15,337 Miles on 2010 Chy T&C, needs roters pads , just not right.

[BellePrincessBelle]

I have original rotors @59K mi. The pads have at least 18k mi on them. I do not use OEM pads. I have to wonder if people ride their brakes? These are very heavy vans.

 

[sharbear]

Just had the front and back pads and rotors replaced on my van. $421 total, not at the dealer.

I would not have them replaced at the dealer if they are not going to pay for them. It used to be that you would only have to replace the pads when your brakes went. Now they want to replace the rotors also. Don't know why.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We have a year old Town & Country van as well and just had to have the rotors replaced after 20k miles. The dealership said they were not covered under warranty.

How are people getting Chrysler to pay for these? I can't believe these wore out so quickly. I don't ride the brakes at all - just normal driving. We have taken 3 WDW trips so quite a bit of that is highway mileage.

 

[Dell]

As an ASE certified mechanic and former Dodge Grand Caravan owner, (never again) this is a common problem on this vehicle. The pads do not necessarily wear out, the rotors rust up! Usually the backside of the rotor starts to rust first and breaks off in small chunks/potmarks. Can't see it if you look through the wheel openings. Winter salt/snow aggrivates this. Maybe drivers in Florida rarely have this problem, but in the northeast/midwest - all will have the problem. This rusting of the rotors causes the vibration/noise/pull when stopping. Replacement of the rotors & pads is the only fix. Factory rotors are junk metal that will start rusting out of the box (my opinion). Have a brake shop/friend replace the rotors (not with factory parts - I've had the best luck with the Raybestos Pro/Premium rotors - or Napas BEST rotors) and a good set of semi-metalic pads (not ceramic). You should be able to get 30k+ on the brakes under normal use. Easy driveway repair ~ $150 last time for good parts.

 

[C.Ann]

I have a 2005 Chrysler T&C - which I was very unhappy with after an issue with water getting inside of the van and totally drenching the stow 'n go seats (all of them) - as well as the carpeting throughout the entire vehicle.. This happened in 2006 (a few months after I purchased it used) - and it was a nightmare - but after having my van for a few months the mess was finally corrected properly..

Knock on wood, no major problems since.. Just replaced the original battery - car is being inspected on Saturday and I'm holding my breath on the brakes situation.. Doesn't seem there's any problems - no noises; grinding; squealing; etc. - and the inspection will be done by my Dson-in-law's best friend, so I don't have to worry about being told that I need something I don't.. Van has just a little over 28,000 miles on it (it was either 24,000 or 26,000 when I purchased it used in the spring of 2006), so you can see that I don't drive it all that much.. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but hopefully the brakes will pass without a problem..

Still - I would never buy another Chrysler - and really, really wish I hadn't purchased this one.. Since that flooding issue, I've never felt confident about this vehicle.. I've read too many reports - too many complaints.. It's like constantly waiting for the "other shoe to drop"..

 

[bcinohio]

Thanks for all the feedback. I spoke with Chrysler, yelled actually, and they got back to me and are willing to pay $500 of the bill. I have to pay it all up front an get reembursed from them. It will still cost me a couple of hundred but better than all of it. It is a lease vehicle and I would have to have them fixed before I turn it back in in 1 1/2 years. It is a real bummer. I really liked my van up until this point and was thinking about keeping it but not if I have to put rotars on every year. After reading the comments on here and seeing that it is a major problem I think we will be looking around for a different van next time.

Anyone have a good suggestion on what type of van is good? New or even used. What brand would you buy? I have 5 people in our family and need something that we can all travel in at the same time. Have to have room for our trips to Disney!!

 

[princessnoelly]

Thank you for the link. We are about halfway thru the process. All the critera has been met. Our case is within the "lemon department" we have done all that has been asked of us but they are still dragging their feet. I think they are hoping we give up and go away. LOL . It is very frustrating to have a brand new car that we save up to pay cash for and can't drive it because it randomly doesn't start. AAARrrggggg.


I lived in PA for 35 years. Moved to Ohio a year ago.

