New to forum, 3 years with Mirage

[2wheeljunkie]

Just discovered this forum. Have 2019 Mirage, bought new 3 yrs ago. Love the car, but having issues with rotor rust, wheel lug corrosion so started searching to see if there were others who had this issue and found the forum. I will start looking at posts on the forum as I find there are usually lots of people with lots of knowledge to pass on. I have a 50 year old BMW motorcycle and belong to a few forums pertinent to my bike....would not be able to maintain it without the many knowledgeable people there, and I expect the same here.

Cheers to all.

[Mark]

Just discovered this forum. Have 2019 Mirage, bought new 3 yrs ago. Love the car, but having issues with rotor rust, wheel lug corrosion so started searching to see if there were others who had this issue and found the forum. I will start looking at posts on the forum as I find there are usually lots of people with lots of knowledge to pass on. I have a 50 year old BMW motorcycle and belong to a few forums pertinent to my bike....would not be able to maintain it without the many knowledgeable people there, and I expect the same here.

Cheers to all.

Welcome to the forum!

I have a 2017 Mirage, & I changed my front brake pads/rotors earlier this year (60,000+ miles at the time). Personally, I didn't think my brake pads were totally gone, but my rotors were also in bad shape. So I replaced them all at the same time. My local Auto Zone had the brake pads in stock and my local O'Reilly's had the rotors in stock.

I never changed brake pads & rotors myself, but it wasn't hard with some video help to assure me. Here are some good ones -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ3Wi4_j1fI&t=30s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpu4iV0Qb8w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVkTpsNjjH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaYHQt5xzWU

[2wheeljunkie]

Welcome to the forum!

I have a 2017 Mirage, & I changed my front brake pads/rotors earlier this year (60,000+ miles at the time). Personally, I didn't think my brake pads were totally gone, but my rotors were also in bad shape. So I replaced them all at the same time. My local Auto Zone had the brake pads in stock and my local O'Reilly's had the rotors in stock.

I never changed brake pads & rotors myself, but it wasn't hard with some video help to assure me. Here are some good ones -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ3Wi4_j1fI&t=30s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpu4iV0Qb8w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVkTpsNjjH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaYHQt5xzWU

Thanks for those video links, it doesn't look too hard to change the brakes, going to do mine next time they need to be done.

[MetroMPG]

Welcome, 2wheeljunkie!

I'm going to guess your Mirage isn't driven a lot and it's parked outside?

I have chronic rotor rust under those circumstances. Throw in salted roads in the winter time and it's even worse.

Should have bought a surplus rotor lathe when the local garages were getting rid of them! Nobody resurfaces rotors anymore to extend their life.

[2wheeljunkie]

Welcome, 2wheeljunkie!

I'm going to guess your Mirage isn't driven a lot and it's parked outside?

I have chronic rotor rust under those circumstances. Throw in salted roads in the winter time and it's even worse.

Should have bought a surplus rotor lathe when the local garages were getting rid of them! Nobody resurfaces rotors anymore to extend their life.

My car is kept in a heated underground parking garage in my apartment building. I don't drive a lot as I have no need to, and can't really see just driving around to keep rust off the rotors, not with the price of gas now. I also have a motorbike that I use whenever the weather is good in spring, summer, and fall.

I believe the rotors are cheap Chinese recycled scrap steel that rusts easily. As well, the open concept of the wheels allows any moisture full access to the braking system. The corroded lug nuts are also a very poor design. They stick out from the wheel, not recessed like most cars I see so they corrode easily. Those black steel wheels with the shiny lug nuts sticking out looked great when it was new....not so great now. I have never had problems like this with other vehicles I have owned, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Dodge.

I don't see any way around this issue other than changing the rotors myself or polishing them up occasionally. What the dealer advised was to have an annual "brake service" where they clean up and polish the rotors to remove the rust....for around $150.00 service fee, definitely not going to do that.

[MetroMPG]

The "chrome" coating on the lugnuts is a joke - also the worst quality of any car I've owned. Lowest bidder junk!

I'm surprised you have the corrosion issue given that you park indoors. One thing I try to do when I drive my car (I also use it rarely in the summer) is a couple of hard stops from higher speed to scrub the braking surface clean. Unfortunately, my rotors are past being able to scrub them back to a totally smooth surface.

[2wheeljunkie]

The "chrome" coating on the lugnuts is a joke - also the worst quality of any car I've owned. Lowest bidder junk!

I'm surprised you have the corrosion issue given that you park indoors. One thing I try to do when I drive my car (I also use it rarely in the summer) is a couple of hard stops from higher speed to scrub the braking surface clean. Unfortunately, my rotors are past being able to scrub them back to a totally smooth surface.

That was my argument with the service manager, that's when he threw back the corrosion of the lug nuts at me, said "You must be getting moisture somewhere, look at how corroded the lug nuts are".

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, nope! (To the service person.) A Toyota's wheel nuts would still be shiny.

[Mark]

I think the liquid salt they put on bridges/roads is tough on items like rotors. I cringe every time I drive over that stuff!