Corrosion in brake pads / discs

Bean_Counter

Hi,

Just looking for an opinion as I do not know much about cars.

My wife's car is in for its first MOT. The garage have been on the phone to say that the brake pads / discs are all corroded and need to be replaced, taking the total bill including MOT and service to over four hundred pounds. (I don't have any other info apart from that description!)

The car has only done 17,000 miles (a Honda FR-V). Does this repair seem reasonable? Am I potentially being ripped off?

In addition, they say that the front tyres are almost down to the legal minimum of tread. The car is not driven harshly, so how long would I have expected the tyres to last?

Thanks in advance.

tinkerbell84

Dunno about the brakes, but the tyres depend on many things.

What kind of tyres are they? Have you checked the pressures regularly (too low or high and the tyres will have excessive wear). Were the tyres aligned properly?

I buy Michelin Primacy for my cars - my workhorse car will get over 30,000 miles out of a set if looked after as above. But the tyres are about £120 a corner


Assume your car is front wheel drive, in which case the front tyres should be expected to wear more quickly than the rears.

tinkerbell84

Actually, thinking about it, brakes can corrode when not used. 17,000 over 3 years (min before needing an MOT) is not much mileage so it could be legit.

(I don't think pads can corrode though).

Do you live near the sea? That will speed up corrosion.

daveyjp

Brake discs are made of steel - they will corrode!

If the car will still pass an MOT without the extra works get the MOT and take it to another garage for a second opinion. Brake replacement is a nice earner for garages.

As for tyres - it depends on the tyre, how well they are looked after and how the car is driven. My fronts are at nearly 15,000 and they will be changed soon. Same as above - thank them and check them yourself.

vikingaero

17k in 3 years is low mileage. The car will have been sitting around for long periods during which the corrosion can spread/deepen. The FRV is front wheel drive so 17k is a good innings for a set of front boots.

Bean_Counter

Thanks for the prompt responses.

I understand what you are saying about the tyres and will be more pro-active in periodically checking the tread depths in the future. I check the pressures regularly but not the tread, so will add that the weekly check list.

On the corrosion issue, we do not live particularly near the sea. The car is low mileage being used for shopping / school run (for logistical reasons need the car) and the occasional longer run. It seems that the corrosion then is possible.

Thanks again.

Wig

You're confusing the issue about how much each item is actually costing, as you said the total cost of service and MOT over 400

You should know how much the basic service was quoted for
Service = £xxx
The MOT is upto £53.10
If you allow them to do the work the retest will be FREE.
If you remove the vehicle for the work to be done elsewhere the MOT retest fee -within 10 working days, of the day following the 1st test- can be no more than £26.55

Cost of brake discs £A
Cost of pads £B
Labour to change £C

Your discs are probably somewhat corroded, should not really affect the pads, but they might be changing the pads because when you change discs changing pads is thought to be necessary in the industry -( I don't bother).

It could be that your brake caliper pistons are also corroded which is the cause of the rust on the discs. The pads are not being pressed effectively against the discs - usually happens to rear brakes.

You could take a chance, remove the car have it tested elsewhere and in the meantime drive it a bit crazy with lots of hard braking to clean the rust off the discs. But the disc rust could be more than surface rust, if they are severely pitted it is a fail, however what constitutes severe is in the eyes of the tester.


You could phone around motor factors and ask for prices for the brake discs and pads, you will have to first find out if it is the fronts or the rears or both, see how these prices compare with the garages price for £A & £B, and either ask them to drop their price or allow you to supply the parts. Labour £C depends which sort of garage it is, a dealer will charge a rediculous amount like £60+VAT or whatever. A smaller garage maybe £40 - £50 inc VAT, a backstreet garage maybe £25 inc VAT


For a proper evaluation you will need to have an itemised breakdown of the total cost.

For the tyres, if they ain't illegal yet, don't change them, have the other work done, but hang fire on the tyres until you get the vehicle back, then at your leisure obtain quotes for new tyres, in other words give yourself a chance to save some money.

The car is probably front wheel drive, that's why it has worn the fronts quickly. Have you had the car since new? 17K really doesn't sound like much for new continentals(?), but maybe that is what you can expect, because our Punto had worn fronts 3 years from new after only 12K !!!! I thought it was so low that someone must have swapped the tyres before selling the car to us, but maybe it is what can happen on front wheel drive cars.

Ginger_Nuts_2

Is it being done at a main dealer? I would advise you to take it to another, independent garage, and take another test there. Or at least ask if braking levels arent up to the specified amount, discs and pads are not inspected normally unless they are visable through an alloy wheel, they are not allowed to remove wheels before testing. Seriously, I would take it to another garage and get another test done

Bean_Counter

Wig wrote: »

For the tyres, if they ain't illegal yet, don't change them, have the other work done, but hang fire on the tyres until you get the vehicle back, then at your leisure obtain quotes for new tyres, in other words give yourself a chance to save some money.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

We have had the car from new, but I will follow your advice in obtaning the new tyres.

Bean_Counter

Ginger_Nuts wrote: »

Is it being done at a main dealer? I would advise you to take it to another, independent garage, and take another test there. Or at least ask if braking levels arent up to the specified amount, discs and pads are not inspected normally unless they are visable through an alloy wheel, they are not allowed to remove wheels before testing. Seriously, I would take it to another garage and get another test done

The work is being done at a main dealer and I think I have missed the boat this time around in terms of taking it elsewhere as my wife has already told them to go ahead and get the work done.

I foolishly thought it would sail the MOT and hadn't given it much thought. Something to chalk down to experience as I will be wiser in making the arrangements next year and will probably go somewhere else to have the work done (I've got a year to find somewhere.)

Hintza

Brakes is a very frequent question on honestjohn.

Just to recap low mileage is a killer for discs as it allows the corrosion to build up if you are not going to do much mileage a couple of hard baking sessions to clean the discs will help.

The reason this has become a problem is that in the old days the discs were harder when the pads had asbestos in them (white asbestos that does no one any harm but that's another issue) unfortunately the pads are now harder and the discs softer so as to maintain good braking.

As others have said (assuming the cars is just 3 years old) I would make this my last trip to the main dealer.