Even though there are a zillion brake stories/issues out there, listen to my story. I'll be as brief as possible: (2009 SS/TC)

8000 miles: Inner rear pads metal on metal, outside rear pads like new.
Dealer replaced pads and resurfaced rotors
12,000 miles: Inner rear pads metal on metal, outside rear pads like new.
Dealer replaced pads and rear calipers and resurfaced rear rotors.
22,000 miles: Rear inner and outter pads need replaced. This time I put on Hawk pads.
1 week later the rear brakes are making a lot of noise, dealer says the rotors are ok but they have a "hot spot" on them and should be replaced, but no rush.
So I decided to wait until the weather breaks and I would do it myself with aftermarket rotors.
In the meantime, the front rotors warped. I don't know if I heated them up or what, but all of a sudden they are warped. So my friend Mike, who manages a shop, says he'll turn them down for me. I ordered Hawk front pads for him to put on. He turned down the rotors but couldn't get the pads changed because of the pin that goes through the caliper/pads saying he didn't have a punch and was afraid he'd mess them up.
So last week I called the dealer and made an appointment for them to: install the front pads (that I supplied--the Hawk pads) and replace the rear rotors and pads. They quoted me $479 (!) to do the job. Yesterday was the appointment...so I go in and they tell me they still have to order the rear rotors, and they found another problem. The FRONT Brembo calipers had a frozen piston on each side, and the front calipers would cost $357 each plus installation plus the charge for doing the rears. So I said "wait a minute, why wouldn't the Brembo calipers be covered unbder warranty?" He looks again and says, "oh yeah, I guess you are still in warranty (I'm at 32,000 miles now). So he says " I have to order the Brembo calipers and the rear rotors, it'll be about a week."
So not only are the rear brakes crap, so are the front. Supposedly Brembos are the top when it comes to brakes, right? How could EACH side have a frozen piston? Like I told the service manager, I love this car, it runs like a raped ape, looks good, etc etc, but the brake issues on this car a friggin ridiculous. Now at least I'll have the Brembo calipers on the record because if this happens once it's out of warranty I will ditch the car. You should not have to dump tons of money every year into maintaining the brake system.
Sorry for the long read, but My Gawd how frustrating this all is!

 

Frozen pistons? If that is really the case, then you might notice excessive wear on the front pads. Are they just saying they're frozen or did they do any type of testing? The pad change procedure is very simple on these fixed caliper systems, and they should loosen the bleeder screws in order to compress the pistons using the old pads.

$357 for a new Brembo caliper isn't bad. Usually doing an aftermarket retrofit costs thousands to get the Brembo name.

 

Man that sucks to hear. I thought the brembos and front brakes in general were top notch. Good luck getting everything resolved.

 

Try using brake lube on the pad sliders next time, works wonders. I believe this is the whole issue behind the whole one sided wear thing.

 

My fronts are starting to squeel during normal driving,i have to tap the brakes a few times to get them to stop,almost like they are hanging up a bit.

 

Whoa....that's the first I've heard of problems with the Brembo. GM's cost for sub-par products is also ludicrous. The ass kicker is no matter how much we complain they'll do nothing about it and never bother looking into it, at least they haven't over almost 3 years of non-stop problems. Story after story it's proof; the brakes on this car are a ******* nightmare. Good thing my delivery just arrived today to take care of that !

 

ya frozen piston or pin? the pin may need to be punched out but shouldnt be a big deal...

 

No they said frozen piston, one on each side. The service guy said "these are 4 piston calipers and you have one frozen on each side". He was surprised when I said order them then, I'm still under warranty. It is possible they may have thought I'd just shell out the money w/out thinking about it. When my friend Mike turned the rotors, he said the inner pads were about 1/4, and they outter pads 1/2. This at 32,000 miles so that seems to be acceptable. I noticed today though, as I had to drive to Pgh for work meetings (100 miles each way) that the brakes seemed more responsive than they have felt, but it's weird because nothing has been done..waiting on the rear rotors to come in and the Brembo calipers. I have decided that, once the warranty is done, I will get the aftermarket rotors for all around. Who is it that is making the slotted ones for our TC's? I read I can get the rears from Saab, but what about the fronts?
Thanks for the responses. I know I'm not alone in "brake frustrations"!

