Dreaded Warped Rotors


This is why I never buy first year launches of cars. They often do not have all the bugs sorted yet.

My suggestion is to find a way to trade this vehicle in for a 2019. Get your lawyer to lean on them.
 
If we are all honest, it doesn't matter if the car is in its first year, second, or fourth, etc. These are machines with thousands of parts which creates multiple chances for failure. My 2018 GT2 has been relatively problem free. With over 22,000 miles so far, every problem was fixed under warranty. Even my new Kia rotors were fine when I chose to go with aftermarket.
 
My car is 1.5 years old, 18K miles, GT2. I was experiencing steering wheel vibration when I would break at any speed. I took it in only to find out that the rotors used were of inferior quality (dealer admitted it) to the Brembo brakes and rotors are only warranted for 12K miles and 12 months, so forget the "great" 100K warranty. They turned the rotors and resurfaced the pads but said this is just a band-aid and I will keep experiencing the same problem in the future. They recommended I upgrade to better quality rotors, great to hear after spending more than $50K on the car. This was a dishonest and deceitful move by KIA as obviously they knew the rotors wouldn't hold up so they slapped on the 12K/month clause.
This is a buyer beware car, in many ways cheaply made but then I should have known to look beyond the car design. KIA should replace the rotors at no charge since I have read this is a common problem and KIA put a poor quality rotor and pad teamed with Brembo brakes, that is like putting retread tires on a Ferrari.
Thanks. You rant got me looking into TSA(b)'s for the Stinger. It appears kia has done a pretty good job addressing all of the concerns I've read about. It further appears that Kia has done nothing to address the rotors and pads. I'm using the info to wake up Kia through several sales department as a stipulation of purchase.
Thank
Lee
gT350 - 2017
 
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I will, if/when it stops tasting yummy and making me feel good. YMMV specifically applies to buying cars. Successful brands are that way because the vast majority of their vehicles are virtually trouble free. If that were not so, this forum would be a daily clamorfest of angry voices: instead of a "choir" of happy S(t)ingers, with a few discordant notes tossed in, inevitably, because some individuals can't sing the praises of Kia. It is an imperfect world.

I hope that both of you get your issues resolved to your satisfaction. And hope that it is to Kia's satisfaction too, of course.

This is one of very few forums that is so full of positives about the car they are based on. But there will always be a few situations where things will go wrong or very or wrong or crappy dealers. There is a Ford dealer near me that's got 1.5 stars on review sites. And they are still going with the same people.

Whatever Kia isn't fixing or whatever issues there are, it's nothing compared to the stories you read about Range Rover and how much do they cost? A friend had a fully loaded RR 1 year ago and after driving it for 3 out of 8 months when it inevitably went wrong again he sat down with them and didn't leave until full refund procedures had started. So it could be worse. Hope everything gets fixed soon.
 
Went ahead and swapped out those ugly oem pads for the $53 ceramic D1001 option from KNS brakes.

Those weights had to go.1019190414a.webp 1019190414.webp

Still waiting on KNS to post up the matching rear pads
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
Went ahead and swapped out those ugly oem pads for the $53 ceramic D1001 option from KNS brakes.

Those weights had to go.View attachment 32925 View attachment 32926

Still waiting on KNS to post up the matching rear pads
I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Is the top pic "after" and the bottom pic is "before?" Neither looks like what I have:
DSC07710.webp
 

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I did not share the story but I will now, my cluster unit completely died after 4 months of owning the GT2 and it took them 24 days to figure out the problem and how to fix it, lots more detail and drama but too long for this post, I had an attorney ready to file a lemon law case if it would have taken them 30 days or more. You should contact their Customer Care center for reimbursement for the resurfacing cost this is not normal, I've bought plenty of new cars from BMW's to Lexus and never had an issue like this.
I see that Merlin the Mad responded to you too, he has to stop drinking the KIA Kool-aid. Thanks for sharing your story.
KIA customer care is useless!! The rotors on my GT-2 had to be replaced at 6,000 miles and turned at 9,000 miles. Has nothing to do with bad driving habits. These are racing brakes and should perform accordingly. I contacted them about the brake issue on 9/7/19 and their website says that they will respond within 48 business hours. Well no response so I contacted them two (2) more times before I finally received a phone call on 10/9/19. You do the math. The person I talked to said they needed two (2) days to research the issue and get back to me. I still have not received a return call. Very, very poor customer service. I can't wait for JD Powers to send me a survey!!!
 
They might be 'racing' rotors, but the pads are intentionally engineered to break down and be quiet, while offering moderate performance. This is why the euro spec ones are better. The combination of a heavy car and these US pads are a recipe for vibration.
 
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They might be 'racing' rotors, but the pads are intentionally engineered to break down and be quiet, while offering moderate performance. This is why the euro spec ones are better. The combination of a heavy car and these US pads are a recipe for vibration.
Where can i get the "better" euro pads?
 
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From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
I had the front rotors replaced under "goodwill", I told the KIA rep that's bullshit and you'll replace them as many times as I need as a $52K vehicle shouldn't need a brake overhaul every 10K miles.

Phone was pretty silent at that point. I think I made my point
 
I had the front rotors replaced under "goodwill", I told the KIA rep that's bullshit and you'll replace them as many times as I need as a $52K vehicle shouldn't need a brake overhaul every 10K miles.

