Took mrs car in for service ( even though it’s out of warranty ) she insists it must be serviced by Ford , her choice I guess as her car , even though I think £247 for basically a oil change / check over is a rip off
Anyway we receive health check video , needs new front discs / rear discs / front pads + apparently a front tyre is getting close to needing changing , £1,140 , front discs £400 , mrs said ok I said not a bloody chance , trade it in & get a new car , that will get you through to retirement , thno they don’t have CD players
Ford then come back with 10% reduction , mrs yes , me no ( mrs is getting agitated with me ) , apparently her car , her money , Ford then come back with we will do it for £650 , mrs says yes & you can shut up Ed
It’s years since I’ve fitted / needed discs , think last ones I’ve changed were on a Astra gte 16v , is £400 the price these days ( I assume inc fitting )
Is it her driving , the cars done 23,000 miles , surely she shouldn’t be wearing out front / rear discs in 20,000 miles , I’ve replaced warped ones but not replacaced ones on cars with mileage that low ( I did broach the subject of her driving ) & just gold told you drive your carb & I’ll drive mine , typical women never prepared to accept criticism
Final bill £809 , discs front / back , pads fronts& back , tire , service ( small ) , bloody lot of money , mrs well it needed doing
Starting to see the attraction of pcp , just hand it back at end of agreement , no brakes / suspension etc to pay for , going to have to work sums out on it , bit more info on pcp , spent nothing on car in 7 yrs , but still £800 is a lot of money
dozy:
Final bill £809 , discs front / back , pads fronts& back , tire , service ( small ) , bloody lot of money , mrs well it needed doing
Starting to see the attraction of pcp , just hand it back at end of agreement , no brakes / suspension etc to pay for , going to have to work sums out on it , bit more info on pcp , spent nothing on car in 7 yrs , but still £800 is a lot of money
Brake components and tyres etc are consumable items not covered by even a new car warranty.Discs and pads also get eaten even worse by torque converter auto transmission cars where it isn’t as simple to maximise the use of engine braking as opposed to a mechanically linked manual box under the driver’s control.
As for PCP the sums don’t add up.IE you pay the full interest on the outstanding total cost of the car after any deposit, regardless within the monthly payments.Even though you’re going to hand it back with nothing then to show for all that interest that you’ve paid out, unlike HP.
HP with minimum deposit over the maximum possible period to minimise monthly payments then trade it in within a couple of years long before it’s paid off with finance settlement being part of trade in the deal.You only pay the interest as and so long as you keep the car the interest payments cease when you get rid of the car.
Whereas you pay all the interest in full with PCP whether you keep the car or not.
Somehow i doubt the discs needed replacing at all but upselling bonus guv, did they measure the disc thickness and inform you of measuremnts and the minimum required for that car? i can almost guarantee now they didn’t.
Typically most discs will see out two sets of pads, sometimes rears in particular get badly pitted with rust and need changing before worn out.
I still do all my own servicing and routine maintenance on the cars, not whipping engines and gearboxes out any more if required but otherwise the cars never go to a garage other than for MOT test or aircon regas.
I phoned my local Ford dealer to price a repair .They said bring it in and we’ll charge you an hour to assess it at £126.I had already told them what the fault was .Decided not to bother.I’ll do it myself.
dozy:
Final bill £809 , discs front / back , pads fronts& back , tire , service ( small ) , bloody lot of money , mrs well it needed doing
Starting to see the attraction of pcp , just hand it back at end of agreement , no brakes / suspension etc to pay for , going to have to work sums out on it , bit more info on pcp , spent nothing on car in 7 yrs , but still £800 is a lot of money
I’ve got my MG on PCP and glad I did as we rob you for any car offered £15k on a not year old with only 4500 on clock car was lost price £30k new
Most main dealers are a rip off on servicing and labour charges - those fancy showrooms with all those hundreds of lights on 24/7 need to be paid for somehow. Go to your cheap and cheerful back-street guy whose old ex-army hut was paid for decades ago, gets his parts at a good discount from Europarts or some other local factor, and charges you about a quarter of what the dealer does, and he will probably have had the same mechanic (who knows his stuff) for years. Or do it yourself, you’ve learned something, saved yourself pots of money and you have the absolute satisfaction of knowing exactly what’s been done, and who to blame if it’s wrong.
Discs and pads may be low hanging fruit in terms of an easy markup on the parts and some labour charges. However, it is possible they are showing serious wear, cracking etc. The inside face is usually the worst (have you had a look lately?).
