MOT Advisory-How long should I leave it

WLC

Hi all

Got an advisory for both "nearside and offside front brake discs worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened".

Only ever failed or passed with this before. But with it being an advisory, I just wondered when I should look at changing them? I'd obviously have my pads done at the same time.

Am I right in thinking I should just get them done asap, as obviously they will just get worse, not better. Or are they normally still good for X amount of miles

Thanks all

System

they might be ok for a while, no one will be able to say how many miles tho! I would have a look at them myself and if they look bad and the pads are worn, just change them, it's not a massive expense to be safe!

Joe_Horner

the VOSA rules on this have changed fairly recently because far too many places were failing perfectly good disks for the slightest wear.

It used to be a fail for "excessively worn" which allowed absurdly small levels of wear to be failed because "excessive" is a matter of tester's opinion. Now the fail is "seriously weakened or insecure" which is much harder for unscrupulous garages to force replacement (and work) under.

They can still, however, advise you that they're worn and scare you into work that way so the best bet is to get a second opinion on them before doing anything unless you absolutely 100% trust the integrity of your tester!

forgotmyname

ASAP... If it were something minor then when your ready. But you dont leave brakes until they are dangerous.

Joe_Horner

forgotmyname wrote: »

ASAP... If it were something minor then when your ready. But you dont leave brakes until they are dangerous.

And that's exactly how they sell brake disks.

As soon as you brake for the very first time on a new disk it will be "worn" because it's in the nature of how they work. That doesn't mean you need to replace it again immediately!

Without seeing the wear it's impossible to say whether they might have 100 miles or 50 000 miles left in them. It might be as minor as a score caused by a stone that got trapped, or a mm or so of lip at the outer edge, which is not going to affect braking safety in any way on a 12 mm thick disk!

Hence the need to get a second opinion unless you absolutely trust that your tester isn't putting the "scare factor" on. Which would have already sold certain posters a new set of possibly not needed disks!

System

exactly, have a good look at them yourself, or get a friend who's in the know before getting any work done - it's a cheap enough fix if needed. My point was that no one can tell the op exactly how much life is left on them without seeing them

WLC

Sorry that was probably my mistake. I should have worded it better. I wasn't after how may miles are left on them perse. More just trying to find out if there was a general idea that yes, they should be changed preety soon after advisory.

But you guys have really said what I was thinking, so thanks for the advice. I'm getting something else replaced on my car next week so I will ask them for a 2nd opinion and go from there

Thanks everyone

System

only ask the person doing the work for an opinion if you trust them enough to say they wouldn't need done!

WLC

Yeah it's my partner's friend so luckily I can ask someone I trust. Thanks again for the advice

pc1271

Discs can last almost as long as the car, so it's probably not an urgent matter. They're a big lump of metal that wears very slowly - not like the pads which are designed to wear out after a year or two. As others have said, you need to have a look yourself and see what it looks like. Maybe if you get tyres in the next few months ask them to check your brakes.

If it was that bad, the MoT should have failed.

Ratboy

IF the MOT said replace such a critical component, why do you have to question it? Or bear down, when you killed someone in a car crash, or run over someone. So how can you define safety, over the advice you were given, and the solution?