I had my '03 Maxima in at 14k miles for a chattering noise and they replaced the rear pads and turned the rotors under warranty. Now at 28k miles the rear pads are worn out and need to be replaced again. Nissan is saying this will not be covered under warranty. Why would the rear pads wear out so quickly? This doesn't seem right to me.

 

have them bleed all four lines. Also have the stealership inspect the break system for uneaven breaking. Sounds like the rear is grabbing more than the front.

 

It seems to be an A33 trait (or cheapo OEM pad trait, I'm yet to use aftermarket pads). 60K+ miles and the the rears have always worn faster than the fronts and I'm not the only one with this.

I don't know how you drive, but I do a lot of stop and go and so far they have lasted around 30K to 35K miles, not 14K. I just inspected mine and the rears have about 10-15% left while the fronts still have about 40-50%

 

Another possibility is that your emergency brake is slightly engaged even when fully released. This happened to me and it was amazing how much faster the car was after correcting. I now have it adjusted so there's about an inch of travel, in the handle, before it starts engaging.

 

I have about 34K miles on the car and still have several thousand miles left on these brakes. Some people report excessive pad wear and others get warped rotors, but so far these brakes have worn great IMHO. Spring time will be a brake overhaul though, the rotors are as smooth as day 1, so I figure if I turn all 4 rotors and replace all 4 pads and they should last another 15-20K miles.

 

make sure they are not overtightening the lug nuts. my rears last a few ticks over 50k but have had a few more issues with the front.

 

So, the general consensus is that 14k is waaay too soon to be replacing rear pads? I do stop and go driving but nothing excessive and not hard driving at all.

14k just seems way too soon to me. Of course, the dealership is saying that this is normal....

Edit-I'm printing out this post to show to the service writer when I drop off the car tomorrow.

 

my first set of rears wore out much faster than my fronts. i changed my fronts at 34k. i'm at 36,700 now i think i'm gonna have to change my rears again after 40k...when exactly time will tell

 

My wifes 97 had it's first brake job at 90K but really didn't need it just yet. They were getting close but I was in for an alternator anyway and was sick of her complaining that they squeek (not from being worn).

 

I did my rear pads at like 68K miles and I still had enough life left to hit 80K miles. Original pads ofcourse. I got Akebono ProCeramic pads from TireRack for the rears, and Hawk HPS for the fronts. I just did my Fronts again at 96K miles with Blehmco kit, TTZ calipers and 04 Maxima rotors, I used Hawk HPS, no warpage or anything.. and people complain bout the rotors on Maximas, problem is in the PADS people !!! I never warped my stock rotors with 2 sets of HPS Hawks I had on OE calipers and rotors. I'm on my 4th set of pads in the front now at 100K.

 

I've got 50K and all my pads are fine. And I drive pretty aggressively. I'm no brake expert, but it sounds like something is screwed up.

 

I don't think I've ever heard of a rear rotor having to be turned. They just don't do enough work. If they had to be turned, then I will assume they are getting way hot and wearing out the pads. I also would also think if they didn't actually fix the problem vs the symptoms, it will just come back. Tell them this.

Something is causing the rear pads to constantly be engaged. Next time you stop of a long drive, get out and inspect the rear discs/pads. They are probably very hot.

I would also suspect a stuck e-brake as someone as mentioned. The cable could be hanging up or it could be miss adjusted. Especially if it's both rear rotors/pads that are wearing out.

 

im pretty sure mine were turned when the pads were replaced

 

Same issues here dude. Rear brakes were gone at 23K. Front brakes were only 40% worn. Please post the results of the stealer inspection. This is one of the many, many, many, overall lack of quality quirks with my 03 SE. I can't even consider another Max as I've had so many headaches.

 

26k miles here and brakes are soft and smooth as new....

 

Almost 36k miles and mine are still pretty thick.