If the car is a few years old, have you considered the calipers may be sticking? You would hope that any main dealer would be giving the calipers a good clean and lubricating the pins and the piston. If this kind of thing isn’t done, then hey presto, another bill 3-4 years down the line (even on low mileage); new discs and pads again.
Noremac:
Discs and pads may be low hanging fruit in terms of an easy markup on the parts and some labour charges. However, it is possible they are showing serious wear, cracking etc. The inside face is usually the worst (have you had a look lately?).
If the car is a few years old, have you considered the calipers may be sticking? You would hope that any main dealer would be giving the calipers a good clean and lubricating the pins and the piston. If this kind of thing isn’t done, then hey presto, another bill 3-4 years down the line (even on low mileage); new discs and pads again.
As discs and pads wear it means that more of the caliper piston has to be exposed to salt and weather for longer to compensate for the longer distance.Which corrodes the surface of the piston which then results in seized pistons and caliper damage.Ideally it’s best to maintain pads and discs as close to their new state as possible to extend the life of calipers.
Just like regular replacement of drums and brake shoes extended the life of hydraulic brake cylinders for the same reason before.
Noremac:
Discs and pads may be low hanging fruit in terms of an easy markup on the parts and some labour charges. However, it is possible they are showing serious wear, cracking etc. The inside face is usually the worst (have you had a look lately?).
If the car is a few years old, have you considered the calipers may be sticking? You would hope that any main dealer would be giving the calipers a good clean and lubricating the pins and the piston. If this kind of thing isn’t done, then hey presto, another bill 3-4 years down the line (even on low mileage); new discs and pads again.
Main Dealers will happily give your calipers a refresh (assuming they have someone who knows how to do it), but at a pretty price. Main dealer service now is all about the bare minimum despite the health check rubbish which is just selling. Not worth the stamp imo.
My car has had advisories for the past 2 years on the rear discs They’re fine!
Noremac:
Discs and pads may be low hanging fruit in terms of an easy markup on the parts and some labour charges. However, it is possible they are showing serious wear, cracking etc. The inside face is usually the worst (have you had a look lately?).
If the car is a few years old, have you considered the calipers may be sticking? You would hope that any main dealer would be giving the calipers a good clean and lubricating the pins and the piston. If this kind of thing isn’t done, then hey presto, another bill 3-4 years down the line (even on low mileage); new discs and pads again.
As discs and pads wear it means that more of the caliper piston has to be exposed to salt and weather for longer to compensate for the longer distance.Which corrodes the surface of the piston which then results in seized pistons and caliper damage.Ideally it’s best to maintain pads and discs as close to their new state as possible to extend the life of calipers.
Just like regular replacement of drums and brake shoes extended the life of hydraulic brake cylinders for the same reason before.
When should discs & pads best be replaced?
Like life cycle wise… 50%…?
Carryfast:
As discs and pads wear it means that more of the caliper piston has to be exposed to salt and weather for longer to compensate for the longer distance.Which corrodes the surface of the piston which then results in seized pistons and caliper damage.Ideally it’s best to maintain pads and discs as close to their new state as possible to extend the life of calipers.
Just like regular replacement of drums and brake shoes extended the life of hydraulic brake cylinders for the same reason before.
It could be exposed if the caliper piston seal / boot has deteriorated.
In theory the self-adjustment in drums should prevent issues with the brake cylinder, until the wear is at an advanced state. The kits come with shoes, all the various springs and the cylinders. The drums may need machined to get rid of an edge that appears on them.
I use a specialist Rover garage to work on my 75, bloke called Gavin who was MG Rover trained, garage is called MG Rover Repair. Behind the old Peugeot/Rootes factory on the A45 coming into Coventry. Bloke is superb, there’s absolutely nothing he doesn’t know about Rovers. He charges £50 an hour labour and because his turnover is under the threshold, no VAT.
The premises is nothing to look at but I really don’t care to pay for luxurious surroundings when I get my car looked at.
Noremac:
Discs and pads may be low hanging fruit in terms of an easy markup on the parts and some labour charges. However, it is possible they are showing serious wear, cracking etc. The inside face is usually the worst (have you had a look lately?).
If the car is a few years old, have you considered the calipers may be sticking? You would hope that any main dealer would be giving the calipers a good clean and lubricating the pins and the piston. If this kind of thing isn’t done, then hey presto, another bill 3-4 years down the line (even on low mileage); new discs and pads again.
