Felt a throbbing feeling while braking with anything other than ultra light or very hard pressure since day 1. Just assumed it was normal brake by wire feel but had the dealer here check it.

It seems while the car sat in port for 7 weeks, someone had engaged the parking brake the entire 7 weeks. This corroded the rear rotors slightly. Dealer wants to shave the rotors to fix it.

Even though this is a wear item, in my opinion Lexus should replace them since it was caused by improper storage pre delivery. Dealer service dept is reaching out to Lexus next week.

Odds that Lexus will approve replacing rotors? Anyone experience this? I'd rather not shave brand new rotors if I can avoid it.

 

Your road to acquisition has surely been rocky. All things considered I feel they'll honor your reasonable request. Subscribed to see.

 

@ratchettt
“All things considered I feel they'll honor your reasonable request. Subscribed to see.”

Agreed. Seems the right thing to do. Brand new car, I’ll be surprised if Lexus were to deny.

 

I agree with asking for new rotors. I would prefer not to receive a brand new vehicle with reduced rotor life, unless they offered something in exchange like an extended maintenance plan or something.

They gave us an extended maintenance plan on our LX delivery because of the massaging seats being Inop (software issue). We didn’t even ask, they said it was because we were inconvenienced.

 

Definitely hoping for replacement to be authorized since their shop GM agrees it was from parking brake corrosion on rotor during port delay. Although shaving them would only take like a couple hundredths off which shouldnt substantially reduce lifespan.

We'll see what Lexus says. I have a feeling they will want to shave first and if that doesnt fix it then perhaps replace, unless I "force the issue".

I have no other complaints, and this was caused by port delay not a flaw of the car itself. Still very happy to have Skye in my garage!

 

shouldnt have to fix a new car.

 

I think if I'd been willing to sit in Miami while investigating Lexus wouldve replaced no question. But because it has 1800 miles on it, even if 1500 were driving back on the highway, they may say it is a wear item and subject to warping or damage from aggressive braking or washing while rotors were hot.

I know that isnt the case as I paid careful attention to brake-in and washing after rotors cooled, but that would be the justification for denial.

I agree fixing a new car isnt ideal but in this case it's a minor issue. I was far more worried about damage to the paint/clear coat during the extended port delay.

 

DEFINITELY request ew Rotors. short money for the dealer, customer for life. No brainer. Hope all goes well Kor.

 

You purchased a brand new vehicle. Don't settle for less and demand replacement rotors.

 

Depends on how you approach HQ and how much you want to escalate the problem.
Lexus has been very reasonable with stuff like this IME. Worst case they will say is they will pay for the parts but the labor will be on you.

 

A kind word turns away rath, a harsh answer stirs up anger. Make a friend, you may get the the whole deal paid for.

 

With my Porsches a call to the customer hotline at corporate in GA always got immediate action by the dealer.

 

Isn't the parking brake contact area inside the rotor hat? This wouldn't be shaving off the actual brake surface, no?

 

I dunno, makes sense bc I only see the main brake pad on the outside. Maybe the LC holds the brake pad against the rotor in the park position?? Or something else is screwy with how it was stored at port (no parking brake set so the main brake pad was in contact??).

It's fairly obvious in the service dept's video. Big dark patch on the rotor face. Still waiting to hear on Lexus approval for warranty fix. Here's a screen grab from the tech's video:



It's on both rear rotors but as far as I can tell not on the fronts. To their credit they do seem to be trying, just not aggressively/quickly. Given how rare I would imagine a warranty claim on these rotors probably is, I don't really fault them. Not sure if something like this can be authorized as a warranty issue at the dealer level, or if it requires Lexus corporate authorization. I probably shouldve sat in Miami for a day or two to force the issue immediately after purchase.

Worst case I'll let them shave it, should only take maybe 2 hundredths off tops which given my 3k-4k miles per year driving it, it wont appreciably affect their lifespan. It'll be 10 years before I even consider replacing them anyway. I just dont want to pay for the labor to shave them and really shouldnt be expected to. I'll give them some time before I push further.

As a side note I thought I read that Lexus changed the brake pad compound at some point due to owner complaints of loud/squeaky brakes. I wonder if this is a side effect of a more forgiving compound. My SLC43's brakes squeel bad if stopping at low speeds with light pressure, necessitating a burnishing process once in a while (hard braking 60-0 several times).

However, neither the 43 nor the 55s similar high performance brakes EVER had pad compound bond onto the rotor regardless of how I drove, washed OR stored the car. Been driving SLK/SLCs since 2008 and the brakes have always been flawless. 7 weeks in Miami salt air and some sort of storage issue seems to be the culprit IMO. So a word of caution to anyone else whose LC sits at port (or on a used lot) near the coast for a prolonged period.

 

Looking at the pictures and what you describe, I have personal doubts about what is being said is the problem. Having tooled 50 years on cars, with a number of them as a senior Porsche/Audi master tech, I've changed more than a few brake rotors out. The rear brakes are not the main braking surfaces. To feel a vibration from the rear rotors there would have to be more noticeable irregularities on those rears to have you feel it in the pedal as you do. I would pull the front wheels and spin the front rotors and check for out of round or other problems using a micrometer. I think you may find the problem may be there instead.