GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Bought the '09 Vibe a few months back and before the car left the dealership, the rotors on the front had to be replaces as the braking was horrid for a car with 51,000 miles on the clock. Then last month the rears started making noise and the rotors and pads were replaced today. Surprised that the rotors went bad so quickly. Has anyone else had this problem early on on their Vibe? btw all the work was done at no charge..

I just put all new brakes on mine at 41,000.

The rears were worn badly and the left rear was grinding. The left rear outside pad was worn at an extreme angle. The top of the pad was gone and a lot of material remained on the lower portion of the pad. I have found other references on the net to abnormal brake wear on the left rear.

The front pads still had about 40% remaining but I was already into the job and already had purchased the parts so I did the fronts as well.

Capnblinski wrote: btw all the work was done at no charge..

How did you manage to have all this work done and not pay anything at all ???

FYI... Juniors Blue 2009 Vibe GT had the front pads & rotors changed @ 40k miles and we were just informed that the rears will need to be done before winter. That will put him @ 48K miles for the rears. I think it's a bit premature but it sounds normal from what everyone else is experiencing especially if it's an automatic. My Red Vibe GT is a manual (downshifting is nice!) and won't need brakes for a VERY long time. Just 16K on the car and at this rate it will be 10+ years or so before brakes need replacing

I just changed the front and back brake pads on my 2009 GT. 92k. Just bought it. Previous owner stated he changed at 46k so seems about right. The fronts were pretty thin and def needed changing. The rears were down but had some life. Interestingly, Autozone sold me the wrong brakes for the rear. I'll post a pic later. When I went back, the system has the pads listed as the OEM. I took a picture with the old pads and the new ones. Well, he checked the AWD spec and those were it. Apparently I have the AWD brake calipers. I don't think I have AWD but the guy at AutoZone insisted i must have. Any one run into this? I'm changing the rear set this afternoon and will take pictures.

mrbravo2000 wrote: Apparently I have the AWD brake calipers. I don't think I have AWD but the guy at AutoZone insisted i must have. Any one run into this?

Do you have a 4-speed auto trans or a 5-speed auto trans? If it's a 4-speed, than you have an AWD.

vibenvy wrote:

mrbravo2000 wrote: Apparently I have the AWD brake calipers. I don't think I have AWD but the guy at AutoZone insisted i must have. Any one run into this?

Do you have a 4-speed auto trans or a 5-speed auto trans? If it's a 4-speed, than you have an AWD.

I have the 5 speed trans, I explained that to him but he didnt seem to understand. here's a pic of the pads, old vs new (the new did not fit)



Not sure what's going on but the pads are slightly bigger. I installed them and they feel great.

Doh! Forgot you've got a GT! That's definitely weird about the calipers .

Premature wear of the brakes on the 09-10 Vibe is the new reallity of modern car with traction control/ stability control. It is also not that unusual to have the rear brake wear out before the front because the TC/ SC system is applying the rear brake to keep the car in a straight line. Have to do my brakes today about 20% wear in the front but about 95-99% wear in the back at about 65000km. All my co-workers with car of varing makes and model that have TC/ SC are wearing out brakes between 45000km to 80000km

I guess I need to check my rear brakes! I did the fronts at about 60K as they were almost down to the metal, but the Firestone guy rotating the tires said the rears were still OK.

trb wrote:I guess I need to check my rear brakes! I did the fronts at about 60K as they were almost down to the metal, but the Firestone guy rotating the tires said the rears were still OK.

I would too, the closer they get to plate the quicker they seem to go, or at least that has been my exp. in my othewr vehicles. Plus, what the dude up top said seems true. I just replaced the brakes on our Cadillac and the rears went out 1st then the fronts. Usually it was pretty even wear on the fronts and backs in previous vehicles.

tpollauf wrote:

Capnblinski wrote: btw all the work was done at no charge..

How did you manage to have all this work done and not pay anything at all ???

