Advice re brakes on a car please

HurdyGurdy

also posted in motoring forum.


My daughter was recently told (12th September) by her ex (and the father of her 17 month old daughter) that he experienced "total brake failure" on his way to work. He then told her that the handbrake light had been on for a week or so before that and that the rear brakes "had been gone" for a week or so prior to that. He had had the baby in his car on a few occasions during that time. My daughter was furious and told him that until she had seen written proof that the brakes had been fixed by a qualified mechanic, she would not allow the baby to go in the car with him.

He has since purchased the spare parts himself and taken them to a garage to be fitted. He has provided my daughter with a copy of a receipt from SuperTyres saying that they had fitted new rear brake shoes. There was no mention of any work being done on the front brakes.

He has consistently maintained that as "I know how to slow my engine down using the engine" the car, and therefore the baby, have been perfectly safe, and there was never any danger that the car could not have been slowed down or done an emergency stop.

My daughter telephoned the local council's fleet transport section, where they do MOTs for the general public and asked them if a car was presented for an MOT with the front brakes not working, just the rear brakes, would it pass the MOT. She was told it would not.

She then said to the ex that she was still not satisfied that the car was safe, and has received this reply:

"To be clear, as I said to you at the time the front breaks lost compression due to the break fluid leaking into the rear breaks, there is no repair to the front break as none was required, the break fluid merely needed topping up once the repair had been completed. There is no paperwork to prove a job that was not required. If you truely feel the need call supertyres and quote the invoice number "

We are completely clueless as to mechanics, so can I ask if what he has said is correct? Wouldn't SuperTyres have said something about topping up brake fluid on the worksheet/receipt?

My daughter doesn't want to prevent contact between her ex and the baby, but will not allow him to take the baby unless she has proof that his car is safe. He wants to see the baby tomorrow and my daughter has said (following legal advice) that unless she sees written proof that the front brakes are fully working, she won't allow the baby to go with him. She has asked if he would be prepared to leave his car keys with her, and take the baby either just in the pushchair, or by public transport - the above was the response to this.

Is my daughter being OTT (due to ignorance, not any wish to stop contact) or is what he said correct? He is asking for contact at 9am tomorrow, so really need to know asap.

Thanks

daska

Not being an engineer I can't answer the question as to whether what he claims is accurate or not but in general my view would be that if he genuinely cared he would be finding a way to demonstrate his car's safety - and maybe that's exactly what he's tried to do by suggesting that she call supertyres. Unfortunately she can't know if the mechanic who will be called on to answer the question is his new best mate and will happily cover for him or, equally possibly, is totally legit.

If the legal advice your daughter has had is to refuse contact without written proof then, in the absence of him refusing to hand his keys over or get an MOT I know there's no way any of my children (at either 17 months or 17 years) would be going with my consent (though obviously my 17 year old might have different ideas LOL).

prowla

Since it's a cross-posting, should there be a merge request?

HurdyGurdy

If it really distresses you, prowla, feel free to request a merge. I posted in both sections as it relates to both areas - cars/motoring and also how my daughter should respond to her ex regarding contact with their baby.

axomoxia

I had a very similar issue with the brakes on my car. The rear drums where replaced, as was the hydraulic fluid and appropriate solid brake lines, there was no need to do anything (other than bleeding them) to the front brakes.

What he said is correct.

geoffky

Sounds right... I have just done the same..bought pads myself and got a garage to fit them..The back did not need doing so i still have them...and the brake fluid explanation is right..

Fire_Fox

You aren't being clear, what method of communication has been used to report the total break failure and subsequent communication? You're using quotation marks so I am guessing e-mail? If so take it to a solicitor or social services.

Peanuckle

IIRC garages are supposed to report/prevent a car leaving if it's unsafe to drive?

andygb

Very strange that the handbrake light has constantly been on, because this would only indicate that the handbrake was on - not a failure of the system (not in any of the hundred or so cars which I have driven anyway).
Is the guy some kind of idiot, even telling your daughter that he has had "total brake failure" when your grand daughter was in the car? Most of us would just get the car fixed ASAP and say nothing about it, after all, there cannot be many people on the planet who have not had problems with their car.

HurdyGurdy

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You aren't being clear, what method of communication has been used to report the total break failure and subsequent communication? You're using quotation marks so I am guessing e-mail? If so take it to a solicitor or social services.

He told her personally that the brakes had failed completely. Then when my daughter asked for proof that the brakes had been fixed, before she would allow him to take the baby in the car again, this led to a big argument, during which he assaulted her. She called the police, and that's when he stopped having direct contact with her.

He had a friend contact her via Facebook, who told my daughter that her ex no longer wanted to contact her directly or to see her, and to tell my daughter to take the baby to the place her ex works at, where another friend would collect the baby and take her to the father.

When she spoke to a solicitor, he said that having a third party to collect/drop off the baby was reasonable - involving yet another friend to make the arrangements was not.

So my daughter wrote to him, asking for the proof that the car had been fixed. That is when he asked her to set up the new email account for him to use to contact her.

Sorry - all a bit convoluted. And very sad, as it means that he hasn't seen the baby for almost two weeks.

My daughter really isn't being deliberately awkward. In fact she is very keen for him to have the baby again, as that is the only time she gets a bit of a break. Much as she loves her baby, she does need a bit of chill-out time. I can't help as I work full time, so by the time I finish work, and got to her flat, it's the baby's tea/bath/bed routine, so no real break time.

clearingout

I understand your concern and as a divorced parent with an ex who is less than co-operative, I know how difficult it can be.

Does your daughter really believe he would be driving himself around in a car with no brakes at all? Would he really put his child into such a car?

I know what ex's can be capable of and I know that sometimes, getting at their ex is more important than the needs of the child in a particular moment...but it's quite another thing putting yourself at risk in a vehicle that will go over 70mph without a working stopping device, isn't it?!!!

She's seen the receipt. I think it would be reasonable to assume that if the car were considered unfit for use, the garage wouldn't have allowed it to be removed (happened to me once!). I would look at re-establishing contact as soon as possible.