brake issues on new (to me) car

tea_break

Hello,
I am new to the forum and looking for some advice. I recently bought a 10 year old Honda accord from a dealer, who had said it was in good condition. I had it serviced and it turned out it needed new pads and discs as a matter of urgency. I had the repairs done but the rear wheel was then squeaking badly. I took it back to the garage and they said it needed a new caliper so I had that done as well. There is now a loud whirring sound coming from the rear wheels so I will have to take it back again next week.

At what point do these problems turn from being reasonable wear and tear issues in an older car to not being fit for purpose for sale in the first place? Do I have a case or, as repairs have already been done by someone else, does that affect my position as the dealer hasn't had a chance to sort it themselves?

Any advice appreciated, thanks. My gut feeling is to just get the brakes sorted and then have maybe 5-8 relatively trouble free years of motoring with it - its a 2 litre petrol.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Can't remember buying a used car that didn't need new discs and pads fairly soon.
New calipers are needed because virtually all owners, and many garages don't service the things properly, ever.

If you want many years from this car be prepared to keep it very well serviced and constant preventative maintenance.

Your garage isn't doing their job very well, been returned twice to you with braking or associated faults still present.
The dealer who sold it to you is out of the frame now it's been partially repaired (poorly) by your present garage.

macman

If the 'whirring and squeaking' faults were not present when you purchased the car, as it appears, then how can you hold the dealer responsible, rather than your own garage?
How much MOT did the car have left on it when purchased? The initial 'brake wear' issue is whether the car was legally roadworthy when purchased: but since you had it repaired without reference to the dealer, that's now impossible to dispute.

tea_break

Thanks for the replies. I was just checking whether I had any comeback from the dealer over the pads, discs and caliper that needed replacing. The squealing and whirring are a separate issue that resulted from the repairs done by the garage.

tea_break

The mot is till February.

macman

Even if the car was unroadworthy at the point of sale, which you could only prove if the parts had been retained, or if the garage could produce a report saying the discs and pads were worn beyond acceptable limits, you've no comeback now, because you went and got it repaired elsewhere.
The dealer needed to be given the opportunity to rectify any defects found.
Were there any advisories relating to the brakes on the MOT (though to be fair that was 7 months ago)?
If the car's been poorly serviced and maintained then it's unlikely that the brakes will be the only components needing attention in the next 5 years.

tea_break

The garage's service report states that the discs and pads were worn out. I agreed to the repairs there and then as I thought that would solve the issue and as I needed the car for work it was quicker to just get it done. Simply asking whether you could then contact the dealer about it but am happy to draw a line, get the brakes properly fixed and then enjoy some hopefully troublefree motoring.

tea_break

No advisories on previous mot and seven stamps in book. The garage I took it to said it was fine apart from the brakes and a couple of suspension issues that might need doing in the next year or so

forgotmyname

Worn out means a lot of different things to different garages.

Read the threads about KwikFit where they were told they needed new brakes yet still passing the MOT several years later with the same ones.

You have new brakes so know they have been done and wont need doing for some time.
Although they may not have done a proper job if you now have a noise.

macman

I agree: 'worn out' can cover a large range and does not prove that the car was unroadworthy when sold.
The garage may well have taken the understandable view that the brakes were not good enough to last another year to the next service or 6 months to the MOT.
It may of course have covered a considerable mileage between the last MOT and now.

tea_break

Hmm. Just checked mileage on last mot, has only done just over 1000 miles since then, (now on 103,000 miles), so must have spent a long time sitting around in the past few months at the dealers. Well, I'm taking it back to garage tomorrow so hopefully that will sort it out.