Welcome to the forum Czekchik

Sorry to read about your issues, a couple of questions I would have (1) how many miles on your Atlas when you took delivery ? (2) what was the percentage on the Brake Pads when they were replaced ? I would not be so quick to judge VW, as most vehicle manufactures do not warrant " Wear " items and brakes are usually at the top of the list.

I remember quite a few years ago where a buddy had been driving for some time and when he got home decided to wash his car ( Not VW ) later that day he went
up to the store about five miles away and noticed a shake when he applied the brakes, turns out when he put water on the wheels the rotors were hot ( he even mentioned
the steam coming off ) and the sudden temperature change warped them.

City/Short trip driving is very hard on brakes, especially with today's vehicles equipped with Automatic Overdrive Transmissions as once your foot is off the gas
the transmissions stay's in a higher gear until a selected speed is achieved to automatically downshift. so in city driving most drivers are on the brakes sooner and more frequently.
I choose to use my Automatic Overdrive in the Manual mode so I control the downshifts allowing me to stay off the brakes as much as possible, unless I'm consistently
over 50mph I do not allow the higher gears to be engaged.


The Good news is that your back on track !

Again, Welcome

 

Hey! Thanks so much for your input. I am picking up the vehicle today so i ll ask about the break percentage. Honestly breaks I can understand but the rotors puzzle me. I am very easy on my car, in fact both my husband and I drive it in manual especially with any downhill exactly for the reason you describe. To stay off the breaks as much as possible and to control the vehicle speed with the engine rather than breaks anywhere. I can’t remember the exact mileage when I purchase the vehicle but i ll look at the paperwork tonight but I want to say it was definitely no more than 100 miles. I also do wash my car but I can’t recall that I d take it to the manual Carwash right after a ride with heated wheels. At this point I can definitely wonder what and how it really happen but in my 20 years of owning numerous bran new cars and in fact having others where we rode them harder than usual and never did this happen to any of them under 6k miles. Thanks again, I am definitely grateful it s covered under warranty but honestly it gives me little sour taste in my mouth. Thanks again and have a great day

 

Substantial padding is one thing, if they are glazed you'll be back

 

Rotors can warp from a variety of conditions and issues. Typically getting really hot then rapid cool down. Could be a hard braking issue, to hitting the brakes hard and then driving through a puddle. It is not just constant mountain/hill driving. Either way, having your rotors turned is fairly easy usually fairly inexpensive. If you have ever changed brakes or want to try (assuming you are getting nowhere with the dealer - p.s. I really doubt they will warranty claim them) then you can remove them yourself and take them to a local Napa. Call before hand, but most in my area will turn them for you and can usually do so while you wait (once again call around and before hand to be certain). My local Napa used to charge $10 per rotor. Now, when I do my brakes, I just completely change the rotors out instead of turning them as they are usually pretty cheap.

 

Rotors can get deposits from the pads and it's a very common occurrence - they aren't actually "warped"....just pad material bedded to the rotors unevenly is all. Mine did this and I swapped out the f. pads/rotors at about 20K...just DIY'd it with nicer aftermarket rotors/pads. Another way some get rid of this is to re-bed the pads and is what I would suggest for you. Get going 60mph and bring it to about 10mph 5 times in a row one after the other then let them cool by driving without applying the brakes for a few minutes.

 

Hello,
What brake pads did you buy? I have a similar issue. My 2019 with 31k has some vibration when braking. The rotors look like they have some uneven glazing. The plan is to resurface the rotors and put some nice pads. I could use some recommendations. Thanks.

 

Several Atlas demo units I have driven at the time of purchasing all had warped rotors and all were between 5 and 8K km, so your service department shouldn't be that surprised that this happened.
As other mentioned, there are several reasons for them to warp, overheating, hard use... etc.. but I just found it funny that several demo units had the same issue.

My Atlas is just below 5K km and no issues yet, but given harsh Canadian winters I'm curious to see how this goes in the next few months.

 

I've seen many posts regarding rotors and brake pads. The term warping and the misunderstanding of what is happening and what causing it.

Basically rotors do not warp. You cannot create enough heat through mechanical braking force to get the temperature to the point where they begin to misshapen and "warp" like a bicycle wheel.

In my over 35 years of driving and as a high performance instructor. I have never seen a warped rotor. However there is information that can clarify this issue and help you understand the cause and effect as well as solutions to prevent and correct.

Please read the two links below as they are pretty much the gold standard on this subject.