In the rears, yes I think you're right. Shouldn't have had a problem a second time though, and now since the rear rotors were turned TWICE under warranty, now they have a hot spot and are at discard thickness, so I have to pay to replace them. Thanks GM

 

I'm afraid what they'll say about my brakes when I get them looked at lol. Mine don't make any noises though.

 

^^Good luck, hope for the best! How many miles are you at?

and btw, even though I'm having all these brake issues, I have to say I STILL LOVE THIS CAR.

 

Right around 26k, so I'm gonna take it in for its 25k check up and whatnot. I already have new calipers that are going to be installed. I just hope they cover whatever else is wrong under warranty.

 

Curious, why do you have new calipers already? My fronts haven't given me any trouble until now. I don't know how I warped the front rotors but I could've heated them up at some point.

 

They are new powdercoated ones.

 

Ah, that sounds nice.

 

Hoping the dealer will install them free of charge if they have to replace my rotors under warranty hahahaha.

 

The OEM rotors are great. No complaints from me. The OEM pads, OTOH, are rubbish - including the fronts.

 

Well, I understand that. I'm hoping that since they have to replace the Brembo calipers that they won't charge me to install the Hawk pads while they're at it. And the Hawk pads I have on the rear are still ok, they just have to put those rotors on. So it shouldn't cost me the $479 they originally quoted. I did get a free oil change yesterday while they had it in the air.

 

They shouldn't charge you extra to do something they already have to do anyway, except with a different part. That would be retarded.

 

Someone at work had the cross drilled and slotted rotors installed on his SS/TC coupe. I've been checking out his rear rotors for over a year whenever I walk past the car. I've been tracking the rear rotor wear on every SS/TC I can find and they all have grooving. This guy must have figured it out and swapped pads AND rotors at the same time.

I don't like slotted and drilled rotors. From my experience, the pad material makes the biggest difference.

 

Mine make a lil' noise when they rust from damp weather(until they're clean).

Guess "It never rains in Southern California"...

 

Brembo is top notch. I still find it extremely hard to believe that a piston is frozen (very rare), but every once in a while you do get a defect. Thats what the warranty is for.

I don't understand how people on her have so many damn brake problems. How are you driving the car??

My '08 has 45k miles, fronts are in excellent condition, and so are the rears. No pulsation in the pedal, and the pads have about 60% life left. Rears are also wearing evenly, checked them 2 says ago and relubed the slide pins.

If you're going to abuse the car, be ready to pay the repair bills.

 

I don't abuse the car. Even if I did, no way inner rear pads would be the first to go, especially at 8000 and 12000 miles. The rear brake issues are well known. And the dealer tells me I have a frozen piston ON EACH Brembo caliper, yet my pads are still decent at 32000 miles, so that does not indicate abuse either. Besides, aren't the Brembo's supposed to be track worthy? That would certainly be running the car harder than I have. I'm glad you have not had brake issues; but because you haven't doesn't mean everyone else abuses their vehicle. I am happy the warranty is handling the Brembos (after I pointed out I was in warranty still) but I worry about after I hit 36,001.

 

I have some grooving on the inside of my rear rotors at 13k. No noises coming from it. I hope I'm not due for trouble... reninja6r...you definitely are having some annoying issues with your brakes.

 

The problems for the rear brakes on the TC's are well documented. Consider yourself one of the lucky few who doesn't have **** rear brakes.

 

It basically comes down to keeping the slide pins lubed.

There shouldn't be a need to do so until the first brake job, but in this case, it appears they aren't properly lubricated from the factory unfortunately. Therefore preventitive maintenance goes a long way in preventing issues with uneven and abnormal rear brake wear.