Advice needed....Getting different advice with regards my OH cars brakes

hilda1

My OH has a Ford Mondeo.

He took it to a local garage a few months ago for a MOT & service. Passed MOT but told him to check the brake disks & pads in a few months time as they only appeared to have a limited lifetime.

A few weeks ago, he took the car to Kwik-fit, who advised him that the front disks & pads; altough okay at the time, would need replacing sooner rather than later.

Last week, he took the car back to the same garage that performed the MOT & service in order for them to replace a tyre and also check the brakes. He was pleasantly surprised and shocked to be advised that the brakes were fine and did not need replacing. For info, the engineer did not remove one of the front tyres so I am not totally convinced that a proper brake check was performed. Please advise me if I am incorrect.

For info, he has got written confirmation with the garage that the brakes are okay and that they didn't remove the front tyre after I kept nugging hime to write to them.

I have now insisted that we get a 3rd-party (i.e. Halfords) to peform a third check on the brakes to ascertain who is right.

My query is what action, if any, can we take against the local company if Halfords confirm that the brakes need replacing ? and also whether we should attempt to barter a deal with the local company ? After all, we can just get another indepedent company to perform a brake test after they have fixed the brakes.

Any advise would be welcome.

colino

As you don't do your own repairs, find a friendly, local independant to take a look. Don't waste everyones time by complaining as it appears odd that you waited so long to follow either of the techs advice, they will ask if you wanted the pads and discs to grind before you changed them.

hilda1

colino wrote: »

As you don't do your own repairs, find a friendly, local independant to take a look. Don't waste everyones time by complaining as it appears odd that you waited so long to follow either of the techs advice, they will ask if you wanted the pads and discs to grind before you changed them.

Please read my OP again.

My OH did not wait for 'so long to' replace them. The MOT & Service garage advised him to get the brakes & pads checked within 6 months, which he has done as advised previously.

Any helpful advice would be welcome.

Horseunderwater

Find somewhere that has a proper rolling road and ask them to do a road percentage test as they would for an MOT. They test front and back to assess performance of each side and how they each perform. They will also note any squeals as these would be audible.
Then ask them to do a proper visual of the front brakes and to show you their condition. They will show you any odd pattern wear and tell you what if anything needs to be replaced. If brakes bind on then you could overheat a tyre and get a blow out, which if you are going down a motorway or similar could be nasty. Places like kwik fit are out to sell you stuff, so get car savvy.
Frances

Hintza

When you hear metal on metal it is time for discs and pads

Take a wheel off yorself and have a look.

hilda1

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Places like kwik fit are out to sell you stuff, so get car savvy.
Frances

Thanks for your posting and I totally agree...that is why my OH has taken our car to the garage that did MOT & service and will be taking it to Halfords next week; all within the 6 month timeline as advised by this garage a few months ago. It is also why I have requested advice on this forum as per this thread.

By the way, do you or anyone else know whether a brake check can be performed adequately without removing one of the front tyres ?

Hintza

hilda1 wrote: »

By the way, do you or anyone else know whether a brake check can be performed adequately without removing one of the front tyres ?

Youu might see from the back (ramp?) but it'sonly a 5 minute job to whip a wheel off.

hilda1

Thanks but he was constantly watching the engineer and is adamant that they didn't remove the tyre when performing the brake check. He also mentioned this in the written correpondece as referenced in my OP and the garage have never (to date) contradicated, debated or argued this.

Edit.....Sorry just reread your post and seen the word 'might'.

Lithian

Original garage noticed the pads getting low, advised checking. This is a very sensible thing to do! Without knowing the driving style, route and cargo your car carries there is no way to say with any certainty how long the pads will last. 5mm might last someone 18 months, it might last a taxi driver 3 months.

Lets just ignore kwik-fit.

You then take it back to the same garage and there is still wear on the pads, you have used less than the original mechanic thought… there is nothing wrong with this scenario. It sounds like an honest mechanic here who isn't trying to rip you off and you want to take action against them?

And yes, you can see the pads through most alloys.

If you take it to halfords and they suggest they do need changing, are they right? or does the dude get commission on a sale of new pads that might make him suggest that perfectly fine pads should be changed early?

forgotmyname

They didnt take the one wheel off, Possible that wheel has more wear than the other side.

Had this with my car a while back, MOT guy said front brakes need doing in a few months, But as i was towing
a caravan for a few thousand mile i thought get them done now.
I changed the OS and thought, these are not that bad. But the NS ones were a lot closer to the limit.

Only had the car 6 months so no idea what the pads were worn unevenly. Nothing showed on the MOT brake test.

Luckily my MOT guy does a proper job and i trust him. He says it needs doing i buy it and do it.

lil.smartie

Agree, we can check brakes on most cars without removing the wheels, this includes physically measuring the disc thickness. On a ramp you can see most things!
I'd say that the original garage gave a ball park 'check in 6mths' as a lot of people only get their cars looked at once a year at MOT time and so were playing it cautiously as under some circumstances they could have needed replacing by now and lets face it we'd all prefer to err on the side of caution where brakes are concerned! I am inclined to think they are being honest and have said they are fine as they are, pretty sure a small business that was smart enough to advise checking them would not now send you away with dodgy brakes, turning the work away and loosing the goodwill from you that they gained at MOT time by giving you good advice and a free brake check (I assume from your OP you haven't paid for these checks?)

Kate