my car kind of rumbles when it breaks. my friend describes this as "shimmying". this does not happen on any other cars ive driven. is it an ES thing, or soemthign that should be looked into?

also, i got into a minor fender bender, and my back bumper is messed up. are these real expensive to have replaced, or should i just bring it to a body shop and have them detail it?

thanks,

Kyle

 

When you say your car rumbles, do you also feel the vibration on the steering wheel when braking? If so, your front and rear rotors need to be resurfaced. Not an expensive job at all, maybe around the ballpark of $100 to do all 4 rotors, and any good brake/service mechanic should do the job for no more than a couple hours.

It's hard to tell the condition of your rear bumper without pics. Can you post a couple of them for us to see?

 

yeah, i feel it in the steering wheel. looking at the break rotors, in the front, they look like they have a little bit of rust on them.

ill get pictures pretty soon.... its still snowing here, so the car's dirty, and it's hard to get a good look when it's like that.

 

get your rotors resurfaced, any brake shop can do this. If it is an 02-03, then look into the TSB that covers brake vibration.

bumpers and fender bender: it doesn't cost to go to a body shop and get an estimate. See what they say. The bumpers will need flex added to the paint if you DIY.

steviej

 

my car has the same problem, but only slowing down from 80 mph or so

 

yeah its cuze your rotors are uneven so they end up skiping so you got to turn your rotors... what i have notice is it happens when you get cheap break pads...

or also if you have rims. what happened to my friend was when he was going on the freeway and with him not even braking it would shake and it was because the people that put rims on his car they forgot to put this little circle rubber piece that closes up the gap between your rotor and rim when he went to sprewell racing they told him about that so they put one on for him and after that the car rode smooth....

 

Rotors can be resurfaced as long as the remaining amount of metal on them does not go below a minimum thickness....as specified in the shop manual. This, of course, is done for reasons of durability, safety, and heat dissipation.
The rotor width after resurfacing is measured with a micrometer....BE SURE the techincian does this.
If the rotors are not thick enough after shaving, they must be trashed and new ones put on. Most of the newer rotors are already pretty thin for weight savings, so on average, they can only be shaved once or twice. Depending on what the shop charges for labor rates, sometimes it's easier, quicker, and not much more expensive just to put new ones on.
If you keep having this problem even with moderate driving, consider trading your ES for an IS. The IS300 brakes are outstanding...they have very large and effective rotors in relation to the car's weight, and resist warping very well.

 

haha, i have a '96. no way someone would be willing to trade my '96 ES for an IS without a whole lotta cash.