FYI... Juniors Blue 2009 Vibe GT had the front pads & rotors changed @ 40k miles and we were just informed that the rears will need to be done before winter. That will put him @ 48K miles for the rears. I think it's a bit premature but it sounds normal from what everyone else is experiencing especially if it's an automatic. My Red Vibe GT is a manual (downshifting is nice!) and won't need brakes for a VERY long time. Just 16K on the car and at this rate it will be 10+ years or so before brakes need replacing

The wife is pretty tough! She called and told them since she bought the car in June and has only had the car for two months, the brake system should have been good to go before they even put the car on the lot for sale. So they said OK and she drove away with new rear pads and rotors. Brakes are good now!

Hmmm...will have to check closely next time I rotate the tires on my 2009. I thought the pads were fine at 50k and I'm now at 54k. I would be surprised that the rears should wear much from stability control - I've only had my rear end lose a few times (the most recent time was pretty wild BTW).

Kincaid wrote:Hmmm...will have to check closely next time I rotate the tires on my 2009. I thought the pads were fine at 50k and I'm now at 54k. I would be surprised that the rears should wear much from stability control - I've only had my rear end lose a few times (the most recent time was pretty wild BTW).

let me know, as meticulous as the previous owner was, there were no receipts that show the brake change. so i would be interested as well.

thats nice that getting that done free of charge.

yea, I replaced all rotors and brake pads around 35,000 miles. my car is out of warranty so I had to pay for parts.

Very interesting. It has been my experience that the back brakes always last at least twice as long as the front brakes. That is with front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, and 4 wheel drive vehicles. The only thing is that they all had rear drums. I also remember people posting here where their Vibe did not need brakes for 80k plus, and the rears still looked good. They were rear drums too. Probably mostly highway drivers. Might not have traction or stability control either. I see all the time where Prius' go forever without needing brake changes, but then again they have that brake regeneration thing going for battery power and use ceramic pads.
One thing to note on at least the 09-10 Vibes is that the stock OEM front pads were a ceramic mix, wheras the rears were the more traditional semi-metalic, if memory serves me.
I just do not see stability control wearing the rears down that quickly, unless you are always trying to hang it out there and always have a flashing yellow light coming on in the dash. Possibly more wear for fronts if driving and taking off in icy and snowy conditions, but I was under the impression that traction control is more of an electronic, throttle/timing thing that cuts power first, then uses brakes if still needed.
http://www.toyota.com/safety/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Checked the brakes yesterday with the wheels on and they look pretty thin all around. I am ordering new pads now so that I will be ready.

Changed the rears (90k+ miles and they were toast)

What is the torque spec on the bolts that hold the anchor on? These are the 14mm bolts (not the slider bolts)
I had them at around 74 ftlbs which I have seen on other models but then didn't think they were that hard taking them off so I lowered them to around 40.

Thanks for the help!

I had to have replace the rear pads and rotors twice on my '09 Vibe. First time was at 37K miles, I asked for the old parts and noticed that the wear on the pads was very abnormal (as described in a previous reply). I complained to the dealer that this was abnormal wear and they were able to cover the cost of rotors and labour on warranty citing that the caliper slider brackets were the cause.
I am now at 73K miles and I just had to get pads and rotors replaced for the second time. I did not get to see the old parts and had to pay for the rotors and labour with pads covered by lifetime warranty. I do mostly highway driving and the front brakes were chcnegs once since I have had the car (at around 60K miles)
Not sure if it makes a difference, but I live in Canada where there is plenty of road salt in the winter.

LGH

The chimp that last touched the brakes on my Vibe put the rear pads on the wrong sides. The hanger sticking off the backing plate on the inside was wedged against the caliper, on both sides. The pads were worn at about a 20 degree angle.

Replaced all the pads with Wagner Thermoquiet and they seem to do well. I ended up using PFC pads on my old Grand Am because of underpowered brakes, and the PFCs were very grabby. The Wagners are grabby enough but also smooth and quiet.