Corolla full service issues

[seetek]

Hi all, 1st time on this forum hello to all. We bought a GR Sport on a 20 plate in December 21 with <5k on the clock. Today it went in for its 2 year full service. I checked this forum and the advice was stick to the main dealer and that made sense. The car has now done 13.5k and the Techie reported that the o/s/r disc outer face was pitted with minor pitting on the inner face. N/s/r both faces have minor pitting. He advises new discs. They are putting this to Toyota for doing under warranty. Has anyone else seen this on a low mileage vehicle? The second issue was they never gave me the hybrid health check report. I had to ask for this and on the back it says under 'Auxiliary Battery Charging - Drop in performance of 12v Battery. Please consult your service advisor.' This has 'Fail' in red next to it. I asked why this wasn't discussed with me and the off she went to ask the Techie. She returned and said that it is nothing to worry about as the hybrid Battery is fine and if he tested it again it would probably pass. I said that I had driven the car 40 miles to the garage and it was more likely to pass then than after sitting around on their car park. I will be asking for a better explanation when the discs are done (subject to Toyota agreeing). Any thoughts?

[Mooly]

The outer face of the disc should be easily visible so perhaps you can gauge how bad it really is by looking at any other cars (hybrid or not). It should be uniformly shiny over all the swept area of the pads. Minor corrosion can usually be cleaned up with a little heavier braking and particularly so if you have some weight in the back.

On the flip side if they can get them replaced free of charge then do so and just remember that a little heavier braking really helps keep them in good shape.

This is a common issue with hybrids because the regenerative braking means the pads and discs have less work to do.

Fwiw my (non hybrid) experience of Toyota dealers is that they are often over keen to recommend work such as this that doesn't really need doing. I was always being told that the discs could benefit from being skimmed for example.

If the 12 volt Battery has been in a low state of charge then it will never recover I'm afraid. It will always have a lower than stated capacity and a higher internal resistance. It may soldier on for quite a while but if Toyota are diagnosing and telling you its 'failed' then I would push for it to be replaced under warranty. 

  

 

 

[fourbanks]

There is the 10-year warranty so no problem 

[Roy124]

Lower mileage for a second hand car is usually good.  Very low mileage on the other hand suggests under use which is not good for brake discs or batteries. 

[seetek]

Thanks Mooly, I wasn't aware that 12v batteries were warranty items. Surely not for the Battery? Toyota's web site states that they are not covered. 

Fourbanks, the 10-year warranty is rolling over annually if the car is serviced at the main dealer but won't cover 12v batteries surely?

I wasn't aware that Toyota reduced the basic warranty to 3-years last year, mine will have a 5-year basic cover though (20 plate).

[fourbanks]

2 minutes ago, seetek said:

Thanks Mooly, I wasn't aware that 12v batteries were warranty items. Surely not for the battery? Toyota's web site states that they are not covered. 

Fourbanks, the 10-year warranty is rolling over annually if the car is serviced at the main dealer but won't cover 12v batteries surely?

I wasn't aware that Toyota reduced the basic warranty to 3-years last year, mine will have a 5-year basic cover though (20 plate).

The 12 volt Battery warranty is normally for 3 years and is not included in the main extended warranty for 10 years 

[Roy124]

My 12v Battery was changed at the 12 month point.  The car had done 3,400 miles in the previous 12 months and suffered 3

It flats. The first was before the effects of the long lock down were appreciated, by then the damage was done.  

On the following 18 months I have done 1,000 miles per month but even with the new, larger Battery had one flat. 

Lack of use is a problem with many Hybrids 

[AndrueC]

3 hours ago, Mooly said:

On the flip side if they can get them replaced free of charge then do so and just remember that a little heavier braking really helps keep them in good shape.

I've had my Corolla for 3.5 years and nearly 22k miles. I also park the car in my garage every night which is supposed to increase the risk of corrosion. I haven't had any comments about the state of my discs from any of my services.

I was taught (over 30 years ago) that using brakes for anything other than stopping was poor driving and it's a mantra I've followed ever since. Brake discs have never been mentioned to me at any service.

Of course I do live in a relatively dry part of the country but I've driven through plenty of rain over the years.

Update: Actually some web sites state that parking in a garage will protect against disc corrosion so maybe that's helping.

[Cyker]

Why would keeping it in a garage increase the risk of corrosion? I would think it'd be the opposite!

