Cost of Vauxhall Brake Repair

PewseyBoy

Hi,
For those of you that own a Vauxhall car over three years of age, check the Master Fit web site for prices of standard repairs and maintenance at Vauxhall.co.uk. There is a Fixed Price Repairs tab where costs are stated for certain frequent repairs.

I got a quote for changing the rear discs and pads on a 57 plate Zafira direct from a Vauxhall dealer. The quote was £300. I then Google'd my requirement and found the Master Fit web site, which quoted £159 for the same work. I phoned the garage back to complain and ask if they would honor their own Vauxhall dealer network prices, which after some deliberation, they did - £140 saved for the price of a phone call!:j

molerat

Save another £110 by doing it yourself

forgotmyname

Or a local garage who will also do it for less.

GlynD

molerat wrote: »

Save another £110 by doing it yourself

I used to do that having spent many happy hours (not) learning how to do it on a Chieftain. One day I caught myself on though and decided I no longer wanted to get dirt under my fingernails.

sun-n-moon

What is it with Discs these days?
I've done hundreds of thousands of miles in Cortinas, Volvo 140/240s and Cavaliers and never had to change a disc.
It it a more stringent MOT or thinner discs?

molerat

GlynD wrote: »

I used to do that having spent many happy hours (not) learning how to do it on a Chieftain. One day I caught myself on though and decided I no longer wanted to get dirt under my fingernails.

Well maybe not 100% myself any more, I knew there was a reason I married my daughter off to someone with a big workshop with pit

GlynD

sun-n-moon wrote: »

What is it with Discs these days?
I've done hundreds of thousands of miles in Cortinas, Volvo 140/240s and Cavaliers and never had to change a disc.
It it a more stringent MOT or thinner discs?

I agree. It's bizarre. I had to change the discs all round on an Audi TT at only 40,000 miles.

GlynD

molerat wrote: »

Well maybe not 100% myself any more, I knew there was a reason I married my daughter off to someone with a big workshop with pit

As opposed to when you were doing your cake when you went to a big pit with a workshop in it. :cool:

colino

The change in brake pad/shoe material has turned the disc/drum into a consumable whereas before, if you needed to replace one, it was generally VOR next day delivery. We do have much better, more reliable brakes though.

PewseyBoy

Molerat - no thanks, I'd rather pay someone else to do it! Cars are dirty horrible things, and I've had my days doing self repairs

I did get quotes from other local garages and the lowest was £180

RB2004

sun-n-moon wrote: »

What is it with Discs these days?
I've done hundreds of thousands of miles in Cortinas, Volvo 140/240s and Cavaliers and never had to change a disc.
It it a more stringent MOT or thinner discs?

Its not the disc quality, in fact quality of discs has improved, well unless you deliberately buy poor quality discs.

Its down to several factors,

People now tend to use brakes more, whereas in the past people slowed down with gears more.

Brake pad materials have changed and are probably harder wearing now, so disc wears more... one of the biggest changes was from asbestos materials.

Braking systems on modern cars have bigger brakes and therefore apply a higher brake force... take for example my 2.0 TDCi Ford Focus... it has 300mm discs! and when the brakes just touch the pedal too sharply and you are thrown forward because of the braking power.

Whereas our older 2.0 Petrol Ford Sierra only has discs that are barely 200mm if that.. could possibly be 180mm havent measured them but they are TINY lol in comparison.

The focus also has a bigger brake servo... so you can see why brakes wear a lot more now.

Also wear tollerance for most cars, is 1mm wear either side of the disc or 2mm accross the thickness.. anything more and disc should be replaced.

Most people arent aware, but you are also supposed to change brake fluid every 2 years... reason is brake fluid absorbs moisture... which in turn corrodes the internals of the braking system, hence the old problem of sticking calipers and seals going in master cylinders, also bigger brakes = more heat and some people have found under serious heavy braking what has happened is the brake fluid boils, the moisture contained in it turns to steam or vapour.. which is the same as having air in the system.. pedal drops to the floor and brakes stop working until whole lot cools down. ABS unit is also damaged by old fluid as well.