Dear Tom and Ray:

I own a 1991 Porsche and a 1997 subscription to my newspaper. It's the newspaper I'm having trouble with. "Judy" wrote to you a while back with squealing brakes on her Nissan 300ZX. She had just had Wagner pads put in, and you guys said it was probably the pads, and you told her to get Nissan pads from the dealer. My brother and I own and operate 20 brake shops, and see 40,000 customers a year, which does give us some working knowledge. We stock Wagner pads because they are some of the best pads out on the market. We have sold thousands of Wagner brake pads to satisfied customers (we call back our customers and ask them if they're happy, and 97.7 percent are happy). And now, because of your article, we have customers saying that they don't want that "Wagner stuff." You guys misinformed the public. Now, what are you going to do about it? -- Patrick

Tom: You think YOU'RE hot under the collar, Patrick? You should have seen the poison pen letter we got from Wagner's PR flack!

Ray: We never said that Wagner makes an inferior product. We use Wagner and Bendix brake products in our shop, too. But not in all applications. We've found that on some Japanese cars and some Volvos, aftermarket brake pads, including Wagner, tend to squeal, even when installed correctly.

Tom: How do we know they tend to squeal? Because our customers tend to squeal when we use those pads on those cars. And when the customer squeals, you've got to do something about it. You can't just say, "Well, Wagner makes great pads, so tough luck, lady!"

Ray: So we've stopped using aftermarket brake pads for certain cars. And on those cars, I've never, ever had a squealing complaint after using factory pads.

Tom: I wouldn't hesitate to put Wagner or Bendix pads on a Ford or Chevy or Volkswagen. And I wouldn't hesitate to use Wagner wheel cylinders or emergency brake cables either. But I think "Judy" is better off with original Nissan pads on her squealing 300ZX, and that's why I recommended them to her. But thanks for writing, Patrick.

What's the best way to warm up your engine in the morning? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1997 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Back to the July 1997 index