WTF.
So the brakes started squeaking and at 20,K miles Took it to the dealer and they said they were gone. In front and needed to be replaced 340.00$ yea right.
My ? is what are you guys using for replacement pads.

 

on both our ss's i went with wagner pads frrom o'reaily. low brake dust also is nice on them too. $55 for front pads.

 

So how many miles did u get on your factory brakes?

 

28k...alot of stops from high speeds lol...naw, i think mine could have lasted longer. would brake boost sometimes when i needed that extra push against really fast cars from a roll.

 

Can the traction control aid in premature ware of the brakes i drive this car semi aggressive nothing crazy its my wife's car. In my c5 vett i know the traction control is way more sensitive and can cause more ware so i thought that this could be the issue also.

 

Traction aids can be made to make brakes last longer but do not shorten their life. My Bosch system on my GTP make getting 60,000-70,000 miles under hard driving easy to do. I wish GM used this more expensive system on all their cars.

Brakes on a HHR can average from 25,000-35,000 like most normal cars. A little less with hard driving and more with highway miles is normal.

I have turned to EBC pads as they have stopped all and any brake issues I have had. Rotors I stick to the stock style rotors on most. Just make sure to buy a good quality pad and seat the in properly. If not you will have issues.

Cheap pads and improper seatring are an issue on most brake problems.

 

there have been a lot of cobalt people that have had brakes need to be changed out more often, they should be covered under warranty. I know they have a place to file a complain to the nhtsa because of brake problems.

also, I have almost 35k on my brakes, no squeeks yet and I beat my brakes pretty bad. done hundreds of stops from over 100 I'm sure, I've done some fun cornering in the twistys. there is no reason your brakes should be gone at 20k other than faulty brakes. I've had my car over 130 a few times and I don't like to just decelerate, I prefer to brake.

 

I just ordered Hawk pads and new d/s rotors from R1 performance. My fronts were squeaking too, but it was from dealer not installing the wheels correctly when doing tire rotation. I have 20k miles on mine, and the pads still had a lot of life left (at least another 20k miles plus).

 

I missed something here. "Brakes squealing because dealer installed the wheels incorrectly" Someone clear this one up for me. Sick1 posted it :maybe I read it wrong.

 

It's because the wheels weren't torqued properly.