Contact the attorney general in your state (or the state you bought the car in). The AG will send the formal complaint to the dealer. The dealer will then encourage the mfg to review your case closer and faster! The other thing to consider doing is asking the service manager at the dealer to contact the service rep for the mfg and get a meeting with that person. Mfg reps can be very helpful in pushing a repair or claim through.

 

[PA DISNEYLOVER]

Contact the attorney general in your state (or the state you bought the car in). The AG will send the formal complaint to the dealer. The dealer will then encourage the mfg to review your case closer and faster! The other thing to consider doing is asking the service manager at the dealer to contact the service rep for the mfg and get a meeting with that person. Mfg reps can be very helpful in pushing a repair or claim through.

Thank You for the suggestions. We contacted The AG in New Jersey very earlier in this process ( we purchased in NJ ). The regional manager for the dealership we have been working thru has been helping us ALOT. They finally put a recorder on the van, which supposedly was the next step in the process and thankfully the van once again stopped running with it recording. Hopefully this will get us somewhere.

 

[ShellyShellfish]

We have had the front brakes done within a year after buying our 2008 T&C. Then we had to replace hardware on the back brakes and replace the back brakes. We still hear squealing and now worry the front needs to be done again... Did you get reimbursed the second time the same way as the first or was it a hassel? I am also getting sick of all the recalls! We have a 2003 Kia minivan also and have had less work done on it. It has 130k on it while the T&C has maybe 25k!

I think we might have had to pay $100 to have the second set of brakes put on but honestly I can't remember. We now have about 45k miles on our van and haven't had a problem since doing it at like 16k and 30 miles. I hope this means we aren't due for it to be replaced again soon. I used to drive it every day in stop and go urban driving when I worked but now it's a lot less and the trips aren't as hard on the brakes.

Did you get the A/C recall? We had a problem with a hose in the air conditioner and then next thing we knew there was a recall on that. Our friends who bought their van at the same time got a recall about the sliding door catching fire or something crazy like that?!

All I know is thank GOD for the free lifetime warranty we got...we paid to push it up to the bumper to bumper because with all the technology and electronics in our model who knows how much it'd cost to replace the DVD system or a heated seat, etc. when that poops the bed.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I think we might have had to pay $100 to have the second set of brakes put on but honestly I can't remember. We now have about 45k miles on our van and haven't had a problem since doing it at like 16k and 30 miles. I hope this means we aren't due for it to be replaced again soon. I used to drive it every day in stop and go urban driving when I worked but now it's a lot less and the trips aren't as hard on the brakes.

Did you get the A/C recall? We had a problem with a hose in the air conditioner and then next thing we knew there was a recall on that. Our friends who bought their van at the same time got a recall about the sliding door catching fire or something crazy like that?!

All I know is thank GOD for the free lifetime warranty we got...we paid to push it up to the bumper to bumper because with all the technology and electronics in our model who knows how much it'd cost to replace the DVD system or a heated seat, etc. when that poops the bed.

We got the sliding door recall. Prior to that we had numerous problems with the sliding door popping open just randomly. The neighbors were always coming over and telling us that the van door was open when we know we closed it. Several trips to the shop later with no fix and then the recall came out and that repair seems to have fixed that problem for now.

We also sprung for the lifetime bumper to bumper warranty. We got a great deal on the van so adding in the warranty was a no-brainer for us since even with that added cost we still paid less for the van than we had planned.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

I am opening up my 2011 Consumer Reports Buying guide and looking at the data for 2004-2009 Chrysler and Dodge minivans. For the line that reflects the "used car verdict", all model years got black circles (not recommended).

My DH has been involved in the car business for years and says that these products have never had real good quality. The former Chevy Uplander and the Ford Windstar/Freestar also are nothing to brag about. The Uplander got mostly black circles and the Freestar is declared as being average at best.

I am sorry that your vehicle has let you down and I want to thank you for sharing your experience. If we vote for products with our consumer dollars, some of these companies will get the message eventually.

It is most sad that this part of the automotive market was "invented" by Chrysler, and their products are so unreliable.