Independent Service Shop Recommendation Portland OR

[Edelman]

The Leaf is about due for a brake job and I'm loath to bring the car to my local dealer if I can help it. Is there anyone from the Portland area who can recommend a good independent Nissan shop?

 

[Levenkay]

The Leaf is about due for a brake job and I'm loath to bring the car to my local dealer if I can help it. Is there anyone from the Portland area who can recommend a good independent Nissan shop?

Firstly, the "Local/Regional Discussions->Pacific USA" group is a more appropriate place to ask this question. That said, I have to stick up for the dealership I bought from a bit: Wilsonville Nissan. They've done effective and timely warranty service on my Leaf(s), including diagnosing an annoying and obscure front suspension squeak that other owners reported their dealers being stumped by. And it seems a bit early for any LEAF to be due for a "brake job", isn't it? Even the oldest LEAFs have only been in service for four years or so.

 

[Firetruck41]

Why does the Leaf need a brake job? If it does actually need it, it probably just needs new pads, which involves removing the wheel and removing two bolts. Any shop or backyard mechanic should be able to do that for you in a matter of minutes per corner of the car. Alternatively, you could do it your self with a socket set, torque wrench, jack, c-clamp, and the cost of pads (about $50 front or rear).

 

[Valdemar]

With the rate at which my pads are wearing out I don't expect they'll need a replacement until at least 160k miles.

 

[GerryAZ]

Leafs have ceramic brake pads. My experience on two SUVs I have (or had) that came from the factory with ceramic pads has been that the rotors were worn to the minimum thickness by the time the pads were worn out. I suspect the Leaf will be the same. It makes the brake job easy--buy new pads, hardware, and rotors; then go home, remove parts, and install new parts (no need to take rotors to be machined). I now use ceramic pads for replacements on any vehicle for which they are available because they are cleaner (very little brake dust on wheels) and last much longer. There was very little wear of the brake pads on my 2011 Leaf by the time it met its demise at 50,000 miles.

Regarding the original post, I find it difficult to believe there is a Leaf in need of new brakes since regeneration and ceramic pads combined should make the original brakes last over 150,000 miles.

Gerry

 

[mwalsh]

^ OP is at ~50,000 miles, has already gone through three sets of tires (two sets of Ecopias and a set of Michelins), and says he enjoys spirited driving. If regeneration is reduced some due to pack degradation, I can easily see him needing new pads at this point.

BTW, one thing I've been trying to figure out is if the LEAF's rear brakes have the pistons that screw in. Anyone know? If they do, that's at least one specialty tool that the average Shade Tree mechanic may not have, though they are available cheaply enough - HF has one for like $7:

http://t.harborfreight.com/four-wheel-disc-brake-piston-tool-68972.html

 

[Edelman]

^ OP is at ~50,000 miles, has already gone through three sets of tires (two sets of Ecopias and a set of Michelins), and says he enjoys spirited driving. If regeneration is reduced some due to pack degradation, I can easily see him needing new pads at this point

Sorry about posting in the wrong place.

As far as new brakes, to be fair I haven't pulled the wheels so I can't be sure the pads are fully worn but since the regeneration was reduced about a year and a half ago (I think by a software update) I can feel the brakes coming on whereas before they rarely did and I've been getting some pulsing in the pedal. If nothing else I figured someone should take a look and besides it's time to find a mechanic since my plan is to keep the car until it drops.

I'm in Beaverton so Wilsonville is a long ways. Also my experience with dealerships is that once a car gets beyond a certain age they really don't like to work on them. That means they don't see them very often which in turn means that as mechanics come in they don't have that much experience. So for example our other car is a 91 BMW 325ix bought new and half the guys at the local dealerships have never even seen one given how often your average BMW customer buys himself a new car.

The Leaf's battery pack isn't going to last 25 years so long as I can still get 20 miles out of it that enough to get the wife to work and back so it should still be useful transportation for some years to come.