Our 09 reg Copen nearly failed its 2nd MOT due to corrosion on the inner face of both discs. Discs were replaced 2 years ago under the 5 year warranty. All the wheel nuts have lost their chrome and local dealer (very expensive) wanted me to pay for the parts and nuts and their labour then apply to Daihatsu for a refund. I told them no way I would do this as the car was still covered by the 5 year warranty. They then asked me to bring the car to them so they could take photo's of the problem and send off these to Daihatsu. I have sent photo's I have taken to Daihatsu and have received a automatic reply but no further action. Has any other members had the same problem? Rest of the car is rust free even as it has stood outside from new.
Corrosion on the disc face is most probably due to problem with pad or piston. Unless you abuse the brakes and the disk has warped (I don't mean kept up with the USS Enterprise). I'm surprised they replaced the discs as I thought they would only be under warranty if faulty or associated parts and you've not said there was an actual problem. Was that an actual question about the discs or was it just a statement? Your nuts have lost their lustre, get over it. Mine have also. If you did get some more they would be the same in a couple of years if this is the norm for them. So is the plan to keep going to Daihatsu every couple of years to get them replaced? I imagine use of sockets on them for wheel removal causes micro-scratches which allows weather underneath the plating along with general weathering. Paint them? put covers over them? or buy a cheap make and change them every year or 2. I don't bother to wash my nuts specifically or worry about them unless they started to drop off. Now scratched alloys that does bug me.
I replaced my pads and disks recently. The offside inner pad was worn down to the metal, and eating into the disks - causing the corrosion. That along with the car being off the road for some time and salt deposits, made the disks rotten to the core. Never take chances with brakes, replace them under warranty if you can - seeing as they are considered a consumable item, I doubt Daihatsu will cover them, but they should cover the wheel nuts.
Thats what I was thinking that they are consumables so are not covered unless there is a specific fault with them. Maybe his pads have worn down and caused the same problem you had. But surely thats not a warranty case?
I genuinely laughed out loud reading that. It was a horrible thought though, your unwashed lacklustre nuts If all the inside face of the discs is covered in rust it is almost certainly a caliper problem. Every time you brake the discs are polished by the pads so a regularly used cars shouldn't have rust all over the discs. A bit around the edge is common though. As said discs are consumables and rarely covered by any warranty. Daihatsu must give a very good warranty to cover brake pads and discs.
disc problem Thanks for the replies, Discs and pads were replaced as a set during a normal service under warranty at around 8,000 miles. No problems with brake pads now 50% worn or callipers that are free to move. Pistons both moving. The car is my wife's and the garage put the corrosion down to gentle braking and lack of use. The outside of both discs are OK only the backs have corrosion. Wheel nuts well we will see but for the price of the car they should be better. I have a 24 year car that still has its original discs and are in perfect condition so could not understand why the Copen ones could corrode over such a short time. Perhaps the fault lies in the metal the disc are made from?
Copen disc corrosion problem Hello Trustafox and others. Car goes in for new discs, wheel nuts and two new wheels (which I did not report) next week, all done under the Daihatsu 5 year warranty at no cost to me. Up to now the car has had 4 batteries (garage kept putting on cheap batteries until the last one which was a VARTA). Now the car can stand for a week and start, bonnet resprayed as paint coating was too thin and stones were chipping the paint. No problems in that area now. Garage blew the radio fuse when changing the 3rd battery as my wife had left the radio switched on. As the radio failed to light up last week I removed it to find the problem was a poor contact at the fuse on the radio. (15 amp) that the fitter had replaced. I have replaced this with a 3.5 amp one as the main fuse for this circuit is 10 amps. I have this to report to the dealer when I take the car in. Great little car which took us around the Outer Hebrides and north west Scotland over two weeks this year and averaged 50mpg. Weather was good and the roof was lowered when we unloaded our luggage at our B&B stops. Hope you keep your nuts clean Trustafox and do not let them drop off. This is a statement that may help others who have the 5 year warranty on their Copen. Dinko
