Used Car Nearly Killed Me! Any Advice Please..

Hammyman

gmbunn wrote: »

Well clearly not according to the technicians at AMS. Yes it was the first time I had driven THIS particular car fully laden, but not the first time I have driven Mondeos fully laden (my previous car was a mondeo diesel). You're quite correct the noise (and a rumbling/grind was pretty surprising. However lets see you and yours fail to stop before a crossroads with oncoming traffic and then come back and tell me its a 'drama queen' title!

I used to be a mechanic. Garages will tell you all kinds of "YOU COULD HAVE DIED!!!!!!!!!" comments as it justifies the bill. Yet the very same mechanics would have little problem with driving said vehicle on trade plates.

If it'd been a bulging brake flexi, then they have a point. But pads worn down to the metal won't result in you suddenly careering off the road in a ball of flames. They'll make a racket but they'll still stop you.

Its as bad as that sensationalist rubbish on Watchdog about the Corsa power steering failing and "we got a bloke who looks like he's got some muscles and he couldn't steer it! - YOU'LL ALL DIE!!!!!" Well when you're trying to turn the wheel how he did, I'm not surprised. If you fed the wheel as you're required to do with the driving test, you'd be able to steer it. I managed to get a 38 tonne lorry out of a builders yard and drive it all the way from S!!!!horpe to Hull docks and get it loaded without power steering due to a blown pressure hose so I'm damned sure you can steer a Corsa without it.

Do you know that 20 odd years ago, if that'd happened to someone they'd have gone "oh great, brakes are knackered, thats another bill" and the garage would've gone "you'll need new pads and discs mate" but this country has become so pathetic and sissy that everything seems to now be over dramatised and "OMG I COULD DIE!!!!".

gmbunn

Harveybobbles you quite clearly cut off that quote early! It said "brakes failed to stop me effectively.."

Theres a big difference between failing to stop effectively and an outright brake failure! I also never complained about the distance from the garage, but obviously if it was 5 mins away i would have taken it there, however risking a 3.5 hour drive would be madness! Scare tactics possibly yes, but dont forget I have the old parts which prove the state they were in.

The points and fine i'll have to just take. The offence is complete the second any part of the vehicle crosses the line regardless of why. (with exception of driving under duress, before anybody mentions it).

bigjl

After skimming the thread, and having experience of driving cars hard, day in day out, and owning a mk3 Mondeo. My opinion is that the brakes faded, have noticed similar when driving my car and many other cars hard when loaded.

The fact that the car didn't pull up in time would indicate a misjudgment on the part of the driver, due to the car being heavily loaded, or the brake fluid has overheated, which can happen when the pads are almost at the end of their life.

I have run a garage and know exactly what I would say to get the job in, especially if the customer knows as little about cars as he appears to going by his comments in this thread.

Lets not forget that by the fact that you have failed to slow correctly before the junction and therefore where relying solely on the brakes to slow you down rather than using anticipation shows something about your driving style, basically you are hard on brakes, and that you have probably driven a thousand miles since you bought the car, this is an assumption as you say the garage is 250 miles a way and you where working on a contract so you would presumably have driven up and down from home to work a couple of times during the three weeks. So brakes near the end of their life, along with a heavy footed driver leads to excessive wear.

If the pads have little friction material left they will tend to transfer more heat to the fluid.

I have had my Mondeo TDCi for 2 years now, and have done about 50k in those two years, the front discs and pads still have some life left, maybe 10k, and they had done 10k before I bought the car, every 6 months or so I strip out the pads and apply copper grease to keep everything nice and free moving, I just replaced the rear discs and pads, along with the handbrake cables, plenty of meat on the pads, but discs where past their best, this was the original rear discs and the second set of rear pads.

This shows that if you drive properly then you don't actually use your brakes that much.

When ever I buy a car I check all the brakes, change the oil etc, this is even when I buy from a dealer not just from auction.

bigjl

gmbunn wrote: »

The points and fine i'll have to just take. The offence is complete the second any part of the vehicle crosses the line regardless of why. (with exception of driving under duress, before anybody mentions it).

Erm, what exactly is driving under duress?

flyingscotno1

bigjl wrote: »

Erm, what exactly is driving under duress?

Forced to do something by someone else's threats or actions - for example running a red light because someone is threatening to steal your car.

gmbunn

bigjl wrote: »

Erm, what exactly is driving under duress?

Or by an emergency vehicle. My other half had to cross into a box junction because of an ambulance wantin to get through in blue lights. She received a NIP but when she wrote for te photos, the safety camera folks told her she was driving under duress as the ambulance was in the picture too. Discontinuance notice arrived a few says later thankfully

pompeyrich

Strider590 wrote: »

Brake pads/disc's aren't a requirement for MOT, they simply have to work!

Actually thay are, mine failed last year on low pads, scroll down to sub section f HERE.

I reckon I was unlucky as the brake wear warning light came on as I was driving to the MOT, this obviously drew the testers attention to it and the subsequent fail. Crazy really as the brakes were worse after they were fixed than before, as they needed bedding in.

Worth a call to the dealer, I bought my son a Corsa from a garage 70 miles from me, the wipers were siezed, and the water pump started leaking after about 3 weeks, a quick e-mail and he agreed to pay for the repairs on receipt of a VAT invoice.

pulliptears

curiosity here as I'm from Stoke, who was the dealer?

pinkteapot

prowla wrote: »

It's a good idea to get a fresh MOT when buying from a dealer.

How do you do this when MOT certs say "To preserve your MOT anniversary date the earliest you can present it for the next test is XYZ date."?

Always wondered this as when I bought my car the dealer gave me a new MOT but the previous one had only been done 6 months earlier.

johnson293

I've just got a used Astra from a local dealer, and that was MOT'd just before I picked it up. It passed the MOT, but came back with 3 advisories - 1 for each front tyres which the garage replaced, and 1 for a 'pitted' brake disc, but the garage said that was due to the car having stood for a while, and would be ok once it was driven regularly again - but its something I'll keep an eye on.

Just my two penneth, but I would say if the garage the OP got his car from had got it MOT'd themselves before he got it, and the incident happened shortly after, then he could/should have some comeback, as the MOT should probably have spotted the brakes being that worn. Even if they were worn but passable, then an advisory would probably be issued so you'd know to keep an eye on things.

However, if the MOT was whatever was remaining on the car from when they took it in, then they wouldn't have known about the brake wear unless it was so obvious, which it wouldn't necessarily be if they just drove it around the lot, or on a test drive.