Been advised by garage to undertake unnecessary work.

mikeegee70

I recently (May 2015) purchased a used Volvo from a used car salesman linked to a Toyota dealership. It came with a three month standard warranty which required the car to go back there should any work be required. In June it developed an issue and the engine went into limp mode. Where I bought it was about 60 miles away so I was reluctant to travel so I agreed to get the issue diagnosed and then discuss further, although he did warn that garages may be less than honest if they thought a warranty was involved, how right he was.

Whilst diagnosing the issue, my local Volvo main dealer advised that the front brake pads were 95% worn and needed urgent attention. Concerned about this I asked they undertake the work but retain the pads for me to potentially pursue with the dealer where I bought the car.

In short the pads had 3mm wear left from 11mm brand new, as I have had them measured by the Volvo dealer during my complaint. It boils down to the fact that Volvo recommend that pads are change when they reach 3mm wear remaining.

I have been in to the Volvo dealer and discussed this and emailed them but they refuse to budge and refund me the money.

People advise me that there was still sufficient wear left to use the pads for a while but Volvo insist that they have acted properly.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

captainawsome

3mm is the recommended limit to change pads. MOT limit is 1.5mm. I'd say you was advised correctly and should have no issue.

If They never advised you and 2 weeks down the line your brakes went metal to metal would you complain they never advised you on worn brakes?

motorguy

mikeegee70 wrote: »

I recently (May 2015) purchased a used Volvo from a used car salesman linked to a Toyota dealership. It came with a three month standard warranty which required the car to go back there should any work be required. In June it developed an issue and the engine went into limp mode. Where I bought it was about 60 miles away so I was reluctant to travel so I agreed to get the issue diagnosed and then discuss further, although he did warn that garages may be less than honest if they thought a warranty was involved, how right he was.

Whilst diagnosing the issue, my local Volvo main dealer advised that the front brake pads were 95% worn and needed urgent attention. Concerned about this I asked they undertake the work but retain the pads for me to potentially pursue with the dealer where I bought the car.

In short the pads had 3mm wear left from 11mm brand new, as I have had them measured by the Volvo dealer during my complaint. It boils down to the fact that Volvo recommend that pads are change when they reach 3mm wear remaining.

I have been in to the Volvo dealer and discussed this and emailed them but they refuse to budge and refund me the money.

People advise me that there was still sufficient wear left to use the pads for a while but Volvo insist that they have acted properly.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

You were advised correctly by the Volvo dealer.

mikeegee70

motorguy wrote: »

You were advised correctly by the Volvo dealer.

Thanks.

Do I then pursue the dealer where I bought the vehicle as clearly they should have changed the pads rather than quote there was 30% wear left??

Michael

mikeegee70

captainawsome wrote: »

3mm is the recommended limit to change pads. MOT limit is 1.5mm. I'd say you was advised correctly and should have no issue.

If They never advised you and 2 weeks down the line your brakes went metal to metal would you complain they never advised you on worn brakes?

As above I suppose I am confused at the difference in advise from the two main dealers one advises 70% wear when they sell the car and the other says 95% six weeks later??

facade

Brake pads are a wear & tear item, never covered by warranty.

If the pads were worn to below the safety limit when you purchased it, you should have returned it to the supplying dealer.

You can try going back to your supplying dealer and asking what they can do for you, but what do you want? They will never refund the full retail price of pads & fitting at a Volvo dealer, when they still had 5% of Volvo life left, enough to get you back to them. The brakes weren't unsafe when you bought it, and would have passed an MOT.

As to % wear remaining, depends on how you measure it. As a lot of people run brakepads to less than the MOT limit, and you would have had more than 3mm when you bought it, say 3.5mm. then 3.5mm left divided by the 11mm new is over 30% of the original pad thickness left.

If you look at useable pad, there is only 8mm of that (11-3mm) so each mm is 12.5%, and 95% worn means 0.95 x 8 = 7.6mm worn, leaving 3.4mm of pad left.

If you run them too low, the metal to metal contact destroys the disc, as well as giving poorer brakes.

motorguy

mikeegee70 wrote: »

Thanks.

Do I then pursue the dealer where I bought the vehicle as clearly they should have changed the pads rather than quote there was 30% wear left??

Michael

No.

You bought the car two months before that, in which time you could easily have worn the pads down further.

They're a wear and tear item and arent going to be covered by warranty.

Those tiny little pads are what stops you when you brake. I've had one shear off on me at speed, due to the pad being worn and overheating the glue that held it to the backing plate. It wasnt a whole pile of fun.

The Volvo dealer advised you to replace the pads before you got into those realms of risk.

I'm frankly surprised you're trying to find someone to "blame" for the replacement of an essential wear and tear safety item.

mikeegee70

motorguy wrote: »

No.

You bought the car two months before that, in which time you could easily have worn the pads down further.

They're a wear and tear item and arent going to be covered by warranty.

Those tiny little pads are what stops you when you brake. I've had one shear off on me at speed, due to the pad being worn and overheating the glue that held it to the backing plate. It wasnt a whole pile of fun.

The Volvo dealer advised you to replace the pads before you got into those realms of risk.

I'm frankly surprised you're trying to find someone to "blame" for the replacement of an essential wear and tear safety item.

I am aware that they are wear and tear, not covered by warranty and never expected them to be, I am also not looking to blame just consistency, as the above post proves it can be put that both garages are right when that shouldn't be possible.

bigjl

It depends how you consider the west.

11mm when new but now at 3/4mm some may say that is 70% of the thickness of a new set.

Another mechanic/dealer may say that as 3mm is the Volvo recommended limit then as they get to 3/4mm they are 95% worn.

Either way the pads were due.

You could have got another few thousand out of them if you wanted to but their ability to brake efficiently would decrease as the amount of pad material decreased.

Lol, just read the rest of the thread after replying.

I agree with facade

arcon5

They should have advised on this at the very least. Need urgent attention though... What a load of rubbish.

You would have got a few more months out of them. Whether it's worth arguing though is another matter, they wasn't massively far off

Zandoni

arcon5 wrote: »

They should have advised on this at the very least. Need urgent attention though... What a load of rubbish.

You would have got a few more months out of them. Whether it's worth arguing though is another matter, they wasn't massively far off

The important part is when the car is serviced next, 3mm is not going to last a year or 12,000 miles. So the Volvo dealer was perfectly correct.