Two braking issues - may or may not be problems. I'm new to this car, and I don't know what's normal.

1) The car sometimes pulls left or right on initial application of the brake. There's no play in the fornt end, and I assume this is an alignment issue. Any comments / experience?

2) The pedal seems low when first applying brakes. If I pump it once, it's higher and firmer. Is this normal?

I should point out that the car stops fine - it will give you g-induced blackout if you're not careful. The rotors and pads were replaced by a (supposedly) competent dealer about 10k miles ago - before I bought the car.

 

First of all, I would get the brake system checked out at a good shop.

If it's an alignment problem, your car should pull regardless of brake application.

Also note that wide tires have a tendency to follow the track grooves on the road. This is especially obviously when you brake as the weight of the car is pushed onto the front more durinb braking. Try braking on a really smoothly paved road or lot, if it's still pulling, you've got a problem.

Also, if your car is pulling when you are braking hard only, your ABS sensor may need to be cleaned or replaced.

Did you check on the brake fluid? It needs to be clean. If it's dirty, have it flushed. Flushing is needed every 2 yrs or 30k miles.

Take a look at the pads, if they are thinner than 2/32" or so, they are about to be replaced and that can be the cause of low brake pressure besides the fluid.

 

Thanks for the info. The 'left or right pull' happens under light to moderate braking - it feels like the calipers on one side are grabbing first, and it evens out if you apply more pressure. Doesn't seem to correlate to road surface.

The fluid is clean, rotors are good, and pads have about 1/4" left. I'm quite curious about the height and firmness of the brake pedal changing if you pump once. Doesn't feel at all like trapped air - one pump and it's rock hard. If it had drum brakes, I'd say the self-adjusters weren't working.

Could the pulling and the height/firmness be related? I don't have a shop I trust yet....