 

[AndrueC]

23 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Why would keeping it in a garage increase the risk of corrosion? I would think it'd be the opposite!

https://www.yourcarcave.com/do-garaged-cars-last-longer/

"The issues that can arise if you enter a garage too quickly after being in a colder environment are:

• If your garage is closed, the dampness will not evaporate, and the lack of ventilation will leave your car wetter than it should be. It ends up being wet more often than it’s dry, which only allows the road salt to continue its dirty work. 
• Road salt can be retained in the engine and cling slush to your vehicle. 
• Slush will melt from the extreme heat of your vehicle, which turns to liquid and increases your likelihood of premature rust, especially as the road salt magnifies the moisture retention, and the two elements make problems significantly worse.
• Condensation permeates the inside of your vehicle, and the rust-causing properties will contribute to further damage and expensive repairs.
• Throughout the colder seasons, you are repeating this vicious cycle, so your vehicle never catches a break or gets to rest in a preferable state of dryness. "

But I've never had a rust problem either so who knows, really?

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, AndrueC said:

 

I was taught (over 30 years ago) that using brakes for anything other than stopping was poor driving and it's a mantra I've followed ever since. 

I once read that Rolls Royce required chauffeurs to undergo driver training so that the car owner could experience proper comfort.  The mark of a good chaffeur was to stop at the correct place without using the brakes. 

I agree about avoidance of unnecessary braking for instance approaching junctions, lights or roundabouts. Do you ignore the car following that is intent on a 10g stop at the lights? 

On an empty road with a mile of so between points I would accelerate and then coast to the next point. Many drivers aim to maximise the time at 70 mph and save no more than a few seconds. 

[Roy124]

Very early on with my Corolla, I was using ACC and spacing and following another car.  As it preceded steadily along a country road and villages I found I was almost driving automatically with no application of brake or throttle. 

Then I realised the car ahead was a Yaris and he was doing all the hard work. 

[Cyker]

Yeah that's really specific... I think on balance, esp. with the weather in this country, rain will make discs rusty more than occasional increased humidity in a closed garage  

 

That is one thing I miss now that I'm in an 'auto' - I was very good at doing exactly that, letting the car coast down in whatever gear I was in, (sometimes turning on the AC to slow down more  ), braking until sub-idle speed, then dip the clutch to cut power and ease off the brake to come to a super-smooth halt on rolling friction alone. With the Mk4 I always get an annoying jerk as I stop as the creep kicks in and fights the brakes at low speed.

I sooo wish I could disable that, I don't know why they continue to choose to slavishly emulate the imperfect characteristics of legacy autoboxes. The car should never try to accelerate and brake at the same time - Just wastes power and brakes!

 

[TonyHSD]

Toyota hybrids and most Evs has specific issues with the brakes and gets twice as much or even more rust than any other cars.  
The reason for that is they are always cold., using the brakes lightly also doesn’t help. 
When brakes are cold moisture and water gets trapped into brake pads shims, slider pins got stuck and at some point even pistons get stuck.  
All this because of the regenerative braking.
Once you got any or all above happened the brake pads stop moving freely and can’t provide enough clamping power to clean the rust accumulated on the disc surfaces, often only the inner pad moves and pushes onto the disc and outer pad does not. Using the brakes harder may not help clean the surfaces. Dismantling, cleaning and lubricating procedure is the best. Absolutely no need of parts replacement.
 

You can try a couple of continues brakes applications, let say on empty roads from 60mph down to 20mph and repeat , do that few times . You can also do that in N neutral once or twice, like that all the stopping power will be done by the actual brakes and no regenerative braking. The idea is not to push the brakes too hard but to push them enough to squeeze the disc both sides but all that to be done smoothly and evenly. If you do super hard braking from high speed to 0mph you are risking to scratch the discs surfaces or leave pad material on them which will make the things even worse. 
Lastly you can do some reverse braking, again on empty road in safe environment reverse the car on slightly higher speed 5-10mph and apply braking force progressively, no regenerative braking in reverse and brakes will work harder , pistons will push more and eventually you may unstuck your pins. 
That’s pretty much all that you can do yourself to save any rust issues. 
Have fun safely 🚘👌🏁
 

[Derek.w]

I wood expect a 2 or 3 year warranty on the 12 volt Battery but have come across some Battery mfg refusing to honour this on the grounds that the Battery voltage has dropped below 11.7 volts so all cars fail to start at this point (voltage at load starting).

Hows that for a get out course.

[Derek.w]

Light pitting on brake rotors I wood just leave it alone.

Brake pads I would remove clean up sliders regrease with copper grease put some grease on the pins.

That way it's ready for winter but at the moment my brakes are working fine.

 

[Trewithy]

I always put the car in the garage overnight.  I drop both front windows a couple of inches to ventilate the interior and the window at the back of the garage is open fractionally to allow a through draft.  Never had a problem with brake discs or condensation in the car.

[twintopp]

my cars have always been garaged overnight, sometimes for days on end and have never had any problems due to moisture, yes the car stays wet longer but why have a garage and not use it.

[Derek.w]

I know people parking cars in garages that are well ventelated but leave the handbrake off to stop it sticking on.