2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS: rotors or pads wearing out early

Filed Jul 21, 2015 · Brakes · 27,000 miles · OH

About the third time that I have had to replace the rear brakes with in less than 30000 miles. The parking brake does not hold the car. The pads wear uneven, only the interior pad is being worn. Gm dealership continues to state that this is normal wear, which is impossible. And braking performance is compromised by this uneven and premature wear of the rear brakes.

Filed Feb 3, 2014 · Brakes · NY

Rear brake caliper piston dragging causing excessive inner pad wear. Rear brakes freeze up. Damaged rear rotors. Inadequate brake pedal operation.

Filed Sep 16, 2012 · Brakes, Wheels · 40,000 miles · MO

I purchased my 2009 chevrolet cobalt ss sedan a little over a year ago. Within the first several months, the emergency brake started to get extremely loose. It than completely stopped holding within 6 months and 40,000 total miles. After this incident, the rear brakes and rotors began to prematurely wear out extremely quickly. Since these are not covered under any warranty and dealerships refuse to fix the issue for free, it's very costly out of pocket for the repairs. I can't park anywhere near on or a hill, due to the emergency brake being completely broken. And the rear brakes and rotors need either repaired or resurfaced constantly every several thousand miles. My other major issue is with the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) this has been giving me an error constantly for around 10,000 miles, on how it needs to be serviced. My car is garage kept with maintenance done on time, and well taken care of.

Filed Feb 10, 2012 · Brakes · 31,000 miles · MS

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet cobalt ss turbo. The contact stated his rear brake pads were prematurely wearing out rapidly. The rotors and brake pad never made any noise alerting the contact there was something wrong. When the vehicle was being serviced the mechanic showed him how the rotors and brake pads were worn. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 31,000 and the current mileage was 40,000.

Filed Apr 26, 2011 · Brakes · 23,254 miles · 00

Rear brakes wear down to quickly.. I have had only 20,000 km on it and one day I was going to bring my kid into day care with it.. Put on the on hand brake.. And then my car started to roll back with my kid in it... Almost brand new car.. Who would of thought my brakes would have been already worn out.. My kid almost gotten to an accident because of this... Now an other thing.. We have to pay new pads every 20,000 km? That is just insane.. Again.. I see repetitive post on here with comments they have the inside pad worn out to the metal and the outside one to 70%.. I have never changed the front ones once yet.. And they are still at 65%.. Now where is the logic in all this??? Front ones should be more badly hurt then that.. Also the back brakes eats my rotors like crazy too.. Guess what more money... Arrrggg.. This is really a safety issue and I think a recall should be made on this.. Thank you for listening.

Filed Dec 18, 2010 · Brakes · 29,170 miles · MA

I last checked my brakes when I took off my snow tires in march with 18,000 miles on my car. Everything looked fine, front and rear pads looked almost new with plenty of meat on them. In july, I noticed that the rear brakes were starting to groove, so I mentioned this to the dealer when I went in for a recall and they resurfaced them for me (22,885 miles). I asked about the pads and they told me that they had looked at them and they were fine and everything looked normal. In october, I noticed the grooving coming back. I took it back to the dealer, and they charged me to replace the rear disks and pads at 29,170 miles (they did throw in the rotors for free due to the abnormal wear). After the service, they gave me the old rear pads as per my request. Upon receiving them, I couldn't help but notice that the inner rear pad, which had been wearing identically to the outer rear pads when I checked at 18,000 miles, were worn almost to the backing plate! The outer pads still had 1/4" material left, so it seemed clear that something was not right. The dealer could find no reason for this wear and stated that everything was normal besides the brake wear. It seems incredible that a front-heavy, front-drive car would wear through its inner rear brake pads while its front pads (which do most of the braking) and outer rear pads still have plenty of life left without there being some kind of problem. I still have the pads and also have pictures. I am concerned that if these pads wear down so quickly, I could be put in a situation where I unexpectedly have no e-brake and compromised braking ability despite frequent inspections. I am also concerned that gm is more interested in selling me parts than in diagnosing and correcting the root of the problem. I have heard from the both chevy dealers and other owners that this is a somewhat common problem with my car, and I would like to see it resolved. Thank you.

Filed Dec 2, 2010 · Brakes · 38,257 miles · OH

I purchased my 2009 chevy cobalt ss/tc in early june of 2010. It was a gm certified used car. When I inspected the car before purchasing I noticed that the brakes were heavily worn and I let the salesmen know about it. He told me that there was almost 70% left on the pads and everything checked out fine . So I did the dumbest thing I could do and took his word for it. After about 5 months and 4000 miles later my rear brakes start making a scraping noise while in reverse and while light braking around corners mostly out of the passenger side.. I took it in for maintenance expecting some kind of manufacturer defect but instead I'm accused of bad driving and letting my e-brake drag. The issue was that the rear calipers were sticking and not retracting properly and the pistons inside were bent causing uneven pad wear. Both sides moisture boots on the pistons looked like they were pinched and broken during the factory installation. So now here I am with a bill for almost $1000 dollars for rear pads, rotors and calipers and on a car that is just over 2 years old with almost 2 years on a factory bumper to bumper warranty. I'm sorry but the calipers to me are a mechanical defected part and should be covered under warranty.

Filed Sep 25, 2010 · Brakes · CO

Premature rear brake rotor wear.

Filed Jun 26, 2010 · Brakes · 9,000 miles · DE

I bought a 2009 chevy cobalt ss used with 9000 miles on it. From the day I bought it I consistently heard rear brake noise whenever I stopped the car. There is excessive pad wear on the rear brakes at 11000 miles now. Way too much wear than normal. Deep scoring in the rotors. Took the car to the dealership I purchased it from and they resurfaced the rotors but the problem was still there after I drove the car home from the shop. So far nothing has been done to correct this problem by the dealership of chevy.

Filed May 3, 2010 · Brakes · 11,000 miles · NJ

Had tires rotated at dealer, they found rear brake pads worn out completely and rotor scored after only 6000 miles. Have found many other owners with same problem. Dealer claims it was caused by driving with the e brake on. They refused to repair unless paid, claims warranty does not cover pads wearing out unusually too soon.

Filed Mar 4, 2010 · Brakes · 3,900 miles · TX

2009 chevrolet cobalt ss. Sedan. Extreme rear brake pad wear (70%) and rear brake rotor damage after only 4000 miles. Why has nothing been done about all the complaints regarding this serious issue? I do not abuse the car and do not apply hard brakes. I only engage the parking brake when the car is stopped and parked. Investigate, recall and repair.

Filed Feb 10, 2010 · Brakes · 15,000 miles · PA

Car had approximately 15,000 miles on it when the back brake pads wore out. Took the vehicle to my mechanic he said something was not right and I should take it to the dealer and get it fixed for free due to faulty install. Dealer assured me there was nothing wrong and charged me a 60 dollar diagnostic fee. Why would the back brake pads wear out before the front..and why at 15,000 miles with conservative driving? Something is clearly faulty with either the brake pads themselves or how they are being installed.