24th Jul 2009, 10:49

Read some car magazines. Articles on sports cars always have some words on the beefed up brakes, cross drilled rotors, vents for air cooling, extra thickness, etc. Do you think the manufacturers add that expense for no reason?

Family cars are designed to be cost competitive in their segment, so every part is designed to be just good enough for that segments average driver. Cars designed to be fuel efficient are especially designed for every part to have the minimum possible weight -- including for instance, thinner rotors and calipers.

Why do you think there is a market for upgraded brakes? I would be very surprised if you can't find some to fit an Accord.

You can ruin the brakes on any family car driving them like sports cars with aggressive hard braking. Same thing for transmissions. Several of my friends over the years burned out their manual transmissions racing around town. It took a few repair bills and advice from the car mechanics for them to wise up. They whined, "But the dealer told me I could drive it hard." The mechanics tell them, yes, as long was you don't mind the repair bills. Since it took years for my friends to figure this out, I don't really expect others to believe this right away either.

Besides, people look silly racing Accords, Camries, Impalas, Tauruses, etc.

24th Jul 2009, 15:19

A 1977 Corvette owner I know has factory drum brakes, no discs, no drilled rotors. Discs less prone to fade. Stock Accord should be fine with stock brakes, plus a stick car has less brake wear if so equipped.

26th Jul 2009, 05:32

Spend a bit more unless that goes against the low cost import mentality... and upgrade to ceramic brakes. Either that or briefly let your brakes cool a bit so that they are not prone to fade. They should still stop you.

10th Dec 2009, 06:01

This is my original post, and all I have to say is that I am not continuously hard on my brakes. All I was saying was that sometimes, like most people, I will brake hard, and I don't see how my rotors warp so bad within 10,000 miles. All the stock brakes on 2003 Honda Accords have this problem. I don't understand why Honda hasn't figured out a different pad and rotor combination so that customers do not have this problem.

When customers, including me, take their Accords in because of this problem, Honda just turns the rotors and replaces the pads with the same product. What is the point of that? It just happens again 10,000 miles later.

I took my Accord back to the dealer, and complained and complained, and the dealership replaced all the pads and rotors under warranty. Now, 8,000 miles later, they are warped again. I called the dealership and they were very short with me, telling me that I have the latest and greatest pads and rotors from Honda, and that the dealership and Honda will not cover any more warranty brake work on my car. This is ridiculous. I would go and get aftermarket pads and rotors, but I shouldn't have to. This is Honda's fault, and I don't understand why they have not fixed this brake issue, or at least been more sincere about it and offered other options.

Also, this is my first Honda, and I have always owned Volkswagens, from Jettas to Passats, to even my new GTI. I have always really driven those cars, and been hard on those brakes at times. Not once has any of those rotors on any of those VW's warped.

26th Mar 2010, 16:07

Then go buy yourself couple more VW's. Your complaints are probably valid, and thanks for sharing. Move on, you go get yourself a better car, while others enjoy theirs, whether it is a Honda or not.

26th Mar 2010, 19:19

Are you using metallic pads? Metallic pads last a long time, however, they also make A LOT of noise. They are usually meant for severe duty conditions. They also do not work well until they are heat up a bit.

On a Honda Accord, metallic pads could easily warp and wear down stock rotors. Metallic pads can be used, but you will need to beef up your rotors if you want to use them.

If you're not using metallic pads, I have another theory. You say that you do not drive often, this could cause brake noise and here's why: When a vehicle sits for a few days (especially in a wet or damp area), the brake rotors can develop a build-up of rust. For the first few stops, you will hear a lot of grinding and squealing until the rust is rubbed off. But, if you don't drive often, compounded by only driving very short trips, the layer of rust may never be completely ground off, creating a constant loud grinding noise.

Just my two cents.

18th Dec 2010, 14:49

I bought a 2003 Accord EX new. It now has 125k. The motor (valves) are loud.

Any thoughts/comments?

20th Dec 2010, 12:54

If I had ANY problems with a domestic in only 125,000 miles, I'd never buy another one. I'd try to cut my losses and trade for a Ford Fusion or Chevy Malibu. Domestics are under warranty for 100,000 miles.

20th Dec 2010, 17:48

To the person with the loud valves:

Disregard the first response to your comment. The commentor obviously did not have a good answer to your question.

Honda engines (especially VTEC-fitted engines) do require period valve adjustments. Having your valves adjusted will more than likely solve your problem.

21st Dec 2010, 20:29

My advice is to get some aftermarket brakes. It seems like that would be less costly than replacing your brakes every 10k, I drive mostly urban stop and go traffic, and mine usually last well over 50k. Mind you, I don't drive an Accord, so yes, like you said, the brakes are very cheap and poorly made on this car.

11th Jul 2013, 16:33

On my 2003 Accord 4 cylinder automatic, the brakes are also making a grinding noise sometimes. When it does this, the car doesn't stop as well. Dealers can't find anything wrong, and there's no unusual wear. I believe the brake boosters are the problem. It works when it wants to.

11th Jul 2013, 16:36

It's not the valves that are loud; the 4 cylinder has a timing chain, so it makes a buzzing sound.

23rd Oct 2015, 22:54

We too had many, many issues with the brakes on our '03 Accord EX. The rotors warped after one trip over the 'Grapevine' (Interstate 5 freeway into LA from San Joaquin Valley for all of the non-Californians) at only 1,400 miles... that's NOT a typo! 1,400 miles NOT 14,000! We took the car back to the dealer and they machined the rotors, but only after much arguing about the problem.

Three weeks later, the problem resurfaced and the steering wheel vibration that occurred in each of these instances was astounding. Again we returned to the dealer with the same complaint and again the rotors were machined.

At this point I insisted that the dealer also replace the pads as well... front and rear. Reluctantly, they did.

The problem did not manifest itself again until about 20,000 miles, but it did occur again. I went back to the dealer and this time, I simply stated that they replace the rotors, the pads, both front and rear, and they'd never hear from me again. If they did not I would be more than happy to address this with the regional manager. They did as I asked, and I have not been back nor will I go back. I may not even purchase another Honda product due to this nightmare. I did replace the rotors at about 40,000 miles with slotted ones, and have not had a problem since.

I now have about 175,000 miles on the car. I can only assume that for a period of time, Honda was using very low quality metal for their brake rotors.

24th Oct 2015, 16:57

People are quick to blame a manufacturer. But it's often operator influence creating a issue. You can save a ton of money by doing this... I always only use a hand torque wrench with correct torque spec and correct torque pattern. Instead of using air impacts reinstalling my wheels to prevent rotor warping. It's very easy to warp your rotors holding an impact on too long. Accuracy at best is 20 percent with impacts. Great and fast for removal, but not at all for rundown. People don't realize this when they do brakes or buy new tires and/or rotate them. You can pay a few dollars more and pay to have them put on by hand with a torque wrench properly set. Or you can buy new rotors. Good luck.