New brakes all round - that's £600 please

jbainbridge

... even if you don't know how to service the brakes it is useful to understand about disks and pads.

The garage should only be recommending replacing them if they are too thin ... or that they may become too thin before the next service. For pads this is usually around 3mm; for disks there will be a specific limit for your model of car. When the garage recommend replacement they should be able to tell you these measurements to justify their advice.

flang

Youtube is the answer for everything!
I've learnt so much from them

Road_Hog

MiddleWill wrote: »

It's my mission to finally learn something about cars as I know absolutely nothing. I'm hiding under a pathetic excuse though at the minute - 'I don't have a house, never mind a garage to learn in'!

But got to start somewhere. How did you learn?

Replacing worn (front) pads on a car is one of the easiest jobs to do. It can be done on your front drive even with a standard jack (although I'd recommend a trolley jack). Pads cost from about £20 upwards (yes you can get them slightly cheaper before some pedant jumps in) from a motor factor and as a novice it would probably take you an hour to change them.

scotsbob

MiddleWill wrote: »

But got to start somewhere. How did you learn?

A modicum of research will find you all you need to do what is one of the easiest jobs on a car. Joining the VW Golf owners club will get you all the help and advice you need.

About 20 years ago I had a Bertone X19 and couldn't afford the high maintenance bills from the dealer. I joined the X19 owners club and a club member spent a couple of hours one morning teaching me how to change discs and pads. Nowadays we have Youtube!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taGr1nUCmfY

http://volkswagenownersclub.com/vw/forumdisplay.php/116-Golf-Owners-Club

MiddleWill

scotsbob wrote: »

A modicum of research will find you all you need to do what is one of the easiest jobs on a car. Joining the VW Golf owners club will get you all the help and advice you need.

About 20 years ago I had a Bertone X19 and couldn't afford the high maintenance bills from the dealer. I joined the X19 owners club and a club member spent a couple of hours one morning teaching me how to change discs and pads. Nowadays we have Youtube!!

I don't think I'll be confident enough or have the time to do it myself this time. But I'm going to research it for the next time. I'm due a brake fluid service in April and according to them it's £109.......

Something tells me it would be cheaper doing myself?!

Nearly_Old

MiddleWill wrote: »

I don't think I'll be confident enough or have the time to do it myself this time. But I'm going to research it for the next time. I'm due a brake fluid service in April and according to them it's £109.......

Something tells me it would be cheaper doing myself?!

My last brake fluid change cost around £10 for the brake fluid plus a couple of hours of my time.

As long as you've got a decent jack / axle stands, tools to take the wheels off and some small spanners (usually 7 / 8 / 9mm) for the bleed nipples then I'd recommend buying an Easibleed kit (around £17). Very easy to use and essential with a lot of cars that have ABS (or similar) braking systems. Also allows you to clean the brakes and see how much is left on the brake pads. Also some brake pads are free to slide in the mounting brackets and renewing the copper slip keeps the braking up to scratch and can reduce overall wear on the pads.

MiddleWill

Oh I see, interesting. I'll have to look into that. Seems to be all labour charges...

Also a separate question, I'm due new tyres soon and looking into it on tyreshopper. I know a set of Bridgestones will last longer due to compounds used and whatever but - is MPG effected in anyway? Some people on forums have said they swap between tyre makes and get poor MPG but people argue it's due to not calibrating tyres and other things.

pitkin2020

MiddleWill wrote: »

It's my mission to finally learn something about cars as I know absolutely nothing. I'm hiding under a pathetic excuse though at the minute - 'I don't have a house, never mind a garage to learn in'!

But got to start somewhere. How did you learn?

You don't need a garage thats just a luxury lol. The last time I did a brake change was in a railway car park lol.

Where to learn, well a haynes manual is always a good start, online car forums (specific to your make and model) and of course youtube has some great vids. If you have a friend who is handy with a spanner ask them to give you a hand but try to do it yourself just have them there if you get stuck.

If you don't have the tools that can be where a lot of your money goes to begin, but you only really need to buy them once!! If you think an average service at a garage is anywhere between £100-£200. If you do it yourself you could spend £100 on tools and £50 on parts so you won't save much on the first time, but each service after that will only cost you £50 for the parts, the savings start to add up.

Start at the basics and build your confidence from there, a simple service like plugs, filters and oil can be a good confidence booster. Even giving your car an oil change alone can be a good start. I would say when you do it for the first time is do it somewhere out of the way if you can nothing worse than an audience when your fumbling around and every passer by is a mechanic!!

pitkin2020

MiddleWill wrote: »

Oh I see, interesting. I'll have to look into that. Seems to be all labour charges...

Also a separate question, I'm due new tyres soon and looking into it on tyreshopper. I know a set of Bridgestones will last longer due to compounds used and whatever but - is MPG effected in anyway? Some people on forums have said they swap between tyre makes and get poor MPG but people argue it's due to not calibrating tyres and other things.

Some tyres can have marginal effect on MPG some makers will claim you will get more MPG from their tyres, I can't comment on how true in normal conditions it really is.

Things like tracking, balancing and tyre pressures can have obvious effects on MPG though.

I am a firm believer when it comes to tyres to put the best you can afford. Its the only contact your car has with the road and even with the best brakes or driving skill in the world if you have !!!!! rubber on the tarmac it can impact your ability to get round that corner or stop in time.

reeac

MiddleWill wrote: »

I don't think I'll be confident enough or have the time to do it myself this time. But I'm going to research it for the next time. I'm due a brake fluid service in April and according to them it's £109.......

Something tells me it would be cheaper doing myself?!

Brake fluid change done by main Jag. agent on my XJ8 cost £69 plus VAT - £50 labour plus £19 for fluid.