I bought my i10 in February and have done 3800 miles, last week I had a high pitch noise when I was reversing the car, this got worse and when I took it to the local dealer they found that it was the wear indicator on the front pads and I have just had to pay for new pads to be fitted. The service manager was shocked that they had worn so quickly and referred it to Hyundai technical, he advised me to contact customer service. They just called to say that it is acceptable that the pads last just 3800 miles and they will not be doing anything to refund me. Much of my driving is on the motorway and my car is used to carry just myself and my 4 year old son, so not under load !!! Any advice gratefully recieved (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif)

In previous car I was changing pads every 20-25k miles (Golf and quality stuff like ATE or Textar). Some lasts about 10k miles but that is really bad. I've never heard about new pads fitted after 3800 miles during normal car use (according to your post) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif) If you don't brake hard etc. I think the pads are rather dodgy. It is difficult to prove that normal wear is excessive but some manufacturers would replace them F.O.C. after only 3800 miles.

Is your car an automatic, Treacle? They are known to be much heavier on brake pad wear, but all the same 3800 miles is ridiculously low. My 1.1 manual had done nearly 9000 miles when it went in for a service, and no mention was made of the brake pads being anywhere near ready for replacement.


TJ

I have just taken the front and rear pads out to copper slip the slides for winter. 3000 miles and still like brand new, the Grand vitara has done 20000 miles and still has 75% left.

Chris

This post has been edited by wrighty: Oct 28 2009, 11:41 AM

No not an automatic, I have been very happy with the car until this happened and I am disgusted with the attitude of the customer service dept. they just repeat time and time again that brake pads are not covered by warranty. I feel tha pads were not fit for use at the time they were bought and will be pursueing this matter further. I have always driven micras before and have had no issues with pads wearing quickly so can't be my driving style at fault. Our family car is a Ford Focus and it has just had pads all round at 40k miles, I drive this car too so again it cannot be my driving style.... I will report back and let you all know how my complaint goes as I escalate it to Hyundai.

I wonder if anyone else thinks the brakes on the i10 are noisy? Mine make a harsh roaring noise when braking from speed e.g. when leaving a motorway and braking for a roundabout/give way or whatever. There is some noise at town speeds, but that's fairly normal for discs. The pads also made a lot of dust for the first few hundred miles, but this has lessened lately. I have heard that modern pads have a high content of metal type particles instead of asbestos, is this correct? I will certainly keep an eye on the way they wear.

I'm really surprised at Hyundai quibbling over the cost of something as trivial as a set of front brake pads,- I'd have thought that a happy customer would be worth far more than that, especially if you look at the price of a set of pads on eBay. Trade cost to a garage would be probably less than half the eBay figure, so Hyundai have really shot themselves in the foot with that one! For a set of pads to wear out in that milage, you'd have had to be driving around with the brakes applied permanently, or, more likely, either stuck or faulty front brake calipers or faulty friction material on the pads themselves. Do you have the old pads or have they been sent back to Hyundai? Your local trading standards office might like to check the old pads out if they're still available, but they might be worth consulting anyway, before you pursue the matter further.
Best of luck with it,
LC.

Pads should not wear that fast. My car had its first service after 6000 miles and no mention was made of brake pads. Having had to take the wheel off a couple of weeks ago due to a puntucre, the pads showed a little wear but looked about 90% still remaining. I think Hyundai are just being stupid if they won't replace the pads after such a small milage, and its not like its going to cost them much

My Cavalier has done almost 20k miles since I got it, without needing new pads, and I've never changed them.

Since the removal of the dangerous version of asbestos from brake pads, they are harder than they used to be, and it's usually the discs that wear out first. It isn't like when you buy a new printer is it? Cartridges are only about half full.

Maybe the pads put in by manufacturer are not all that thick to allow for the thickness of new discs, the movement of the piston in a new caliper, etc.

Treacle,
In my opinion, your pads should have been changed under warranty for free without any hassle. Never heard of pads wearing out with under 4000 miles on clock. Perhaps caused by a sticky front brake calliper? Came across similar prob with my wife's KA (bought from new). Then less than a year old, front brake callipers were sticking onto pads. Ford weren't interested at the time. I then decided to strip out pads from carriers, re-greased (using copper grease), replaced, brakes then A1.
KA was prob stood for ages before dispatched for sale, causing brake seizure. We've now had the KA 4+ years, had no further brake probs.
Thought Hyundai's warranty would have been allot better than competitors. If I was you, I'd take your i10 back to the dealer & demand that your brakes are sorted out & that your not satisfied with the service you have received from them. That the car was not fit for purpose. Usually just about everything is covered for the first year.
Think the dealer is trying to wash their hands with you. Give it one last try, then take it up with Hyundai in writing.
Let me know how you get on.

Deebee - mine aren't noisy at all.

Treacle - you have been sold short. I have now done nearly 6,000 miles and there is plenty of 'meat' on the pads......

If your pads have worn down fast, it may have been rubbing on the disc slightly (as prev said) or even faulty pads. I had a V6 Omega once and I changed all the pads and discs because I cremated them by going from about 130mph to a standstill (on a track day). If when you put your foot on the brakes from a high speed and it makes a humming noise, the discs could be warped. This is usually caused by the discs overheating.
If the brakes are new and they squeak (I've never seen i10's brakes) they might need shims or a good load of copper grease on the back of the pads. Or just may not have been bedded in correctly.
I replaced the discs and pads myself on my Peugeot 309 and one of the discs wasn't milled correctly. There was a huge lump on one of the discs and that can also affect brakeing.

Thanks for all the great advice, I am certainly taking this further, and yes I do have the old pads and will be writing to Hyundai MD and asking trading standards about a case for them being unfit for purpose. Must say how unhelpful customer service operative was, almost like reading from a script, and initially refused to confirm in writing what she was telling me on the phone, ie that Hyundai are satisfied that their brake pads can wear out after just 3800 miles. For a company that are proud of their warranty this experience has shattered my confidence in the choice of car that I have made. I am also planning to return to the garage to ask for a full inspection and written guarantee that my brakes are now functioning correctly.

i have done 4000 miles and still on the original brake pads. i have to teach my pupils to do emergency stops, i do this at a variety of speeds from 30mph to 60mph. i ahve to say the i10 stops very quickly.

i got 50'000 miles from the brake pads on my fiat panda

If your dealer had been more helpful they could have worded it to Hyundai that the pads or brakes were faulty so you could have, should have, had them replaced under warranty. They must have been already worn when fitted at the factory. This just goes to show how some Hyundai dealers just want your money, and don't want to know you once they have it. Furthermore the customer service is more like customer fob-off. Trying to get them to help you, the CUSTOMER, is like getting blood from a stone. I would contact your local trading standards.

This post has been edited by scoobyjones1: Nov 2 2009, 09:52 AM

Totally agree........

Everyone drives different. Pads should last between 25000 up to 70000. All based on what u do with vehicle though. Have u mentioned to dealer that they are defective pads. Those should be warrantied. If they r giving u a hard time send a comaint to corporate along with service records up to brake replacement. Good luck. Its gonna be a long dealing with them. That brake noise is a plate that u can toss out without worries too. Its a 5 cent piece of metal.

A car this light should do 60000 miles on a set of pads, unless you drive with your brakes on all the time...and that would be a fault covered UNDER WARRANTY !!!!

Why would anyone want to 'toss out' the anti-squeal shim - irrespective of how much it cost - and why would Hyundai fit the shim if it wasn't needed?

Well one week since I sent my letter to Hyundai UK MD, I sent it recorded delivery and it is still unsigned for!!!!
Anybody got an email address for him????