I bought this car used with 16,000 miles about 4 months ago
as a cheap drive to work, that could comfortably carry the
family places if the minivan were in the shop. So far I'm
happy with it except for the brakes.

The rear brakes squeal fairly loudly at the end of braking.
I had them checked out at a shop I trust not to find problems
that don't exist, and they told me the brakes were in like
new condition. I guess I'll just have to live with thesqueal.

Now, the front brakes are making a noise I've never heard
from brakes before from any other car. It's tough to hear
unless it's quiet (no radio, no air, no radio, etc...)
It's not metal/metal, and I checked the pads to confirm
they're like new. It's not a squeal, either. It sounds
almost like friction on rubber, like the sound when someone
rubs a balloon. It's not a steady sound, but pulses, and
slows down as the car slows down.

I can't really describe it accurately here, but it's sort
of "scritch scritch scritch" that slows down and drops in
tone as the car slows, stops when I come to a full stop.

I had the local shop check the brakes, they again found they
were in like new condition, couldn't find any problems.
(They also had trouble hearing it, but it was noisy there,
and I had trouble hearing it, too.)

Any ideas? Is this common? Might it be covered under warranty?
Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

It sounds to me like everything's probably just fine like they told you.
The sound from the front brakes you describe often occurs when there's a
little rust on the rotors where the pads rub (quite common on a used car
as it may have been sitting for more than a week without being driven).

The squeal from the rear brakes is typically caused by dust buildup in the
drums. If the shop didn't do so, you may wish to have the rear brakes
cleaned and adjusted along with lubing the contact points on the backing
plates. This would be considered maintenance and wouldn't be covered by
the warranty.

 

hyundaitech wrote:
> It sounds to me like everything's probably just fine like they told you.
> The sound from the front brakes you describe often occurs when there's a
> little rust on the rotors where the pads rub (quite common on a used car
> as it may have been sitting for more than a week without being driven).
>
> The squeal from the rear brakes is typically caused by dust buildup in the
> drums. If the shop didn't do so, you may wish to have the rear brakes
> cleaned and adjusted along with lubing the contact points on the backing
> plates. This would be considered maintenance and wouldn't be covered by
> the warranty.


Thanks for the reply.

If I may ask, it sounds like the rust on the rotor must not be even,
since the sound pulses. Will this wear the pads more quickly? Can the
rust be cleaned off, or will I need new rotors? Or will the pads
eventually scrub the rust off?

Thanks for your help.

 

Could go either way on the rust. The pads could scrape it off or it could
get underneath the surface of the rotors and ruin them. I've seen both
cases. Time will tell. For now, keep driving. If you have any other
braking oddities in the future have them checked.