Phone was pretty silent at that point. I think I made my point
The rotors on my GT-2 had to be replaced at 6,000 miles (under warranty) and turned at 9,000 miles (again under warranty). They implied that it was the result of bad driving habits, but has nothing to do with bad driving habits. I contacted KIA Customer Care about the brake issue on 9/7/19 and their website says that they will respond within 48 business hours. Well no response so I contacted them two (2) more times before I finally received a phone call on 10/9/19. You do the math. The person I talked to said they needed two (2) days to research the issue and get back to me. Had not responded by 11/14/19, so I added more to my case file about their poor customer service. I received a phone call the next day. They agreed that the next time the brakes start pulsing, they will replace ALL rotors and pads. I fear that unless I get better pads, this issue will reoccur every 5000 miles or so. KIA needs to fix the problem, not just keep putting bandaids on the brakes.
 
The rotors on my GT-2 had to be replaced at 6,000 miles (under warranty) and turned at 9,000 miles (again under warranty). They implied that it was the result of bad driving habits, but has nothing to do with bad driving habits. I contacted KIA Customer Care about the brake issue on 9/7/19 and their website says that they will respond within 48 business hours. Well no response so I contacted them two (2) more times before I finally received a phone call on 10/9/19. You do the math. The person I talked to said they needed two (2) days to research the issue and get back to me. Had not responded by 11/14/19, so I added more to my case file about their poor customer service. I received a phone call the next day. They agreed that the next time the brakes start pulsing, they will replace ALL rotors and pads. I fear that unless I get better pads, this issue will reoccur every 5000 miles or so. KIA needs to fix the problem, not just keep putting bandaids on the brakes.

Yep. Emailed them asking why my pads weren't replaced, haven't heard back.

I don't really think KIA cares that much, they are too busy trying to capture new buyers, they don't care about the existing customers.
 
Yep. Emailed them asking why my pads weren't replaced, haven't heard back.

I don't really think KIA cares that much, they are too busy trying to capture new buyers, they don't care about the existing customers.
Based on what I've seen on this site, I don't think putting the same pads on will solve the problem. i asked them if they are going to provide better pads and they didn't have an answer.
 
From interior to exterior to high performance - everything you need for your Stinger awaits you...
DON'T machine your rotors for this; it is totally unnecessary because your rotors are not warped. When I was young and stupid I street raced my ZR1 Corvette and after long hard stops where I could not let the brakes cool down, but had to hold the brake, I would get a pulsating pedal, and I could not find any runout on the rotor so I knew it was just glaze. What I did to resolve this was smear a little water-based valve grinding compound on each side of all four rotors, go do a long, slow stop, come back, wash off the brakes thoroughly (making sure there was no compound left on the seals), then went out to re-bed the brakes (2-3 hard stops from ~60mph) with five minutes cooling time between each stop. I've done this on several other cars as well and it works like a charm! I think I started doing this when I had a Z; it was either that or the MR2. I've driven insane speeds, and I've gotten brake rotors red hot in some of the cars I've had, but have never had rotors that were warped. Glazed, yes, definitely. Warped, no.

As mentioned the partial fix for this is to choose harder pads; I tend to use EBC Red Stuff to help avoid these issues. (I don't think they make pads for the Stinger but there are several vendors who make good pads for it), but if you do a long hard stop and then sit on the brake at a stop with no cooloff time, it doesn't matter what pads you have; deposits will be left behind and your brake pedal will pulsate. The euro spec pads will help, so if this is a repeating issue on your car, either change your braking habits, or insist your dealer install the euro spec pads. The real fix is to let your brakes cool off before standing on them or before using brake hold. Instead of the brake hold after a hard stop, use the parking brake, which if I have read correctly, on the Stinger is a small drum brake (like the C2-C3 Corvettes' parking brake was).
 
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I've commented on this several times here as well, rotors don't warp and machining them is a short-term solution.

I will add, however, that I had noticed some vibration again a few weeks back, even though I had not been using the brakes heavily around town. (I have had it a couple of times previously when driving hard.) Even though I only drive her once every week or two, I was able to remove the deposits with a just couple of VERY hard brake applications from high speed. One was somewhat necessary due to idiots in traffic, but I noticed a difference in pedal vibration so I blasted up the off-ramp a few miles later and braked as hard as I could. The regular braking needed the rest of the few miles home, I have no vibration again.

The two points are - you can re-bed them easily (which I've stated before) but also emphasizing that these pads (US market) really do leave deposits even in normal city driving. They're good for "GT use" but not suitable for everyday use around town.

I'm now seriously considering replacing them soon so I can benefit from better and more durable pads for the duration of my lease. I can always put the stock pads back on if needed before turning it in.
 
...What I did to resolve this was smear a little water-based valve grinding compound on each side of all four rotors, go do a long, slow stop, come back, wash off the brakes thoroughly (making sure there was no compound left on the seals), then went out to re-bed the brakes (2-3 hard stops from ~60mph) with five minutes cooling time between each stop...

Kimberly, I'd like to give the process you described a try before buying new rotors. Was the compound something like this one? https://amzn.to/2S5CF20
 
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Yes, but BE CAREFUL; You do not need to go fast for this, and it will temporarily increase stopping distance while the compound is wet. Once you do a few stops with moderate pressure let the brakes cool a bit and then wash the brake rotors and calipers THOROUGHLY; you want to get all of this grit away from the caliper seals (maybe I'm just overly cautious). Once you've washed it, then you can do the re-bed procedure to get the nice even layer of brake pad material you want deposited on the rotor. I've done this quite a few times on both my Corvette and my Saab 9-3 with no ill effects (it's been a non-issue with the Saab since I switched to EBC Redstuff pads).
 
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