Front brakes shaking on CPO Model S 19K

[besnova]

I got a 2018 MS 100D with 19,500 miles in August and noticed that when braking at higher speeds, the front of the car shakes a bit and you can hear the brakes throbbing.

They said I needed new front brakes, rotors, and brake fluid replaced since it’s a little brown now. I told them I don’t know how this is an issue on a 19K mile car, didn’t it go through multi-point inspection? I sold my 2014 MS P85 with 121K and had absolutely ZERO issues on the brakes, but this newer car with 19K miles (now 33K miles) has this issue?

I kept pushing them saying like I understand the issue and the wear and tear but this shouldn’t be an issue for two reasons, 1) new and low mileage car, and 2) I got it from Tesla and should have had this stuff inspected and replaced before resale.

Thoughts?

 

[besnova]

 

[GtiMart]

Your experience with past cars has no relevance here. If the car needs rotors and pads then that's what it needs. What you can argue is whether this should be done as part of your purchase or not. Since you accepted the car like this, you might not have any recourse. I've test driven used cars before purchase and some had issues like this. When I discussed them with the salesperson before the purchase, they would agree to fix the things I listed and put them on the contract. Clearly anything I would find after purchase and not on contract would not be their problem.
Here there's a minimum couple months/few thousand kilometers warrantee on used purchases, but I don't know if a wear & tear item like brakes would be covered.

Tesla don't typically use the brakes much. Therefore, they often rot before they wear. That rotting and rusting will scrap the brakes as much as wear on other cars. Your previous Tesla might not have been driven the same was as this one. It has very low miles for 3-4 years of age so the brakes weren't used much.

 

[Doanster1]

And… you said the vibrations happen when slowing/stopping from high speed. Multi-point inspection (NOT CPO!) wouldn’t catch that. They check for remaining pad depth and test braking under slow speed (around the parking lot probably ). If the pads are worn then perhaps you can bargain for those under warranty, but that’s prob about it. Flush is a two year recommendation and not a requirement. Brakes on our cars are simple to work on since they are fixed calipers vs floating. Swapping pads is literally punching out the two guide pins and the pads come right out.

 

[jbrinsfi]

I got a 2018 MS 100D with 19,500 miles in August and noticed that when braking at higher speeds, the front of the car shakes a bit and you can hear the brakes throbbing.

They said I needed new front brakes, rotors, and brake fluid replaced since it’s a little brown now. I told them I don’t know how this is an issue on a 19K mile car, didn’t it go through multi-point inspection? I sold my 2014 MS P85 with 121K and had absolutely ZERO issues on the brakes, but this newer car with 19K miles (now 33K miles) has this issue?

I kept pushing them saying like I understand the issue and the wear and tear but this shouldn’t be an issue for two reasons, 1) new and low mileage car, and 2) I got it from Tesla and should have had this stuff inspected and replaced before resale.

Thoughts?

Sounds like warped rotors which can happen with excessive heat. Perhaps the car was driven hard with the regeneration selected to "low". ????

 

[Tha_Ape]

brake fluid changing color is a time thing. Brake fluid absorbs water over time. you can see about switching to DOT5 (less affected by that), but if you're going to do that, do a lot of research first.

 

[ucmndd]

Tesla isn't going to fix this for you. You bought a used car that needs new brakes and then waited 6 months post delivery to have them addressed. You might have had a case if you brought this up like a day after delivery, but even then I doubt it.

 

[wornout]

You need to resurface the rotors (there's a minimum thickness) or buy new rotors. Warped rotors are likely causing this. My girlfriend's BMW has the same issue. It's caused by poor braking habits, presumably by previous owner.

What I would do is request them to resurface the rotor (cheaper). If they can't/refuse, you can try a local shop. I'd pass on the brake pads and brake fluid until later.

(I used to work on cars a lot for fun, also took a formal autoshop class at community college.)

 

[besnova]

It's funny because they said the brakes need replacing too, so I guess the car was driven so hard and broke so hard to come to that point.

I'll guess I'll ask for a quote, it doesnt seem like it affects performance and I'm rarely at those speeds to brake anyway so I may just pass.

Thank you all for your input.

 

[IslandHydro]

It's funny because they said the brakes need replacing too, so I guess the car was driven so hard and broke so hard to come to that point.

I'll guess I'll ask for a quote, it doesnt seem like it affects performance and I'm rarely at those speeds to brake anyway so I may just pass.

Thank you all for your input.

I think this can happen even on rotors that are otherwise in good shape. If the rotors got hot due to heavy use, then drove through some water, viola! warped rotors.