Problem with Land Rover

[sp3GT]

Hi everyone,

I got a 03 Land Rover Freelander and I've been having some problems with the car when it brakes. It seems like the car woobles a bit and squeals when braking. So I brought the car in today for a check up. The dealer said I have warped rotors and I need to replace them. They want to charge me $800 something to replace and install 2 rotors.
Its also not the first time this has happened to the car. I've paid that amount once already, so I want to know if there's a cheaper way out of this.


Thanks,

[Zaku_4]

lol it cost me 800+ as to replace 4 of my 3's rotors and 2 of the pads due to warpage.

a way to prevent this is to stop braking so hard/suddenly.

[Skarbro]

I want to know if there's a cheaper way out of this.


Sure. Change them yourself - or get a friend who knows how to change rotors and pads (it's usually not hard at all).

Myself and a few of my friends always do our brakes ourselves. Saves a lot of money. Plus its piece of mind knowing that they were installed correctly.

[Wild Weasel]

Yeah, changing rotors and pads is easy as pie. $800 is a lot of cheddar! I'm sure you can find a friend to do the work for beer or even a complete stranger who will do it for less than a couple hundred bucks.

[Flagrum_3]

First I would get a second opinion, hopefully you have a trusted mechanic who can look at it....Secondly its a Range Rover so parts would come at a premium cost, but maybe you can get them cheaper somewhere; Check out some import parts places you might get lucky.
Like everyone else mentioned here, if you have a knowledgeable friend who will help, do it yourself.

Good luck.


_3


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[sp3GT]

Thanks for your advice guys, but the thing I don't understand is how do the rotors warp so fast.
The car has around 41k, less than 3 years old and this is the second time happening to the car. I don't drive it like a race car either.
I asked an old mechanic friend that use to work on my CR-V before I had the land rover, he said it would cost around $400, eveyrthing done. I think that's a lot more reasonable.

[Wild Weasel]

Rotors don't warp. They get high spots on them. If you ride the brakes by resting your foot on the pedal or any such thing, that can contribute to this happening. If you get them really hot and then stop for a while, it can contribute to it as the pads will leave deposits. This is more of an issue with the rear when you set the parking brake when they're hot, but can still happen if you're generally a late braker and brake harder than normal, then stop at a light or something.

Generally, you're right. It shouldn't be an issue that often.