Car Doctor Q&A

Q I own a 2016 Subaru Forester and had to replace the rear brake pads and rotors at 20,000 miles. I then had to replace the same rear pads at 35,000 miles. I replaced the front pads and rotors at 35,000 miles. I average between 5,000, and 6,000 miles per year. Why am I only getting between 15,000-20,000 miles for rear pads? Is there a recall on the rear brake pads?

A Brakes are one of those parts, that typically wear is based on how the vehicle is driven. I have seen brakes last 100,000 miles and as little as 8000 miles. When I worked in a garage, I would sometime go on a road test with the owner of the vehicle to see how they drive. I found some drivers, resting their foot on the brake pedal (especially drivers that “left-foot” brake, causing just enough brake pressure to wear brakes prematurely. As for any brake pad technical bulletins, there were none specifically for accelerated brake pad wear. Subaru did issue a bulletin about using the correct grease on the pads and calipers to prevent pad wear due to corrosion. There was also a bulletin about the stop light switch that may be mounted too close to the brake pedal. Both of these items could cause brake pad wear. Although I generally like original brake pads, in this case, perhaps a quality aftermarket pad may offer some additional brake life.

Q Will AAA replace a battery for a 2010 Mitsubishi Evo, even though it’s located in his trunk?

A There are some installations we can’t perform on the road. These are typically batteries that are located in a part of the car that require disassembly, such as inner fender liners and other body parts. I spoke with our battery manager and trunk mounted batteries don’t normally require any additional time than a battery mounted under the hood. The Mitsubishi Lancer uses a convention lead acid battery where the Lancer Evolution uses a slightly more expensive AGM battery. As long as the battery is available it shouldn’t be a problem.

Q I have a 2021 Nissan Sentra. When I left the dealership after purchasing the car, I was told the first oil change would be due at 6,000 miles. My repair shop suggests that with the type of driving I do (3500 miles approximately per year), that I would be better off changing the oil every six months. Most of my driving is local, but the car does see the highway on a regular basis. What do you suggest as I plan to use synthetic oil?

A Nissan is very liberal with oil change requirements and recommends oil changes every 10,000 miles or if the oil change reminder light illuminates. Certainly, changing the engine oil every six months can’t hurt but it may not be necessary based on the factory recommendation. The advantage to having the oil changed more often is that the other vital fluids get checked as well as other wear items such as tires and brakes. If this were my car and I only drove 3500 miles per year and

I was using synthetic oil I would change the oil once per year. Although I would still open the hood every few months to check make sure everything looks good.

Q You have commented about EV’S, hybrids, etc. Is there any data that shows if the stop/start feature of many new cars causes more wear on engine part such as starter motors, battery life, engine corrosion, etc? For me, it would seem that starters would need frequent replacement.

A Start/stop technology has now been around for quite a few years in everything from Buicks to Porsche. With true hybrids, the Toyota Prius for example the hybrid electric motor takes the place of a conventional starter. Some other mild hybrids have used a belt driven motor, that starts the engine. The Ford F-150 as an example equip their vehicles with a heavyduty starter and battery to help compensate for a high number of starts and stops. With proper engineering the start/stop feature seems to work well and don’t require any additional maintenance.

Q I am thinking seriously of buying out my lease on my 2019 Lincoln Continental, I have three months left to decide. I’ve noticed that my front leather seats are showing the heating element coil through the seats, the car is still under warranty. My question is, will Lincoln replace the seats or try to fix the problem without new seats?

A Generally, when this type of leather seat wear happens, they seat cushion gets replaced, rather than the entire seat. The only issue that I might have with this repair is that the color matches the rest of the interior. I would let the dealer fix the seat (replace it or repair it) then look at it outside in the sun to see that the color matches the other seating surfaces. If the color is off, then the dealership may need to replace the entire seat.

Q I have a 2002 Honda Accord and there are two fans that are pointed toward the radiator. When do they turn on and spin?

A Typically, on any vehicle the cooling fan(s) will turn on when the engine temperature reaches a certain temperature (180-205degrees) and the thermostat opens. The other time the cooling fans operate is when the air conditioner is on to improve air flow across the condenser. At higher speeds the electric fans are not necessary, due to the airflow across the radiator when driving. This is why in many cases when you park the car, the cooling fans may turn on to cool the engine even though they may not have been on during your drive.

Q Not sure if you know the answer to this question since it isn’t auto repair related. Is it illegal to drive barefoot? This comes up every summer with my daughter who kicks off her shoes when driving to the beach.

A There is no requirement to wear shoes. Though driving barefoot is not illegal, it’s generally a good idea to wear sensible shoes while driving. That being said if for some reason there was a crash and it was determined that driving barefoot or wearing crazy shoes caused the crash, there would likely be some liability.