A short article by autoblog and YourMechaniic

A longer detailed technical white paper By Carroll Smith, Consulting Engineer at StopTech

The too long didn't read answer is warping really refers to the flat surface of the rotor becoming uneven. Heat is the number one cause of this, and can cause warping in more than one way:
1. Glazing the brake rotor with material from the brake pad.
2. Wearing down the surface of the rotor and making harder spots in the metal stay slightly raised off the surface.

 

I've seen many posts regarding rotors and brake pads. The term warping and the misunderstanding of what is happening and what causing it.

Basically rotors do not warp. You cannot create enough heat through mechanical braking force to get the temperature to the point where they begin to misshapen and "warp" like a bicycle wheel.

In my over 35 years of driving and as a high performance instructor. I have never seen a warped rotor. However there is information that can clarify this issue and help you understand the cause and effect as well as solutions to prevent and correct.

Please read the two links below as they are pretty much the gold standard on this subject.

A short article by autoblog and YourMechaniic

A longer detailed technical white paper By Carroll Smith, Consulting Engineer at StopTech

The too long didn't read answer is warping really refers to the flat surface of the rotor becoming uneven. Heat is the number one cause of this, and can cause warping in more than one way:
1. Glazing the brake rotor with material from the brake pad.
2. Wearing down the surface of the rotor and making harder spots in the metal stay slightly raised off the surface.

I had a jeep once where the pads seized down onto the rotor. Got so hot, it melted the brake line, melted the springs. First hint was it was pulling to the right. Made it home and had smoke coming from the front wheel. Wheel was so hot, couldn't touch it. I was standing to the side, about 30 feet way, sprayed water on the the tire/wheel and it sizzled really bad. Thank god it didn't blow (thought of that after the fact). Though it over heated the rotor, it didn't warp. That was on one of my Jeeps and was a titanium rotor/ceramic pads. The problem was a frozen caliber (that's what I was told). Lucky I didn't blow the **** thing up with the water. Lessons learned.

 

I have to jump in here. Rotors do warp, based on the amount of heat treating (hardness) and other variability due to other things like amount of "stuff" that is in the alloy. There is no alloy specification when you buy a rotor. Buy cheap, you usually get cheap, although going to a material like titanium seems a bit over the top. I can see using it for weight reduction like racing, since the density of titanium is very low, but I don't see the value. Check out the cost of titanium alloys and you will see.

 

The rotors on my Jeep were not much more then non. Based on abuse traction control, mud, sand, lots of water that I deal with, I'll pay the extra to not have to replace my hardware everytime I hit a mud puddle. 😏

 

You didn't have titanium rotors on your Jeep, not actually made from titanium. That might be what they were called by the manufacturer similar to silver, gold, platinum as commonly used to show the different "grades" of pads/rotors.

 

I don’t believe that resurfacing the rotors is a way to go. also, you probably will have a difficult time finding someone to do it. If the original ones warped, resurfacing (i.e. less metal) will likely rear its ugly head sooner. I always look at rotors as a throw away item.

 

19 Atlas with Braking pulsations at 26k..Definitely going the after market route..I am looking at the weight of the new rotors..heavier the rotor better for me..must be 25 lbs +..Autozone has one 26.8 lbs another 30 lbs...NAPA 25. EBC 26 etc.. Not sure how factory weighs

for pads Akebono cermamic..worked excellent on my 13 Passat with EBC slotted rotors.

 

Hi All,
I have a 2019 Atlas SE with 4Motion and at 23,xxx miles it is looking like (or sounding and feeling like) it is time for new front pads and rotors.

This is my first VW after owning about 6 Toyotas. My last two sienna mini vans chewed through breaks and tires within 15,000 to 30,000 miles.
I had a 2016 Sienna that the dealer replaced the break pads and rotors at 15,000 miles and "under warranty". Toyota has an issue with too heavy a car with too small/cheap breaks.

Anyways, I digress.

Wanted to see what milage others are replacing breaks and rotors at?

At 23,000 miles on my Atlas, my tires are still looking really good, I would guess barely 50% of wear.

I was hoping to get at least 30,000 miles on it before I have to do the breaks.

Thank you Tc1uscg for your comment, that is in part why I left Toyota - they are just turning out crap... I love my atlas, however I am thinking next car might be a Hyundai or Ford

 

Hi All,
I have a 2019 Atlas SE with 4Motion and at 23,xxx miles it is looking like (or sounding and feeling like) it is time for new front pads and rotors.

This is my first VW after owning about 6 Toyotas. My last two sienna mini vans chewed through breaks and tires within 15,000 to 30,000 miles.
I had a 2016 Sienna that the dealer replaced the break pads and rotors at 15,000 miles and "under warranty". Toyota has an issue with too heavy a car with too small/cheap breaks.

