Certified Pre-Owned Needing New Brake Pads after 700 miles

Hey folks, first post on the forums! Looking to get some advice on this...

I picked up a Gold CPO pro 10 days ago and just went on to install spacers 2 days ago, which is when I noticed the rear brake pads are down to ~2mm (eyeballing it) and squeaking.

I did sign the CPO agreement, which says that the vehicle is sold with at least 50% (~6mm) of pad life left. Obviously, that's not the case and I don't think it's possible I wore it down from 6mm to ~2mm in 700 miles.

Am I SOL in this case since I signed on that CPO agreement?

This is Toyota Walnut Creek for those wondering.

 

Here's a pic for reference

 

To my eye you have much more than 2mm = 0.0787402 of a inch which is a tiny bit more than 1/16", I would say it more closer to the 6mm = 0.23622 of an inch which is a little less than 1/4" as stated in the agreement!

 

Ya I'll measure it with a caliper soon, but they are definitely squeaking, not sure if it's from the metal tabs that come with the pads or not.

 

Welcome.

CPO means that they can add a Toyota extended warranty and charge the consumer more money. I doubt they actually do the full inspection that is supposed to be required.

 

Why do you say SOL? Measure the height of the little wear groove and compare to a new set (may need to go to parts counter). If not 50% then make them give you new rear breaks and insist on new rotors with new pads as part of warranty. I would measure the front too.

 

Pissed that all the brake pads arent with in a few thou,.. but will chuck on spacers. And thats cool. Hey, do you. Glad i dont sell anything to anyone these days.

 

My fault, I couldn't give two crap about them not replacing it, it's just when they say there's more than 50% left when there isn't.

Even just telling me that I will need pads soon so I know what to expect, but hey, to each their own... I'm just glad it wasn't a major part.

 

Those are not worn down at all.
2mm left is when the notch disappears.

CPO gold agreement just states they did their checklist and you know what you are entitled to.

Pad depth is measured from pad backing to face/wear edge of the pad. Those are rear pads and have less material than the fronts. Just check if all pads have equal wear to verify no caliper is seized which is unlikely at your mileage.

 

I think you missed @Kyblack76 point. When you do install the spacers, for God's sake, please adjust your headlights properly.

 

The pads pictured have plenty of meat. Sometimes brakes on these will squeak in certain conditions…humidity, or in reverse, or when they’ve sat a while. But in regular use, they go quiet.

If not, and it’s still noisy, maybe have the dealer investigate for stuck caliper or something… as long as you’re prepared to get a bill if they say it’s normal.

 

Post pics of the caliper measurement. No way what is posted is only 2mm.

 

Sometimes pads will be replaced, but the rotors will not be replaced or resurfaced. The old rotors will eat new brake pads very fast.

 

Ya I only saw the pads after removing the wheels to put on the wheel spacers. Def would've done pads first before wheel spacers. I've already adjusted the headlights

 

Ahh. So we're talking two different kinds of spacers. I think we were under the impression that you installed suspension lift spacers, when in reality you installed wheel spacers. Hopefully you went with a quality hub centric spacer like SpiderTrax or the like. Not some random Auto Zone or Amazon shit.

 

Already spent so much for the fox suspension, I'm not gonna ruin it with some shitty spacer lift . Definitely want to do either the Eibach springs or WD preload collars down the line suspension wise to fit 285s... Maybe when it comes time to replace the mucho macho ling long AT tires that the dealer put on. Yep, got the Spidertrax wheel spacers, didn't want to cheap out $60 for some thing that holds the wheels on

 

Having just had my rear brakes apart yesterday that one pad in the picture looks at least 60% life left. Rear brakes do most of the braking and will wear faster

 

I bought a CPO 2023 Limited with 5000 miles on it. It didn't have a spare tire under it, but all the spare tire boxes (5?) on rhe CPO report were checked.

It took 9 weeks for the dealership to replace it. If I hadn't seen it before leaving the dealership, they would have screwed me.

 

What is condition of the rotor surfaces? Same all 4 wheels?
Compare rotor surfaces to other 4runners. Mall parking lot will usually have a few similar models and years.

 

For real?

It's my experience (worked for a brake manufacturer, two careers ago) that the front end typically does 60-70% of a vehicle's braking, thanks to engine weight, inertia, etc.

 

And you would be very much correct - for the vast majority of vehicles. For some reason, 5th gen T4R's wear the rear brakes faster than the fronts. My son - a Toyota Certified Service Technician at a local dealership - says he believes it's to reduce the brake dive so common to these vehicles. That almost makes sense.

I'm at 74,000 miles on my 2021 T4R and the rears are about ready for replacement. The fronts are in great shape. I'd have never guessed that.

 

Thank you, Too Stroked. That's very interesting.

 

I’m not suggesting that you are wrong but this has not been my experience. I changed the fronts on my 2019 after 60k and the backs had 75% left.

 

What??

 

I bet the variability in front/rear brake wear from one 4runner to another is related to load distribution. Mine is driven most miles with a 50/50 or slightly rearward weight bias.

I changed rear pads at around 50k miles, and the fronts probably had enough meat to go another 15k miles, at least.

 

Nope. It’s because the rear brake pads are much smaller and thinner so they wear out quicker. Front brakes give you the most stopping power in all vehicles whether it’s a car, truck, motorcycle or bicycle. It’s physics.

 

My daughter has a Gold certified 2019 SR5 since Jan. 2024. Its brakes got real noisy several days after purchase, it had new pads. Took it back to selling dealer who turned the rotors and solved the noise issue. Guess it got a pad slap brake job in preparation for sale.
I always change brake pads early, rarely turn or replace rotors on all my Hondas & Toyota.
My SR5 uses the brakes in the traction control system to slow a spinning wheel and shift power to wheel with traction.
I just rotated my tires and took these pics of my calipers/pads. These F& R were replaced at same time and seem to evenly worn.
Your pads look fine and servicable to me.

 

Maybe i did. I thought wheel spacers (hence the wheel being off), that said,... you are correct sir.

 

Yes sir. I thought you ment wheel spacers, hence the wheel being removed. All on the same page now. That said, good luck, and have a ball in the rig. Get out there and have fun mate.