So, there were some discoveries last weekend on my 6 hour each way trip to the mountains.
I had this very weird vibration, almost like a grinding noise, going up the curvy windy mountains. On the way back down, the vibration was noiseless, but the front end of the car was shaking pretty badly. In DC traffic, about 3 hours away from home, the Squeak Squeak Squeak began.
At the shop, we determined the front rotors were bad, and the brakes were pretty much nonexistant. All of this was switched out for new. Thud thud thud down the road, back to the shop I go, with a defective brake pad.
The next day, a different squeak squeak returned, with a vengeance, so I took the car back again. And then there's this new sound on slow braking after the car is hot that reminds me of a weak sounding Mack trying to brake. The new sound isn't present at all on hard braking. They ordered another set of rotors and brake pads, thinking that maybe they had just gotten the wrong ones. The new set arrived and of course everything matches up perfectly. They are ordering me upgraded stuff today instead of just their standard to see if that resolves the issue. Which I will go back for on Saturday.
So, now at this point, I really don't know what to think. And when we took the car for a drive so I could show the shop manager what the heck was going on, he says that the sound from the rear of the vehicle isn't correct either. Which is like a thud thud thud that gets faster and faster as the car accelerates and then disappears. I can remember that sound for a very long time being there, and I just always attributed it to the loudmouth tips (which I'm missing a clip) bouncing up and down on the car.
Saturday will be my third trip for the braking issue, and I will be having James handle some other crap that day, too (intakes, etc.). What the heck am I missing here?