Does anyone else drive a recent Mazda 6 by any chance ? I noticed a squeaking/rubbing sound coming from the rear wheel of my wife’s late 2018 model and eventually forced her to take it to the dealer ahead of its scheduled service date in October. Turns out one of the rear pads was down to bare metal so she’s had to have new pads and discs on both sides at a cost of around £400. Thing is, it’s only done 20k miles from new and probably less than 6k since the last dealer service so I’m surprised at both the wear rate and the fact that there isn’t a wear indicator linked to the dash warning light.
Does this sound like normal behaviour ?
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Does it have the automatic parking brake and hill-start assist?
The parking brake not releasing quickly enough is the usual reason. But an awful lot of hill starts can contribute.
My Mazda3 does not have the stupid auto parking brake but it does have the hill start assist.
I’ve fitted different pads to my Mazda3 front brakes, not because they (branded Mazda Ferodo) were too worn (6mm left on all four wheels), but they were fading badly on heavy braking at motorway speed (squeaky posterior time). New Brembos cured it.
It’s usually a sign of sticking calipers or slide pins, especially so if only one side is wearing fast. Did you get to see both sets of pads/discs and their explanation of why it was so worn?
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If you Google ‘mazda Parking brake problems’ there seems to be an issue with them not always fully releasing causing pad wear.
I’ve got a 2019 CX-5 so looks like I need to keep an eye on mine also.
Thanks for your input.
Unfortunately we didn’t ask for sight of the originals and the dealer is usually pretty clued up as to underlying causes. Having said that, they seem to be struggling with technicians post Covid.
I wasn’t aware of the general issues with the EPB but again, the wife’s car is late 2018 so technically out of the date range that seems to be affected.
I guess we’ll just need to keep a much closer eye on the wear but the absence of a wear indicator is surprising.
I am a sales rep, had a 2016 Mazda 6, to 100,000 in 3 years & currenrtly got a 2019 Mazda 6 on 45,000 miles, both with no issue with the EPB. Agree with MickAP, sticking caliper / slider pins, especially with such low mileage. I do not think that a dealer service includes brake strip / clean & lubrication of slider pins these days, needed on a low use car.
I have an 11 plate, Mark 2, and have had problems with wear and sticking calipers. The cost of a replacement caliper is so low as to be a good solution.
Not often wear indicators on the rear brakes, usually only the fronts, on most cars.
The annual service should catch it, if you check the rear brake section you’ll see if it wearing again.
Also if you shine a torch through the wheel you should be able to see the pad depth of the front pad.
My son’s Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec with front discs / rear drums obviously just failed it’s 1st MOT two days back…on excessive wear to front discs & brake pads.
Now, it only does about 100 odd miles in a working week, just a quick pop over the Kincardine Bridge to Polis HQ, so they hardly get used. The sliders had pretty much gone on strike, and promoted premature wear.
Had the same issues with rear calipers on my Monza 3 litres back in the day…it’s nothing new.
This is why…these cars ( 5s) need taken out for a good bloody thrash every so often till the brakes get nice and hotty totty…preferably a bit stinky.
Our 2002 Sport is only on it’s 2nd set of calipers at 106k miles, and my Mk1 on it’s third set of discs & calipers fitted 2 years back at 148k miles and 28 years of age.
That is a car that, when road type and weather permit in the interests of road safety… gets caned silly at every opportunity.
Athletes do not sit in a garage all day getting pampered…they are designed to run…hard.
Gentlemen>
Start your engines
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Regular high-speed distance use is the car’s friend.
When I was doing 400+ miles a week blatting round the M25 to work in my old Astra, nothing wore out prematurely or gave trouble, just normal wear and tear addressed at the service intervals. Front pads lasted 45k, discs 90k, front tyres 45k, rears never wore out just needed a change because of age. Living outside, driven all year round, but no rust. That was one of the best cars I ever owned - while it was doing a highish mileage every week.
However… when I retired and it dropped to less than 3k a year instead of 20k+ that is when problems began to surface, eg rusty discs, handbrake sticking, tyres losing pressure. The engine was still perfect when scrapped at 205k, but everything else suddenly thought I no longer loved it and responded appropriately.
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Odd you brought this up.
My O/H got rear discs and pads replaced on Monday. 15k mile August 2019 Mazda 6 with the same symptoms. It’s been running for a couple of months of light use with a slight rubbing sound we both put down to corrosion on the discs from lack of use as it went away after a short drive. That rubbing developed last week into a metal-on-metal squeal so it got booked into the dealer to be checked.
According to them the the pads were down to 1mm on both sides.
As per the OP, sticking caliper / slider pins due to low use, Which would likely wear 1 pad per side down to metal.
Not too long ago preventative maintenance brake service / strip down, clean & lubricate pads / slider pins, would have been scheduled, and avoided this, but it’s just visual check nowadays. Ask the dealer to do a brake service ( not just Visual check ) every year or 2, if car continues to be low use.
This is not environmentally friendly at all, I do not know how car dealers get away with it.
I expect car dealers are selling a lot of brakes due to lack of use with lock down.
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Turns out that there’s no dash warning, just the squealer that she didn’t hear. Dealer didn’t find any fault so she’s now lost confidence in the car and looking to change it.
Only time I’ve smoked brakes was on my Jag XF at 12k miles and I was actually quire proud, although I quickly PX’d for a Discovery 4.
Happily, my 45k MX-5 3.5 just got through a service and MOT with no issues.
Her car doesn’t go a day without running at least 10-20 miles But “we never go anywhere”
No offence meant. I had a company car Passat, with EHB, rear pads & discs ruined @ 18 months old & 50k miles, Again Scheduled servicing was Brake ‘check’ not strip & clean
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