someone else out when it comes time to replace their rear brake pads. Cheers


This post has been edited by Tucats: Oct 16 2008, 10:57 AM

Tucats,

Rear brake pads should definitely last longer than 27k, but this requires annual maintenance and/or a bit of luck. My previous Nissan had neither, and it cost me. Sounds like you got caught too.

Here is what I have learned from past experience about brake jobs:

1. The shop always tries to sell you new rotors, but the old ones can usually be machined once or twice before replacement is really necessary. Sometimes even machining isn't necessary.

2. New car dealers do not necessarily sell the same brake pads. Some carry aftermarket brands to compete on price, and sometimes even the automaker itself produces more than one "grade" of replacement part. It pays to ask what you're getting.

3. Lifetime brake pad "warranties" are usually nothing more than a pricing gimmick. The pads will indeed be replaced for free, but the associated hardware and/or labour charges will be inflated to make up for it. It's a shell game.

4. Never ignore brake noise, even on a 1-year old car. Murphy's Law says that it costs $100 when you first notice it, $500 if you wait, and $1,000 if the sound goes away on its own. At least that has been my experience :)

Better luck next time, and thanks for sharing your story.

Tucats, I'll assume this is O'regan in Dartmouth. I just had my rear brakes done with 42,400km on it. Quite disappointing.....on other cars I didn't have to do the rear brakes before 80,000km and one at 110,000km.

Had the oil change and mandatory vehicle inspection done at the same time and front brakes have about 3mm left before I need to get them done. I'll do them with a mechanics buddy here in Dartmouth. Where do you find the Raybestos at $88 here?

Also, Air Bag light has been on for a while and they have to order an entire seat assembly to fix. Appointment already taken for early November.

Lastly....to all SF owners. Take a minute and look at the 4 screws that are installed on the lights above the rear license plate. Mine are all rusted. When I asked to have them changed this week, the dealer said this was not covered under warranty, that 1 came out easily but that they would have to drill to remove/replace the 3 others and charge me 30 minutes to replace. I told him to shove it up his *ss. Called the service manager the next day to inquire why this was not covered under warranty and he confirmed that it was. Will be done next visit.

Oh.....I had also asked that they changed the front license plate screws as they were rusted, he confirmed that this is not covered uner warranty. I told him at my next visit he can remove the dealer plate (here in Nova Scotia, no front license plate) and keep the rusted screws......he told me he was going to change them no charge.....