Daughter’s 2007 Ford Focus was repossessed. I cosigned on it, needed a car, and got it out of repo. Paid extra for the yard fixing its minor flaws and whatever before and after what happened when various cops, impound lots, and repo companies messed up its front bumper, but it looks and drives like new. However, I did notice she had managed to warp one or both front rotors. I expressed to my brother my incredulity that she had managed this in 48k miles/64k KM. He said that, in his experience, Euro cars start eating their rotors around 40k miles.
Fiats? I’m old school and am surprised the entire car lasts that long. Same with Renaults and anything built in Great Britain. World Car Fords I’m not sure of, but Li’l Bro’s experience is limited to VWs, which would make sense.
My Taurus had its rotors turned around at 65k, but the need wasn’t obvious and I wondered if the Midas Guy was ripping me off. This is more obvious than I’ve ever experienced, but is it premature?
Well, firstly, the rotors shouldn’t normally be warping ever. Warping is where the whole disc deforms, which is different from the surfaces simply wearing unevenly which is what usually necessitates turning them. The former is related to excess heat and overly-rapid temperature changes, whereas the latter is arguably normal. If the rotors are actually warping, that means driving habits need to change and/or heavy-duty parts need to be installed.
If you’re just talking about the lifespan of the braking surfaces, the difference is generally more one of small cars versus big cars instead of European cars versus North American ones. Bigger cars need bigger brakes, but if you don’t do a lot of heavy braking, they don’t necessarily wear that much faster than small car brakes.
Just took the car over this afternoon. I believe the term of art is “juddering.”
Car still has brakes to spare, especially as I drive like an old lady, especially when driving a car with no plates but which has had ATBs on it in two counties. Daughter beat that by being “considered armed and dangerous.” For missing a court date for not having proof of insurance. Jail for four nights in two different counties, lost license, and a repoed car. I was a fuckup, but I never managed that.
usually “warping” is a result of thickness variation due to uneven cooling of the rotor (e.g. when you’re at a stop after braking, the part of the rotor still being clamped by the pads cools at a different rate from the rest of the rotor.)
Assuming we’re talking about the U.S. 2007 Focus, it’s not really a “eurocar.”
A number of things can cause brake vibration.
[ul]
[li]Warped front rotors, cause a vibration in steering wheel when braking[/li][li]Warped rear rotors, causes a pulsation in the brake pedal when braking[/li][li]Thick thin varitions in rotors (see warped above for effect)[/li][li]Material transfer onto rotors (see warped above for effect)[/li][li]Hot spots can cause uneven braking vibration or noise[/li][li]Warped hub (see warped rotors above for effect)[/li][li]Caliper issues causing vibrations of various sorts[/li][li]Suspension issue creating issues when braking[/li][/ul]
What exactly are the brakes doing?
Before the 2008 Focus, we didn’t really get closer. By 2007 we were using part designs that were already superseded, but Ford tried harder to make it “international” than it had. And it looks better than the more “international” 2008, with its excess chrome. My ZX3, in better hands than mine, could smoke a lot of cars.
Stupid stuff that I can’t afford to look into. Rear wheel drums, so #2 is out. As I drive like an old lady and have experienced #4, I am operating as if my pads are glazed and my rotors are gunked (far from the first time for either) and if I’m braking harder than I would to solve them. I guess this would be the equivalent to an Italian Tuneup, if Italians used their brakes.
I don’t think so - I have 3 jettas, none of which have needed anything other than a routine break pad job, with various amounts of mileage on them, 210000ish, 145000ish and 84000ish [I just did the annual reporting of the mileage to my insurance company and vaguely remember the mileage. [1996, 2002 and 2006]
I will comment that I also have a 1984 chevy s10 that did need a rotor replaced, but I have no idea who previously owned it or what they did but I got it freecycle with thrashed out brakes. We named it Zombie 2 [as it is the second 84 s10 we have owned]
you’ve got that a bit mixed up. The original 2000 Focus was supposed to be a global car, but aside from the basic C170 architecture there were a lot of differences between the North American Focus and the one for ROW. In 2005 the rest of the world got an all-new Focus based on the C307 architecture while the North American version was just a mildly refreshed C170. In '08 North America got that ugly chromed up thing which was still a rework of the C170, while Europe/ROW got upgraded versions of the C307.
the 2012 Focus is mostly new on the C346 architecture and is actually a global car in reality. Other than tweaks for regulatory compliance and some minor market preference differences, the 2012 Focus is pretty much the same worldwide.
Most vehicles eat rotors faster now then in the old days because the metallic pads cut into them more. The rotors are fairly thing, not thicker than for safety. Anything that overheats them unevenly causes warping. This can be driving through a puddle on one side when hot. It can also be caused by uneven tightening of wheel lugs. Also, more heat is developed when the pads are worn thinner so this all tends to happen more as the mileage on a brake job increases. Anything after 30K is not too unusual.
I think most companies have cheapened them, both thinner and lower grade Chinese cast iron that wears unevenly. it is natural for rotors to wear and turning them also thins them. They used to start out thicker and would still be above discard thickness after several sets of pads and turning.
Also, carelessly calling uneven wear warping. While high and low spots produce the same vibration, the cause is different. Turn them and the same thing happens before long.
Stop and go driving is also far worse on brakes than the old days of 55+ from point A to point B. The driving style of the driver is also a far greater influence of how long brakes last than the country or origin of the car. Someone who jackrabbits from stoplight to stoplight is wearing their brakes (actually the car in general) far faster than someone who drives smoothly. Increasing and decreasing speed slowly and smoothly is the key. Sounds like your daughter may have beat on this Focus for a bit. Might fit with her…ahem…other experiences.