 

Well, we haven't had any other problems with our Max but with all the problems their having with the new model I can guarantee you that I won't be getting another one anyway.

BTW-I did convince them to replace the rear pads under warranty. The car is going in tomorrow. I don't know if they will replace the rotors or not though. We are still working on that one. How many times can you turn them before they need to be replaced?

 

You can turn them until they reach the minimum thickness. It is normally stamped on the rotor somewhere.

 

Rears typically last twice as long as fronts, right? So 20k-30k miles is more probable.

 

i am really confused now....my rear pads need replacing and i only have 18k miles on the car--about 1 year ago, Scottsdale Nissan adjusted my ebrake so i started thinking that maybe it was misadjusted, especially after i read in the owners manual that the ebrake should make 10 - 11 clicks and mine makes 4-5!!! i took the car into to them and after they looked at it they told me that they dont know why the rear pads need replacing, but that it wasn't due to any problem with the ebrake. i asked the svc advisor why the # of clicks was out of range according to the manual, and he was like 'oh dont worry about that' and then he said that there are two sets of pads on the rears, one is your regular brakes and one is for your ebrake. he also said that nissan only covers brakes for the first 12 mos or 12k miles.
is it true that there are two sets of pads on the rears or are they just being shady???

 

He's blowing smoke. The same brakes that stop your car also serve as the parking brake.

 

are you serious???

 

Number 9 is the brake pad set.

 

wtf next time i go in i may as well walk in backwards with my skirts over my head---i cant believe how sheisty nissan svc advisors can be

 

They know not what they say sometimes. They probably believe that the average person won't know the real deal so they ad lib sometimes. Sometimes they just try to Buffalo you.

 

are you a nissan customer service representative?? tee hee!! im just kidding!!
thanks for your input and the diagram

 

Trust me Nissan aint the only one with shady service, my friends tranny on his A6 2.7L BiTurbo 6spd Quattro blew out... they told him trans is a WEARABLE item and its not covered. 6200 bux please. I was like daang time to repleace mine before the gears wear down to the wear indicators and warp out the counter and main shaft inside- trannies are not like brakes- they don't wear out ! Most service advisors are full of crap, and its sooooo funny when I go in for service with my friends on their cars. Last time one advisor told my friend that his rear diff fluid makes his car GO forward, it transfers all the power to the wheels- REAR diff on a pickup truck.... aaaaha.

 

omg...i guess i should quit my whining about $200.00 brakes huh?!
but seriously, is there anything i can do about getting them to fix my car? i mean,this @s$wipe svc advisor totally lied to me about my car. would it be pathetic and pointless to narc on him to the service manager? i can handle being pathetic--if it's going to get my car fixed.

 

Service advisors are certainly interchangeable. They move from dealership to dealership just like salespeople do.

 

you should not be payin 200dollars for a brake job.....hahha i just noticed its a bj but yeah just buy aftermarket pads and do it yourself its quite easy

 

^^ i've gotten my brakes fixed at the dealer a couple times now and +1 on doing it yourself. i just never did cuz i didnt buy new jackstands since i moved. now that i did the stealership ain't gettin ANY of my money!

 

tee hee...you said bj
but seriously, if i am clueless enough to believe what the svc advisor told me...do you really think i would know how to do my own brakes?? besides, i might break a nail!!
if i knew someone that could fix my brakes i would definitely have them do it
but i dont

 

I have the same problem, I changed all 4 pads at 48k. Now I'm at 63k and my rears are almost gone while my fronts still have a good amount of life left on them. Did anybody find out what the problem was? Is the ebrake still suspected?
I guess I'll try to replace the rear pads myself. Time to start reading the how-to's.
wish me luck...

 

This is what happened 10K after changing rear brake pads.
Reason – seized caliper!

 

yikes, that sucks, my friends max has some glazed-a$$ rotors and now the pedal is pushing back(no, not like ABS) but close, my 96 max had same probs though, wierd vibration: