Took my car in because rotor seized/grind after 10 days parking in a garage. ABS/TRAC lights on. Turned off car and everything was fine except slight vibration when braking.
The car drives smoothly at all speeds except when braking.

I get the call.. Too much rust on rear rotors for not driving enough, visually nothing wrong. NOT warranted, $700. The car has 10,735 miles to be exact.
The car is back home with no repairs done right now. I was a bit shocked.. Trying to see if anyone else had this problem.

NOTE TO OTHER USERS: DO NOT SET THE PARKING BRAKE IF PARKING FOR OVER 10 DAYS....

 

Sounds like something else going on. My parking brake is always on via the auto brake function.I have left my car sitting longer than that on a number of occasions and never had this issue.

 

Do you park outside?

I've had the parking brake stick if I park the car for awhile without driving it. I know this because once I put it in park and let off the brake, I feel a slight thump from the rear before the car gets moving. If there's rust on the rotor surface, usually 2-3 stop signs will take care of that. Also, I manually deactivate the automatic parking brake after washing the car.

 

i park inside.. not a private garage, but a parking garage..

Just not too happy about it. I guess i'll live with the vibration.. not worth it to replace after 10k..

just glad this car is a lease..

 

Didn't have this issue with my GS but I had this very issue with my Camry. I would park it for months at a time as I mostly rode my motorcycle in the warmer months.

If it' just rust, I don't see why they can't shave the rotors a bit. No need to replace rotors at 10K miles. Mine are at 30K miles and still look great.

 

I park in a garage. I have noticed that after a rain or a wash, the next morning, the brakes are stuck a little, I put it in Drive and let off the brake, car doesn't move then I give it a little gas and hear a 'pop' sound. Pretty sure it is the rear parking brakes sticking/rusting. After I drive 1/2 mile or so everything is normal.

 

I have parked my car for days with auto park and nothing never happened except the initial hiccup from the battery, what city are u in.

 

Sure, surface rust happens on all cars. But surface rust doesn't warp the rotors.

 

Boston..

I'll probably send a note out to NHTSA. I wasn't too happy with my car vibrating like a cheap car during the weekend road trip yesterday..

 

Who said anything about warped rotors? Vibration is more commonly caused by material deposit on the rotor, rust being one possibility, the other is brake pad material deposit(that's why you don't set your parking brake after doing hot laps around a track).

 

vibration when braking means ur rotor is overheated and need to be replaced with new rotor and pads. you can try going on freeway and see if no1 behind you first then press on the brake, if ur steering wheel shakes then new rotor and pads.

my car never had that problem even with my other cars that parked outside and the rotor is cover with a overnight rust it will go away after some driving. on the other hand if you don't drive ur car that much ur rotor can build up rust and will cause braking. my civic park outside just move it once every week and it have rust build up and when braking I can feel brake pulsation.

 

Have you done a few hard stops from 60 or 70 mph to clean the rust off from the rotors? I have never heard of brakes needing replacing after only 10k miles but than again I don't do this for a living. Those rotors should have plenty of meat on them and should need to be turned. A couple of hours of work max!

 

I am going to try that. Do that new brake "break-in" method later today or tomorrow.

 

Update: Lexus Corp called me back and decided to replace the rear rotors as an one-time courtesy.

 

Update: Rear rotors/pads replaced.. still vibrations.. front rotors shaved.. vibration gone.

I can't imagine how fast the brakes warp for people who drive like maniacs.. maybe this car is too heavy for this size brakes...