What octane are you using? I'm getting about 24 city on 87 octane.

 

That's a fairly good sampling after only a few days - 89 respondents. Statistics can be skewed to make whatever point you're trying to make. I'm no different here: I see that nearly 43% - more than 1/3 of the respondents - have had brake rotor issues with a NEW car.

I doubt anyone in GM/Chevy pays much attention here, but if they did...Hello!

None of us should have to pay for "good" rotors. This should be a recall, imo.

Since the dealer has measured the run-out twice before, I would conclude that it's not the actual manufacturing/machining of the rotors that's the problem. Rather, it's the material. It must be some crappy Chinese steel. Or, it could be the design. Maybe the slots aren't big enough to dissipate the heat. I don't know. But I do know, that my brakes are bad for the third time in 12k miles. That is not acceptable, and it shouldn't be for the other 43% of HHR owners....

 

'07, 10k miles, no probs.

 

'06 1LT, automatic- no problems here either, and we have had a rough winter in Southern Indiana. Last week it was 10" of snow, this week it was 7" of rain with major flooding. HHRvey handled well in both the snow and heavy rain.

 

What brand/type tires do you have? I have been really disappointed in the factory tires in rain. It hydroplanes more than any other car I have or have had. I'll be looking to replace them with something better in the future.

 

Not impressed with my 07 HHR's rotors. They were machined at 4k, 9k, and now again at 24k. I don't ride the brakes. We've had many vehicles over the past 24 years and this is the first one that we've had to have new rotors turned.

I firmly believe it's a supply issue, which would explain why some owners have no problems and some have problems early on. GM probably received some lots of poor quality rotors that were assembled at different times throughout production. They may have been in storage or even shipped new, who knows.

All I know is that this being the last machining, we have to replace the rotors. We've been considering ceramics. Anyone have any experience with these yet?

 

Honukini! I don't think you'll find anything other than iron rotors for the HHR. Pads with ceramic particles, but no rotors. Just put a set of EBC quality rotors on & be done with it, pick pads to suit your driving style/budget & brake issues should be over!

 

I had the rotors turned at 6000 miles under warranty and today at 14500 miles the dealer replaced the rotors due to pedal pulse. I'm retired and respect my brakes and have not done any mountain driving so it's not a matter of heavy braking.
The brake pulsing and the Firestone FireHawk 17 tires have been the only problems I've had in 14 months. The tires were replaced with Michelins and the vibrations went away and it also handles snow great now.

 

There are some people that have blamed the problem on the driver. I rarely apply the brakes (look ahead in advance instead) unless absolutely necessary (no brake riding). Also, after hard braking I allow the car to coast a little to keep the hot pad from clamping down on the rotor and holding there in the same spot.

I have owned many new cars and this is the first one that had a rotor warpage problem during warranty. A previous post blamed the rotor supplier for inconsistent quality, and I agree. Some are good, some aren't.

I also own a 2002 3/4 ton Suburban (8600lbs loaded) and tow a large travel trailer (8000lbs loaded) through hills and mountains. The original OEM brake pads lasted 70K miles and there was NO rotor warpage, even under these extreme conditions.

That's why I am getting EBC rotors and EBC red pads soon.

Steve

 

I just hit 30,000 miles on my 2006 HHR today and still have the original rotors and brakes...no problems yet.

L8
Ng