Anyways, I digress.

Wanted to see what milage others are replacing breaks and rotors at?

At 23,000 miles on my Atlas, my tires are still looking really good, I would guess barely 50% of wear.

I was hoping to get at least 30,000 miles on it before I have to do the breaks.

Thank you Tc1uscg for your comment, that is in part why I left Toyota - they are just turning out crap... I love my atlas, however I am thinking next car might be a Hyundai or Ford

Mine was done at 25k..

 

I ALSO LIVE IN UTAH AND THE EXACT SAME THING IS HAPPENING TO ME. I'm fighting them to replace under warranty. Majorly disappointed. Bought the car in December 2020 from Ken Garff VW in Orem - here we are in August, just 8 months later, and mine are out. I've driven 8k miles. Ridiculous and so disappointing

 

Typically even wear parts like pads/rotors can get warranty work if it's within 12 mos./12K miles per the warranty - they specifically have this listed. What is wrong? What do you mean by "mine are out"?

 

2018 Atlas. At annual state inspection at a tire dealer (59,000 mi), they claim REAR brake pads are 95% gone. When I asked about the front pads, they said they are at 50%. All are original. Makes no sense to me that the rear pads would wear so much more quickly than the front pads. Anyone have thoughts on this? I'm not able to check them myself. Thanks.

 

I have a 2019 Atlas, my brakes started pulsating at 6-7k. I took it to the dealer at around 10k miles and asked to have the brakes replaced. They offered resurfacing the rotors and i told them then I believe it was a short term solution and they say we'll discuss replacing brakes if the problem happens again. 7k miles later the car started vibrating again, I ended up taking it to the dealer at 28k miles total and they won't do anything about the brakes even though the issue was there from the beginning and was documented. They told me it's a user problem. 90% of my driving is highway so it's hard to imagine for me that I'm abusing the brakes. However, i'm almost always using lane assist which I believe uses brakes to center the car and I'm wondering if that's causing the issue.

I'm trying to find Akebonos pads for the front and I don't think they exist. What the next best recommendation for front brakes on the atlas? Thanks.

 

Like everyone else in this forum. My VW Atlas front rotors got warped after the 3rd time that has happened, we decided to buy some "Slotted, cross drilled rotors" (race type) for the front only. Believe it or not, it has done the trick! We did give it the "test", the test is a mountain that goes from Los Angeles into Central California via the 5 freeway. My rotors always get warped on the way down that mountain. We have driven through there 4 times already and we've had 0 issues with the new rotors. I highly recommend you trying this yourself as, you will not regret it, the slots and the holes from the cross drill, prevent heating up, like the normal VW Atlas rotors you get from the dealer. We did buy them online, and had our local mechanic install them. I do not work for summit nor the brake company. I could not post a link, therefor here is what I bought:
Power Stop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Upgrade Kits K8117
through Summitracing.com

Trust me you will not regret putting these rotors on, the only draw back is that when it is time to do a brake job, you cannot turn slotted cross drilled brakes like the normal ones. But, the benefit is that you not only upgrade your brakes, but you stop having that easy warp your rotors issue.

 

Like everyone else in this forum. My VW Atlas front rotors got warped after the 3rd time that has happened, we decided to buy some "Slotted, cross drilled rotors" (race type) for the front only. Believe it or not, it has done the trick! We did give it the "test", the test is a mountain that goes from Los Angeles into Central California via the 5 freeway. My rotors always get warped on the way down that mountain. We have driven through there 4 times already and we've had 0 issues with the new rotors. I highly recommend you trying this yourself as, you will not regret it, the slots and the holes from the cross drill, prevent heating up, like the normal VW Atlas rotors you get from the dealer. We did buy them online, and had our local mechanic install them. I do not work for summit nor the brake company. I could not post a link, therefor here is what I bought:
Power Stop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Upgrade Kits K8117
through Summitracing.com
View attachment 3333
Trust me you will not regret putting these rotors on, the only draw back is that when it is time to do a brake job, you cannot turn slotted cross drilled brakes like the normal ones. But, the benefit is that you not only upgrade your brakes, but you stop having that easy warp your rotors issue.

I put drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads on my 2019 one month after i brought it home. Virtually no rotor groving and the pads are 2 thirds good with 22000 miles on them. Smart move.

 

Not getting into the slotted/cross-drilled debate but stumbled across this on my search for the right part number to fit my Atlas. Two cars with high-carbon front rotors and ceramic pads. One vehicle has made abrupt decel from some pretty high speeds (120+). So far, no vibration on even while slowing down on the autobahn.