Said It Here

Are these marks and leftover parts normal after a brake job?

People often miss critical hardware like anti-rattle springs during installation or struggle to tell if permanent scoring on new rotors is actually a defect. This leaves car owners guessing whether their DIY or dealership brake service is unsafe to drive on.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Driving it for a day to see what happens
  2. 2
    Inspecting guide pins and rubber cushions on the calipers
  3. 3
    Asking for a second opinion from a tire shop or online forum
  4. 4
    Letting the car roll slowly after hard stops to prevent pad imprinting

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/MechanicAdvice2 people · September 2026

“Are these marks on the brake rotors normal? Dealer says they are normal. They are permanent and don t come off after driving.”source ↗

Upper_Swing_9404 · r/MechanicAdvice · 2 upvotes

“Yeah I finished everything up and looked inside the brake pad box and saw the springs and thought "oh yeah, oops!"”source ↗

“Big deal or let it ride as is?”source ↗

BuffaloKiller937 · r/MechanicAdvice · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised