The Jeep Compass' brakes are pretty good. If you notice that your brakes do not perform as well as it should perhaps its time to replace the pads. But here's the surprise... the pads on these brakes last a long time, up to 100,000 miles or even more. But if you do replace the pads, make sure that you lubricate the mechanisms with a good brake lubricant. This will make your brake work more efficiently and noise free. Make sure none of the lube gets onto the surfaces of the rotors or pads.

On Jeep Compasses with rear disc brakes this technique eliminates the "groan" from the brakes when you back up especially when the brakes are cold. This noise is very annoying and will be there for a long time unless you lube the mechanisms.

Interesting, at least the brakes last. As for the groan/screaching I get. I was told it was the pads themselves but haven't replaced them yet. It been like that since I got the Compass. Lubing what exactly eliminates this? (These are disk pads on rotors at the rear, just to be clear)

The brake mechanisms except for the areas or surfaces that are responsible for the braking action (friction surfaces on pads, rotors or drums) should be maintained with a good high temperature lube. Some of these might silicone based, others are synthetic. I used the synthetic type. It was a little bit more money but I believe that the extra cost for the materials used will result in better and longer lasting performance.

The mechanisms will be the sliding parts where the pads make contact with the caliper and the backs of the calipers. You don't need to put a lot. Just enough to cover those contact areas.

Car manufacturers do not do this since it involves a lot of manual operation plus the cost of the lube itself. Not to mention that it might look a little messy if the assembler overdo it in my opinion.

But yes, lubing the mechanisms takes care of strange sounds like groaning, squeals and chatters. It might also eliminate or at least reduce the knocking noises from the brakes in case the last mechanic who worked on the brakes failed or just did not bother to install the little springs or plates that goes with the pads. I love my Jeep Compass and I try to do everything to maintain it properly. I also enjoy listening to music in my Jeep and a nice quiet cabin brings out the best in the music even more.

The Compasses that have rear disk brakes do have a problem as far as noise being generated while backing up especially in the morning. I talked to other owners I met at gas station. Simply replacing the pads might not eliminate the problem but the most effective method to eliminate this annoyance is to lube the brake mechainsms. Not the pads themselves but only the small areas that the pads make contact on the calipers. These are the areas where it slides and also the areas on the back of the pads.

Do not lube the areas where the pads make contact with the rotor or else you will lose your brakes.