Looking at a used car with low miles

[GoatMonkey]

I went to look at a 2006 Acura TL yesterday. It has 15k miles on it as a leased car. The mechanic at the dealership was in the process of replacing the rear brake rotors when I got there. This seems like extremely low miles to be replacing the brake rotors, especially the rears on a front drive car. Do you think it's just a fluke, or should this be a red flag on this car?

 

[bruceb]

If he is actually installing new ones, be thankful for it.
They should not, however, need to be replaced very often,
especially in the rear of a front wheel drive car. I would
recheck the brakes again in say about 1 year or so. Look
for signs they may be dragging or perhaps a stuck caliper.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking too. Of the things that can be wrong with a car, that one is probably not too bad. It could have been a dragging caliper like you said, or something just wasn't put on straight at the factory. I've heard people say that something as simple as not putting the lugnuts on a wheel right could cause rotors to warp.

I'm thinking I'll just buy it this afternoon.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Somebody might have torqued the rear lug nuts a bit too much. I dont think that problem, whatever the cause, would be any indication of a lemon.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'd guess someone drove with the ebrake on.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
I'd guess someone drove with the ebrake on.

Yeah, that's probably it. That makes me feel better about the car.

 

[AdamK47]

99% of the time if the rear brake rotors are warped it's because someone drove with the parking brake on. Warping from excessive braking usually occurs only on the front rotors, but not all the time.

 

[thomsbrain]

On my Accord (same basic chassis), I ran down my rear pads before my fronts. It's possible that they chose to simply replace the rear rotors along with the pads rather than bother turning them, since they already have all the parts easily at hand for the swap. But even my rears lasted 70K, and I am known to do some back-road blasting. I would ask what percentage the front pads are at to get some comparison and see if this was an aggressive braker or someone who just left the e-brake on.

There are folks who are really brutal on the brakes even if they aren't otherwise aggressive drivers. My mom always waits until the last second before hitting the brakes, even though she's pretty timid. She warped about 10 sets of rotors on her Volvo before she totaled it... rear-ended someone! Other people are left-foot brakers and drive around with the brake on all the time like morons.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm off to look at it now. I'll post some pics if I buy it.