Polo 6R Warped Brakes-Covered By Warranty?

[alexaescht]

Hi,
So our relatively new polo 6R with 34,000 k's on it warped its brake rotors at around 25,000 km. It was bought as an ex demo/hire car from VW in Berwick, Victoria. We called about booking our 30,000 k service (that we still haven't gotten around to) and told them about the brakes-They said that they wouldn't be covered under warranty and so would cost ~$200.

Seeming that warped brakes on a car that has done only 30,000 k's isn't just wear and tear, would it be fair to push the dealer to do it under warranty?

Thanks for any help/ideas.

[JonW]

Sorry but I cant see them stepping up.... I had to fight with Honda to do them on one of my cars with under 20k on the clock... Still $200 sounds cheap enough if thats disks as well, Id let em fit new ones for that price... honda was over 700 for a set of front disk and pads plus fitting for a Euro!

[alexaescht]

Ok, thanks. Does seem cheap compared to your honda.
Thanks for the help!

[gavs]

Warped discs is a hard one to contest, for $200 (IF that includes fitting) just get new ones put on!

[alexaescht]

Thanks gavs, I think it did include fitting but I'm not sure. Will get it done at next service.

[Acko1991]

not hard to warp brakes...all u have to do is get them really hot and stick on the brakes at the lights...you do that a fair few times and they are gunna warp....

get into putting the hand brake on at the lights.....

[alexaescht]

Warped Back Brakes?

Thanks for the tip-But it'll just warp the back brakes, no?

[Azzamataz]

This is a very tough one. As I've been posting on another post, Mark from Burwin was able after a *****fight with VWA, to get my rotors replaced under warranty (bearing in mind my car had only travelled 11K kms). They tried everything, and we had a win. He also knew of another car which had similar problems.

Rotors on 6R seem to be VERY weak.

[mikinoz]

not hard to warp brakes...all u have to do is get them really hot and stick on the brakes at the lights...you do that a fair few times and they are gunna warp....

get into putting the hand brake on at the lights.....

Your wrong. Handbrake has the same effect as the foot brake, but only on the back pair of discs.

In the event you do heat up to that degree you are best to not apply them while stationary at all.

[alexaescht]

This is a very tough one. As I've been posting on another post, Mark from Burwin was able after a *****fight with VWA, to get my rotors replaced under warranty (bearing in mind my car had only travelled 11K kms). They tried everything, and we had a win. He also knew of another car which had similar problems.

Rotors on 6R seem to be VERY weak.

Thankyou, I did seem to think how flimsy they must be to warp so quickly but coming from a Toyota Prado to a VW Polo, I'm sure they're not built equally. I will try as hard as I can to fight VWA for it. It just seems really stupid for them to build them so badly and then not cover them under warranty. Oh well...

[Acko1991]

sorry i didn't think i had to explain the whole idea.....what u do is when u get to the lights....'make sure the car is in neutral if on a hill' release the brakes completely and let the car roll a little bit...that will change the position of the brake pads on the rotor...so all that pressure isn't in the same spot....then put the hand brake up.

Sorry for not giving a detailed description

[vanDub]

Hi,
So our relatively new polo 6R with 34,000 k's on it warped its brake rotors at around 25,000 km. It was bought as an ex demo/hire car from VW in Berwick, Victoria. We called about booking our 30,000 k service (that we still haven't gotten around to) and told them about the brakes-They said that they wouldn't be covered under warranty and so would cost ~$200.

Seeming that warped brakes on a car that has done only 30,000 k's isn't just wear and tear, would it be fair to push the dealer to do it under warranty?

Not likely to be covered by warranty as it is usually caused by getting the rotors hot from hard use and then getting them cold quickly by splashing water on them / driving through water.

Also you are not doing yourself any favours by going 4000K to date over its scheduled 30000K service. That could be used as grounds for denying all sorts of warranty claims. They are a little more lenient in the first 3 year warranty but are much stricter in any subsequent extended warranty (+ 1000 K has been quoted by my service manager). Some on here advocate oil changes every 7500ks, don't think anyone advocates going to something like 20000ks.

[alexaescht]

Ok re the brakes, we haven't got it serviced on time due to the cost of it all. Thanks for the insight.

[gslrallysport]

Playing devils advocate (and brake specialist) here, rotors don't warp... It's something called disc thickness variation, where pad material has been laid down unevenly on the rotor, generally caused by either cheap crappy (or overly soft) pad material, or flogged out wheel bearings. On a car that new, it's likely to be the VERY soft (ala dusty) OEM pads that are the cause of the DTV.

A little bit of light reading:
-Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths

as it is usually caused by getting the rotors hot from hard use and then getting them cold quickly by splashing water on them / driving through water.

If this was true, every time I fly through a water splash in a rally car with RED hot rotors, then I should get 'warping', unfortunately for the theory it doesn't happen...

Back to the OP question, either machine or replace the rotor, and get some pads other than OEM and you'll be fine for alot longer than the original 25k's. OEM pads are typically very soft so that they don't make any noise during dealer test drives with 0 k's on the clock and no bed in. In the real world there's an allowance for a short bed in period, so aftermarket pads (even by the OEM manufacturer) don't need to be as soft, and thus don't cause DTV as much.

[alexaescht]

Playing devils advocate (and brake specialist) here, rotors don't warp... It's something called disc thickness variation, where pad material has been laid down unevenly on the rotor, generally caused by either cheap crappy (or overly soft) pad material, or flogged out wheel bearings. On a car that new, it's likely to be the VERY soft (ala dusty) OEM pads that are the cause of the DTV.

A little bit of light reading:
-Warped- Brake Disc and Other Myths


If this was true, every time I fly through a water splash in a rally car with RED hot rotors, then I should get 'warping', unfortunately for the theory it doesn't happen...

Back to the OP question, either machine or replace the rotor, and get some pads other than OEM and you'll be fine for alot longer than the original 25k's. OEM pads are typically very soft so that they don't make any noise during dealer test drives with 0 k's on the clock and no bed in. In the real world there's an allowance for a short bed in period, so aftermarket pads (even by the OEM manufacturer) don't need to be as soft, and thus don't cause DTV as much.

Ah ha, that'd make sense as if I don't wash it for a while the front wheels do get covered in brake dust, not quite as much as you'd find on a larger VW (I.e Passat) but still more than a Japanese car would have. Thank you for the many tips. Soft OEM pads would make sense as you say because they don't make any noise when they're new. Do you think that the VW replacements from their service department would be any harder, or would they be just the same as the originals? Thanks.