I have an 08 ss, have had it for a year now and have 17,000 miles on it. Just looked at the back brakes since my inspection is up at the end of july. The outside pads have 7/32 on the driver side and 5/32 on the passenger side... the inside pads are down to just about metal and have chewed about 1/32 out of the rotor. believe it or not i have not heard or felt any squeeling or grinding.

took it to the dealer and they will not even entertain the idea there is a problem with the calipers even though it is wearing the inside pads so much quicker. They pulled the wheels and checked the calipers and said they were fine. I was told by the service manager that if i pay for the pads they will cut/replace the rotors under waranty. I still think i am gettin ripped though. am i going nuts thinking my rear pads should last a hell of a lot longer than a year?? and the rotor shows no sign of extreme heat so i dont think the e-brake was ever hung up.

So anyone with a tc with close to my mileage please chime in and tell me how your rear brakes are wearing! any other thoughts are more than welcome also! and any service managers around philly that wanna hook me up PLEASE let me know haha.

 

I have about 25k on mine now, but my rears had the exact same thing at the EXACT same mileage! Didn't hear grinding, and they won't warranty it cause it's "abuse". Anyway you'll have to buy new pads which were $84.00 for me and the dealership will turn the rotors for free. It sucks to have this "great" warranty that we can never use! GM FTL! n:

 

I got about 22K on my original rears pads/rotors with significantly more chew up into the rotors. I near 40K now and am in need of doing them again.

It seems there is no aftermarket solution to GM s quality issue. In the manual however they do show an alternate rear brake that actually looks like it has those stainless steel pad guides (the ones on the 08 TCSS do not).I am looking into whether I can change out these inferior calipers for those. I just haven't posted the question yet. I suspect not because that's just how GM does (going out of) business.

 

Im at 10k miles, wear on the rotors went to my dealer they gave me new pads and rear rotors for free and left rear caliper. I was having some massive grinding noises when i backed down my hill but yea free of charge gm warranty actually worked

 

improving the guides (I mean the slider sockets) sounds like an excellent idea. I was helping OGC today with some new pads and used rotors; no doubt there is an issue here and binding guides could be a clue I gotta chat with Maven he will know what he is seeing in the field. But if you are doing e brake turns that should be factored in

 

i was @ 17,000 on my 08 when the same frekin thing happened! i heard a horrible grinding noise when i would stop and i took it to the dealer and had to cough up $300+ for my oil change and to replace my pads and rotors... i was sooo pissed!

 

im having this problem now... its 10k5 miles on the car, and the service rep told me that its the way i drive... i am now going to speak with their manager tomorrow. He said that people of my age (20) with my type of car (turbo charged fast 4 banger) tend to drive and stop with the parking brake... he is blaming it on me saying that i slow the car down with teh parking brake...

 

Well the dealership tells me that the pads and rotors are wearable items and as such are not covered under warranty. Duh!!! I want the calipers fixed and THOSE ARE NOT wearable items! They (GM service) yet again miss the point. They are physically not bothering to listen. They also told me that since they did not do the work (on my 20K pad/rotor replacement) they won't bother to pursue this because they can't know that the work was done properly. (Might this be a violation of the Manuson-Moss act?)

Not only is the issue that GM (on apparently many levels) has S#!+ in its ears but the rear brake pads have been back ordered with no ETA of when they will become available. Hmmmm! I wonder if there is a problem with the Cobalt's rear brakes? I guess the fact that they can't make enough replacement parts presents no clue to them. It alludes logic.

Meanwhile I'm driving around with metal on metal rear inner pads. Hell the rotors are shot again anyway. Does anyone have an aftermarket source for rear pads (OEM PN 15271565) that has stock?

Just for completeness this is the exact text on the parts order:

"Part is on national backorder with GM, GM does not currently have an ETA for the part to be released. Please email us with your order number and this part number, if you wish to wait or wish to remove the part from your order. The order can not be cancelled, only this part can be removed from the order. Once the part has been released off of backorder the part can not be cancelled."

 

hawk hps pads

part # - HB478F.605

and if u want to do it yourself you can get new rotors from CED

 

This is a common problem and there are several threads for it. File a complaint too.
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show...=187787&page=8
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

Try a different dealer. Mine replaced the rotors and pads at 22.5k miles under warranty no questions asked. Mine wore evenly.

 

you can buy saturn skye or pontiac solstice rear pads same thing availability is good last itime i looked i got a set of rears here in my hands

 

aka the part # above

 

Took 4 work days for the dealer to find new pads and rotors. And it got covered under warranty. They even checked my front brakes and rotated my tires for free too.

 

great news happy 4 u....

 

I bought Hawk HPS pads front and rear. Machined my rotors and installed the pads after about 1000 kms. It just turned over 15000 kms and the brakes look and feel great! I'd recommend that to everyone.

Stu

 

Thanks for the tip!. Illogically, I was able to find and order the pads (same oem PN) at a Pontiac dealership. They were there the next day.

Moral: GM can't seem to manage their own "National Back Order(s)" properly.