GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I bought a 2009 Vibe about three and half months ago with 65000km. Since then I've put about 5000km on it. Last week there was a grinding sound in the right rear tire when breaking. I brought the car to Canadian Tire. They told me the calibers were seized and I needed a complete rear brake repair.

Is it normal for this to happen in the short amount of time since the sa fety was done? Also, when the brakes pads are worn down shouldn't there be a noise indicator? The brakes seemed fine up until I heard the grinding.

(first time car owner)

Welcome to GenVibe!!!

It's possible that the brake pads are worn out (assuming, of course, that you have an automatic and the car's driven in stop an go traffic) but more likely I'd wager that the e-brake was sticking. Do you use the e-brake regularly?

What part of the country do you live in?

Thank you for the quick response.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. I don't use the e brake much, only if I'm parked on a hill. Repair cost was around $850, they didn't mention anything about the e brake.

Total rear Caliper seized on a 2009 with 65000km? Your car drive average more than 21 000km/yr driving 60km per day is very optimal for brake. I am pretty sure your rear brakes should be properly warm up and rear brakes should not be seized. Rear brake seized happen with 10+ years old car or 6 years old car that is super low millage , rarely driven on hwy ,never done brake service and drive on city that use a lot of road salt.
It seems based on the millage, CT adviser must be full of $hit.
I recommend you get a second opinion even go back to the dealership for brake check is better than trust the CT people.

I am pretty sure the tech from CT don't know how to handle our special type of rear brake that need to turn the piston using a special tool instead squeezing it using a channel lock/vice.

cq358 wrote: I recommend you get a second opinion even go back to the dealership for brake check is better than trust the CT people.

I am pretty sure the tech from CT don't know how to handle our special type of rear brake that need to turn the piston using a special tool instead squeezing it using a channel lock/vice.

There's a CT in Calgary whose service dept was rated worst in Canada a few years back... I wouldn't trust a CT tech to properly identifymy car's colour let alone look under the hood!

star_deceiver wrote:

cq358 wrote: I recommend you get a second opinion even go back to the dealership for brake check is better than trust the CT people.

I am pretty sure the tech from CT don't know how to handle our special type of rear brake that need to turn the piston using a special tool instead squeezing it using a channel lock/vice.

There's a CT in Calgary whose service dept was rated worst in Canada a few years back... I wouldn't trust a CT tech to properly identifymy car's colour let alone look under the hood!

One thing to know about the service at Canadian Tire is the mechanics in the shop have to work to a daily quota. I've known a few mechanics including my brother in law and recently met a guy that was a service manager, they all said that the manager tells the guys in the shop they have to sell a certain dollar value of parts and service each day so it's up to the mechanics to be creative to meet this goal on a slow day. Also CT management doesn't give the mechanics much back-up when they do sell unnecessay work and the customer catches they been screwed and lay the blame totally on the mechanic often in front of the customer.