The Importance of Routine Brake Service & Repair
So one evening, you’re on your way home from work, you just finished a long day, but you have the next couple of days off, and everything seems right with the world. That is, however, until the car in front of you slams on its brakes suddenly—you hit the pedal, but your brakes feel soft, almost spongy. They’ve been slow lately, and you keep meaning to have them looked at, but life gets in the way; since your vehicle doesn’t stop the way you need it to, your evening just got a lot worse. This might seem like an extreme situation but it’s all too common when people don’t take proper care of their vehicles, especially the brakes.
If you need GMC service near Marietta, then don’t hesitate to get the work done that your vehicle deserves. Few parts of your car are as important as your brakes, and the last thing you want to discover is that they’re not there for you when you need them. Proper brake inspections and service can ensure you’re safer on the road, help improve performance while you’re driving, and ensure you avoid a bigger problem (or collision) down the road. You deserve the peace of mind that comes from knowing your vehicle is in the best condition possible, which is what you get when you care for it properly.
What Is Routine Brake Service?
The kind of routine brake service your vehicle needs can vary, but in general, it comes down to frequent inspections to see what shape your brakes are in. You typically have disc brakes on your GMC, which uses a disc connected to your wheels with pads that can press against the disc to stop it from spinning, which then stops your wheels, too. As you might imagine, general driving and slowing or stopping your vehicle puts a lot of wear and tear on your brakes, which causes your brake pads to wear out over time and not work as well. Some models can have drum brakes instead, which use a similar system where a drum spins with the wheels and shoes press against it to slow and stop the vehicle.
No matter what kind of brakes your vehicle has, routine service involves our certified experts taking a good look to ensure they’re still in great shape. Although many GMC models have systems in place to alert you when your brakes are beginning to wear down, no system is ever perfect. That’s why it’s best to have us take a look at your brake pads or shoes to see what kind of condition they’re in. This makes it easy to stay on top of things so your brakes keep working properly while you drive around Marietta.
How Often Should Brakes Be Inspected?
Like many other parts of your vehicle, routine inspection is important for your brakes, which comes down to understanding your service schedule. The engineers and designers at GMC have set a standard calendar for how often you should have different types of work done, which you can often find in your owner’s manual or on GMC’s website. Here at Jim Ellis Buick GMC of Atlanta, we’re also happy to help you understand your vehicle’s service schedule and provide you with reminders and answers to all your questions.
As far as we’re concerned, it’s a good idea to have your brakes inspected every time you come in for an oil change for your vehicle. That’s typically twice a year, usually every six months or so, depending on your vehicle, oil, and driving conditions. During an oil change, we can lift your vehicle to drain the old oil before filling it with new stuff, making it easy to do other things like check your tires and brakes. Even a casual inspection on a regular basis can make sure your brakes look great.
Beyond this, it’s a good idea to potentially have a more extensive inspection for your brakes about once each year. You typically need a bigger service appointment once a year or so that includes more than your usual oil change. During this service, we can thoroughly inspect the condition of your brakes to ensure the pads/shoes, and discs/drums are all in great shape. This is also a good time to handle other stuff like having your alignment and suspension checked or adjusted and having your tires rotated.
Why Get Your Brakes Inspected Regularly?
The primary reason to let us check your brakes on a regular basis is to ensure you’re safe on the road. As brakes wear down, they can become less responsive since they no longer make the same kind of contact needed with the disc/drum to slow you quickly. Your brakes also function through hydraulic pressure, and if that system is compromised somehow, you can get brakes that feel soft or squishy when you press the pedal to slow or stop your vehicle. In either case, your stopping distance can increase, which makes it harder to respond properly in an emergency situation where you need total control.
Routine inspections can also find issues early on when they are easier/less expensive to repair compared to further down the road. We might find a minor thing right now causing your brakes to wear out quicker, but an easy fix can help extend the life of your brakes. Similarly, minor fixes or adjustments can help improve your vehicle’s overall performance, making daily driving more enjoyable and saving you money on gas. The most important thing is that you’re safe when driving around Marietta, but avoiding bigger problems later on and keeping your repair costs down are both great bonuses.
What About Brake Repairs/Replacements?
Inevitably, the brakes on your vehicle will need to be replaced—your brake pads are designed to take a tremendous amount of abuse, but they still wear out over time. Routine inspections can help them last as long as possible and make it easier to see issues coming down the road. We can typically see how your brakes are doing and give you a realistic sense of how much life they have on them so that you’re not blindsided by the need for new brakes in the future. Minor issues are easy enough to fix, and we can also handle any problems regarding the hydraulic system for your brakes and get you back on the road safely.
When your brake pads or shoes wear out, they need to be replaced, and you deserve to have this done by professionals who know how to do the work properly and use high-quality replacements. The condition of your brakes matters, but so does the quality of your brakes; you want something that will keep working just as well as what you currently have and last as long as possible. That is why you should only trust your vehicle and brakes to people who will take fantastic care of it and ensure you are safe and in control whenever you get behind the wheel.
Stay Safe When Driving Around Marietta
Proper brake service might not be fun or exciting, but it is absolutely essential when it comes to keeping your vehicle in great shape and being able to handle whatever the road throws at you. You can’t control what sorts of unexpected things other drivers on the road will do—you can only control your response, and you need to know that your vehicle can react to what you do when you’re driving. Since brake inspections and service can be done along with other types of routine maintenance, it’s easy to roll multiple things together into a single visit so you can have it all done at once and get back on the road. Keeping your vehicle in the best shape possible is the perfect way to ensure you have a great time when you go for a drive and reach your destination safely every day.