So my dealership just told me that I need new brakes and rotors. I just had them both replaced 17K miles ago. They said "That's about right. Rotors on the XK last about 17K miles." Does this sound right????

 

Not hardly, unless you race your XK. I go through pads (rotors are usually still good) MAYBE every 45,000 miles, and I drive pretty hard on the street, conditions permitting. I think you should maybe check with another shop.

 

This issue has come up on other sites I am on. As for my position I would ask the dealer to tell me the thickness of the rotors and then ask them what the allowable spec's are from Jaguar. Also ask if they have measured them for flatness (I assume you did not have and pulsing or vibration when stopping).
I would also want to see the pads and ask them how much material is left on them. I also would want to see the old rotors to verify if they are scored. 17K miles on a normal driving car is way to low. You should be getting maybe 50-60K on the rears and 30-40K on the fronts. I would also believe you should get 2 sets of pads before you need new rotors. Remember "trust but verify" and I always ask for old parts back before they start any job.

 

Seems excessive, the dealer replaced the pads on mine at 24,000 under warranty but the rotors were good. As said above I'd ask to see the specs and measurements. Years ago at a 'reputable' chain in the UK I had to go back and measure the rotors my self and prove them wrong I think they were surprised I could read a micrometer, it didn't read what they said it did, sad but you can't always trust people.

 

How did you get your pads covered under warranty? Are they not considered a wearable part?

 

DGL, I didn't ask ! they said it needed them when they first tried to fix the CEL as I asked them to go over the car and give me a list of work. I turned up expecting to pay for the pads etc and they said it was under warranty! didn't seem polite to argue

 

I've known people (usually women, no bias intended, I LOVE women ) who DID get their used parts back, but they weren't even parts from the car they had, just some old junk the shop had laying around.

 

Pads replaced every 18-20k miles and rotors replaced every 2nd pad replacement. The last replacement (discs & rotors) for my 12 xk was about 1 month ago fronts at 40k miles. This time I went with posiquiet ceramic discs from Tirerack shipped to and installed by the dealer. Total cost $711.00 including taxes. So far so good.

 

Ok so not on an XK but pretty much on every other car I've owned I'd get way more than that, probably in line there or thereabouts with Jagtoes.

Unless you're driving around with your foot on the brake all day / drag racing / racing from light to light etc the whole time.....I just don't see it?

I had around 85k miles on the discs on my A6 driven normally, with around 2 pad changes iirc.

 

Just did my fronts around 41K, pads and rotors. Don't know when they were done prior as I've only had since October.

The throwaway thickness on the 07XK rotors is 1.10" and New is 1.18"
so .08" is not a lot of material, hope I get 2 pads to a rotor. Mine were right at 1.10" so did the rotors too.

As far as the rears they still look about 80%. I know on my 97XK8 I did about four fronts to 1 rear as European cars tend to use the front brakes more than the rear. That's why the fronts always gets dust build before the rears.

 

Just doing a quick search I find the costs interesting. You can get a pair of front rotors for a 2012 XKR from EBC for $566 and for the same pair from Centric it cost $ 125. Does anyone have any real life experience with any of these.

 

I didn't see a post detailing what's actually wrong with the existing rotors. I'd challenge the dealer to justify his statement. I gather they haven't volunteered to pay.

 

I have had two cars where the rotors had to be replaced with every set of pads, both German cars.

The explanation I was given is that the high performance pads are as hard as or harder than the iron used in the rotors. On both cars, a large lip develops on the edge of the rotors about the same time the pads wear out so it is obvious the rotors have a great deal of wear. Averaged about 20,000 miles on fronts and 40,000 on rears on those cars.

Have not yet had to replace pads on the Jag but I can see a similar lip forming so it appears the rotors are wearing in pace with the pads.

I would be interested in finding a softer pad especially if it produced less dust. Are the ceramic pads easier on rotors?

 

This is what it's supposed to be.

 

Misperceptions concerning brakes are continuously mentioned with 'warped' rotors being one of the misunderstood topics.

Brake discs, or rotors, if made from the correct materials meeting the manufacturer's specifications, do not warp. What is felt as 'brake pulsation' or 'steering flutter' is not due to warping of the brake discs, but may be caused by areas of metal that have cooled at a different rate when brought to a high temperature.

Iron nodules form that are inconsistent with the surrounding area of the brake disc and thus have a different rate of wear creating a surface that is inconsistent. This inconsistency causes the brake pad to move slightly forcing brake fluid back through the caliper resulting in a 'pulsation' being felt by the driver in the brake pedal. If the nodule(s) is more pronounced, feedback may be felt through the steering in the form of a 'flutter' or movement of the steering wheel when the brakes are applied.

Planing, or machining, of the brake rotors may or may not eliminate the condition, providing the nodules causing the pulsation or flutter are removed during the process.

 

Yes, and another cause of similar pulses is to have a brake caliper piston sticking.

+1 on the rough figure of 20K (I get more but I'm not racing etc) for pads and 2 lots of pads per disc (rotor).

 

According to to a chart at Centric, ceramic pads dust less, but brake less well
and wear rotors more as compared to semi-metallic.

 

To be fair there are a lot of factors to take into account.....


Racing or heavy continued braking?
More motorway miles or ALL stop start?


Obviously around town and stop start will involve considerably more braking.
How do you drive - Are you a forward thinker, looking ahead and anticipating or always on the brakes last minute?
I guess these along with other factors will also help to determine pad / disc life.

 

Reputable brake system engineers seem to be quite happy to use the word warp rather than tying
themselves up in semantics.

Rather than typing it all out again, see post #30:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...e2/#post986674

Rather than objecting to the word, maybe the internet at large should accept
that the word has a legitimate usage when referring to brake rotors.

 

There was one owner on the XJ40 forum that went through five sets of front rotors
in 8,000 miles. He had a habit of pulling himself down from 135 mph on a regular basis.

But, that wasn't the problem.

He finally twigged to the fact that the dust shields were cooking his brakes.