[Wacio]

It appears to me that the rear rotors are used so little that the surface is covering with rust. I'm rather defensive driver and my 6 month Niro has only 1400 miles on it. Reading internet info rendered only info about Prius owners having similar problem. Any other Niro owners experiencing this issue. Any suggestions. One comment on Prius forum was to do some breaking in neutral to prevent regen and force car to use real brakes. Would it work with Niro?

Thank you.

 

[KK6PD]

Just go have a drive, find a lonely road, HIT THE BRAKES, HARD!!
That should remove any rust that has started to appear...

 

[Wacio]

Just go have a drive, find a lonely road, HIT THE BRAKES, HARD!!
That should remove any rust that has started to appear...

Thank you.

Yes this was also mentioned on Prius forum. I will try this but also for the sake of knowledge - wondered about viability of the neutral trick. I did little experiment and pushed gear selector from D to N as car was using regen. It was apparent that the breaking force went much lower and I had to apply brakes harder to maintain deceleration. So in my opinion the trick should work here too.

Just to explain why I'm not keen on slamming my brakes HARD - as mentioned I'm not daily driver - so my skills limited - and in the winder - temps subfreezing - > This may lead to me ending up up side down in the ditch. Actually done that 40 years ago.


Regards.

 

[KK6PD]

Thank you.
Just to explain why I'm not keen on slamming my brakes HARD - as mentioned I'm not daily driver - so my skills limited - and in the winder - temps subfreezing - > This may lead to me ending up up side down in the ditch. Actually done that 40 years ago.
Regards.

I just find a rather deserted parking lot. Sunday AM is usually a good time! I made sure they were not snow/ice covered! Now that I live I L.A., that's a moot point!!! You don't have to be driving crazy fast, 25/30 mph will suffice, and when I say hard, not so hard you lock them up, but firm enough to get a couple of revolutions in before you stop. That usually suffices, but if not, rinse & repeat!!

 

[yticolev]

Such deserted parking lots covered with snow are also good places to get a feel for how your car handles in turns, slides, and braking safely. I did that myself recently, and am hoping for one more good winter storm so I can do it with the Niro.

 

[Alex]

If not you can always do research on how best to drive in winter weather conditions because that's where I started and helped a lot. Speeds up the learning process beyond what most drivers are used to..

 

[Wacio]

Thank you for all advice.

 

[Neuron]

Didn't know this was how you remove rotor rust and I probably have pretty bad buildup considering my braking habits. I like to gently brake to a stop and never jerky.

 

[Ruzzell]

I think there are cleaning products out there you can use to help keep rust off the rotors as well

 

[Amyga]

This is an old thread, but I just had my first maintenance at the dealer, ~7,500 miles after 10 months, and they found that rear rotors were pitted and would eventually need to be resurfaced.
The car typically stays put in the driveway four consecutive 4 days, then I use for 3 days. That gives ample time for any rust to form and to start digging apparently.
I am just writing in case it's useful information to someone else.

 

[Roadkill401]

And I also know from my own experience and talking with a rare commodity (an honest auto mechanic). Pitting and re-surfacing of your rotors is a total sham. The net effect on your braking performance is negligible and you are doing it for cosmetic purposes. The pitting that is on the rotors can slightly reduce the surface area for the brake pad to contact, but the metal rotor also wears away in use so any pitting general is removed by wear over the course of 4-5 good stops. But the removal (re-facing) of your rotors removes more material that greatly reduces the life of the rotors as well as their ability to dissipate heat also will reduce the stopping distance. along with the brake pads don't always wear totally even, so as they wear they bed to the rotor so the two surfaces are matched to each other. As you resurface the rotor, then it will have a different matched surface to that of the pad, so you will also lose far more stopping distance as the brakes re-bed. So when you add up all the pros vs cons, it turns out far better to just leave the brakes alone and just stop a bit harder to let the pad ware away the metal rotor to a more clean finish.


But these are Hybrid vehicles and if you read the other thread about one pedal driving, you'd see that we don't really use the rotors all that much so I don't know why anyone would really be all that worried about rust or how pitted they are as the stopping power of the rotor is likely multiple times more than what is ever needed to stop.

 

[jmurphEV]

This is an old thread, but I just had my first maintenance at the dealer, ~7,500 miles after 10 months, and they found that rear rotors were pitted and would eventually need to be resurfaced.
The car typically stays put in the driveway four consecutive 4 days, then I use for 3 days. That gives ample time for any rust to form and to start digging apparently.
I am just writing in case it's useful information to someone else.

I would steer clear of anyone who suggested resurfacing rotors. Surface rust will be cleaned off as soon as you hit the brakes and any pitting is likely to be so minor as to not impact performance at all. All resurfacing does is remove material, making the rotors less able to absorb and dissipate heat, leading to more wear and premature failure. Factory rotors are $85 new, which is probably not a lot more than they would charge to turn your old ones.

The rotors will take forever to be significantly harmed by surface rust. Once the surface oxidizes the process slows down dramatically as the layer of rust actually protects the surface underneath. Even driving occasionally as you do you should see good service life from the brakes.

I come from VWs which generally treat rotors as wear items and recommend replacement with the pads. The rear pads on my Golf last several years, so an extra $100 for new rotors is cheap insurance.

 

[Mal]

If just the rears, you can use the parking brake for a final stop from slow speeds as well. Kind of interesting to see how "well" they stop too.

 

[badyellowvette]

My Corvette rotors rust after sitting for a week, depending on the weather and it's gone as soon as I hit the brakes.