Brought in my Jaguar due to pulsating and odd brake noise over 50 MPH..XF is a 2012 with 18K miles.

Initially I was told the pads and rotors will be replaced under warranty. Today I was advised they will not be replaced under warranty because of "excessive rust" They now want $2K
To replace front and rear rotors and pads. Do I have any recourse?
Seems obscene rotors and pads should have to be replaced after only 18K.
Is it my fault they are rusted and pitted after minimum mileage or a Jaguar part defect.

 

How do you get such a large snowbank living in Florida?

Must be a typo but $2 sounds pretty cheap to me!
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Ha. My bad $2K. Originally a NJ car now domiciled in Fl

 

Lol $2k sounds about right for the dealership charge

If they refuse to cover under warranty I'd purchase the parts online and have an independent mechanic install it. I went that route and spent only $850 CAD for pads and rotors for both axles (and that counted excessive shipping costs from the US to Canada).

But first if it were me I'd have an independent jaguar mechanic shop do a brake inspection to see which axle is causing the issue. You might not need to replace the pads and rotors on both axles. Definitely push the dealership to cover this under warranty first though.

 

XKGuy, look on e-bay. There are some nice cross drilled/slotted rotors with ceramic pads for around $350. You can then take these to a local indy shop and they should be able to install the rotors/pads for around $200 or so (very simple job with minimal time). I wish you lived closer to me as I would tell you to stop by my place and we could get your taken care of in an afternoon. I have the cross drilled/slotted rotors on my car and after 50K miles, the rotors are still looking new and the pads are maybe half way worn. The braking is better too.

 

If you'd like to PM me your VIN number I'll send you a quote on the pads & rotors, I'm sure we can supply at a fraction of the cost.

 

I would push to get done under warranty. I haven't had to deal with this yet.
Kinda a joke that they would ask you to pay for it?
Or is it that pads are included in the plat coverage, but rotors aren't? Someone else might be better to answer this.

 

I decided to have the work done while the car was in for another issue. They refused to do the work under warranty even though they initially stated they would.
I have filed a complaint with Jaguar Customer Relations. I humbly believe Jaguar has not stood by their product in this particular case. Exceptionally disappointed. This will likely be my last Jag..

 

I have to ask what dealer in Florida can get $2k to do rear rotors & pads? That is crazy. My mistake I didn't realize it was fronts & rears.

 

$1900 for front and rear rotors and pads. Courtesy of Palm Beach Jaguar at your service LOL
Case opened with Jaguar Customer Relations.

 

It's $2k for front and rear pads and rotors

 

Hmmmm.

Might not be your fault but it might end up being your responsibility to pay.

Thee situations can get a little tricky.

How rust-resistant is a brake rotor supposed to be? Seems to me that's the question. Brake rotors develop surface rust all the time, as we know. But a heavy rust and pitting to the point of needing replacement? Hmmmm...that's a different story, of course.

What defect in Jaguar materials or workmanship would make a rotor particularly susceptible to heavy rusting and, therefore, a warrantable item? I'm not a metallurgist, that's why I ask :-). Knowing the answer might strengthen your case with Jaguar Customer Assistance.

Was the car allowed to sit with salt on the rotors? If so, that might've been too much?

Did you actually look at the rotors while it was in the shop?

Keep us posted.

Cheers
DD

 

Doug you raise some extremely cogent and pertinent points.
My Contention is baring any unusual operating variables (there are none) factory rotors on an expensive luxury vehicle should not be rusted and pitted to the point where they have effectively failed creating a safety issue.
The rotors and pads had 18K miles on them of NORMAL USEAGE. My position with Jaguar that such complete rust and pitting is a part flaw/failure and as such should be covered by warranty.
The posted pic is one of the actual rotors. All were in similar condition..
I am not a metallurgist or attorney but a highly principled individual that knows right and wrong. I've decided on principle and cost to avail my self to all available recourse legal and otherwise to reverse the dealers position.

 

If you drive the car some what regularly, you should not have pitting, even in a salty climate. Same happened to my old Mustang due to a seized caliper. It was rusted open and wasn't putting pressure on the pads to wear the surface of the rotor. Doesn't sound like your case though since you need all 4.

 

I have a little bit of experience/training in how metals react in different situations (thank you navy for over teaching me on how to run a nuclear reactor). There are a few things that can affect how fast a metal will rust. The most basic is what type of metal that it is made of. Your cheap carbon steels, you get them even in humid air and you can expect serious corrosion. You go with a better steel (say a stainless steel), the metals ability to resist corrosion is much better. The problem with say a stainless steel is that its strength under high heat is not as good as say a lower grade carbon steel plus also it would cost much more to make. Now you start mixing in some of the variables like adding a rust promoter (salt or other ice melting agents) and they can lead to increased corrosion (chloride corrosion, vice oxidation like what most people think happens all the time). Another thing that can affect how fast corrosion can occur is whether you are mixing different types of metals. Something as simple as getting a low grade carbon steel with a stainless steel can result in one of the metals undergoing much faster corrosion as it corrodes for both metals (this is used in a lot of systems I work with as you can add in a sacrificial metal that corrodes very easy and that saves the vital metals, you can also see this occurring in the picture as you can see the wheel stud is not corroded at all, but the rotor is significantly corroded).

Based on what I am seeing in the pictures, your rotor doesn't look any worse that others that I have seen. Granted, I would also need to look at it a bit closer as you are talking about pitting (normally caused by salt being left on the rotor for long periods of time) and that can be the killer here. Keep also in mind that a lot of manufacturers are going to rotors that are "one time use" rotors. So, once the pads wear out, the rotors are below minimum thickness and therefore must be replaced too. It would be interesting to see what they say about rotor thickness. Unless the center of the rotor corroded SIGNIFICANTLY MORE (ie, loss of metal, which I don't see in the pic) than the braking surface, you are just fine.

The only way I know to stop rotors from rusting like what a lot of people experience is to put a coating over the part of the rotor that is not getting the pad applied to it. This can be something from a flame treatment (they "paint" a metal on to the metal surface by vaporizing the metal and letting the "cool" surface of the rotor solidify the vapor metal, this allows you to apply a very corrosion resistant metal on something) or you can even go with something like a high temp paint (gotta use this, a standard paint will flake right off the rotor after about 3-4 hard brakings as the paint can not withstand the high temps). Painting rotors is easy. A spray paint can and some masking tape is all that is required. Put the masking tape over the parts you don't want painted and go to town (just make sure to peel off the tape while the paint is still wet otherwise you risk pulling the paint back off).

If you need any more info, let me know. I could talk a long time about how various conditions affect how fast metals corrode. Got to talk to a guy up in Schnectady NY that does all the corrosion testing for nuclear plants and how temperature and ph levels effect corrosion rates. I picked his brain and I apply some of what he taught me to all my projects.