As discs and pads wear it means that more of the caliper piston has to be exposed to salt and weather for longer to compensate for the longer distance.Which corrodes the surface of the piston which then results in seized pistons and caliper damage.Ideally it’s best to maintain pads and discs as close to their new state as possible to extend the life of calipers.
Just like regular replacement of drums and brake shoes extended the life of hydraulic brake cylinders for the same reason before.
When should discs & pads best be replaced?
Like life cycle wise… 50%…?
I’ve always gone by the rule that pads are replaced at around the 30-40% worn mark and discs if there’s any noticeable step and wear.
Carryfast:
As discs and pads wear it means that more of the caliper piston has to be exposed to salt and weather for longer to compensate for the longer distance.Which corrodes the surface of the piston which then results in seized pistons and caliper damage.Ideally it’s best to maintain pads and discs as close to their new state as possible to extend the life of calipers.
Just like regular replacement of drums and brake shoes extended the life of hydraulic brake cylinders for the same reason before.
It could be exposed if the caliper piston seal / boot has deteriorated.
In theory the self-adjustment in drums should prevent issues with the brake cylinder, until the wear is at an advanced state. The kits come with shoes, all the various springs and the cylinders. The drums may need machined to get rid of an edge that appears on them.
Any wear in pads and discs or drums and shoes has to be compensated for by more travel of the brake piston outside of the caliper/cylinder seals.
Carryfast:
Any wear in pads and discs or drums and shoes has to be compensated for by more travel of the brake piston outside of the caliper/cylinder seals.
The mechanism by which the wear is compensated for is different.
The caliper is constantly unwinding while more and more fluid builds up in the reservoir. Yes, the piston is further out, but the amount it retracts after braking is the same. If the seal is intact, there shouldn’t be any ingress.
In brake drums, there is a ratcheting mechanism that keeps the shoes a close distance from the drum. The cylinder would only suffer at extreme wear.
Suggesting you would replace drums to preserve the cylinders is an extreme false economy IMHO.
Carryfast:
Any wear in pads and discs or drums and shoes has to be compensated for by more travel of the brake piston outside of the caliper/cylinder seals.
The mechanism by which the wear is compensated for is different.
The caliper is constantly unwinding while more and more fluid builds up in the reservoir. Yes, the piston is further out, but the amount it retracts after braking is the same. If the seal is intact, there shouldn’t be any ingress.
In brake drums, there is a ratcheting mechanism that keeps the shoes a close distance from the drum. The cylinder would only suffer at extreme wear.
Suggesting you would replace drums to preserve the cylinders is an extreme false economy IMHO.
To put it simply the shoes or pads are a fixed size’ like the calipers or cylinders and mounted in a fixed position.If and as pads and shoes and discs and drums wear then piston travel by definition has to increase which means more of the piston is exposed outside of the caliper or cylinder seals for longer.
I’m not seeing any false economy in minimising that effect by maintaining brake component clearances to as near new as possible .It’s certainly how I’ve always run my own cars from the start on my Dad’s advice.
I’ve bought plenty of cars with knackered sticking/leaking calipers and pistons but no further problems after renewal and then regular replacement of discs/drums/pads/shoes.In addition to an aversion to auto transmissions because of their often compromised engine braking.
Carryfast:
Any wear in pads and discs or drums and shoes has to be compensated for by more travel of the brake piston outside of the caliper/cylinder seals.
To put it simply the shoes or pads are a fixed size’ like the calipers or cylinders and mounted in a fixed position.If and as pads and shoes and discs and drums wear then piston travel by definition has to increase which means more of the piston is exposed outside of the caliper or cylinder seals for longer.
I’m not seeing any false economy in minimising that effect by maintaining brake component clearances to as near new as possible .It’s certainly how I’ve always run my own cars from the start on my Dad’s advice.
I’ve bought plenty of cars with knackered sticking/leaking calipers and pistons but no further problems after renewal and then regular replacement of discs/drums/pads/shoes.In addition to an aversion to auto transmissions because of their often compromised engine braking.
Have you ever worked on a typical sliding caliper most cars use? There is a bellowed dust seal and only about 2 mm of the piston is ever exposed. Every caliper I have had since a mk3 ■■■■■■ has been this design. Granted I can’t comment on older designs or fixed calipers with opposing pistons.
They’re fine!