Brake problem not picked up in MOT should I complain?

tubbymalov

Our 07 reg Skoda Octavia recently passed its MOT. We did not have a service at the same time as the garage could not fit the service on the same day.

Within a few weeks, there was a noise while braking and it transpired that the pad was worn and it had damaged the disc and caliper.

Cost over £700 to fix.

My question is, should the MOT have picked up the fact that the pad was almost worn out and would soon cause damage.

MOT and subsequent service carried out by the same garage.

Thanks for reading.

BeenThroughItAll

Depends... was the dodgy pad visible without dismantling?

The MOT only tests brake efficiency and visible condition. A pad that can't be visually inspected could pass efficiency tests but be ruined a mile down the road.

A catastrophically worn pad should not damage a caliper but could still pass brake efficiency test and if not visible would at most be a pass and advise.

Buy new pads, fit, move on. Nothing to see or claim compo for here.

Kwik Fit by any chance?

Joe_Horner

Brake linings below 1.5mm are an MOT fail if they can be seen without dismantling anything.

It's unlikely that a worn pad would damage a caliper, far more likely that a slightly seized caliper would wear the pads faster and / or unevenly. But unless you DIY it (in which case freeing a seized caliper is an option) the end result is going to be the same - new disks, pads and caliper.

A binding caliper may or may not have shown up on the MOT as brake imbalance or a permanent drag on the wheel, it would depend on how bad it was at the time - calipers can go from working freely to seized in a surprisingly short time!


eta: Or, as Beenthroughitall suggests, it could be the Kwik Fit effect at play and a new set of pads will cure all

BeenThroughItAll

It is worth mentioning that the MOT standard for brake inspection is, at best, woeful.

tubbymalov

Thanks, and yes it was Kwik Fit!

BeenThroughItAll

tubbymalov wrote: »

Thanks, and yes it was Kwik Fit!

Well then, a set of pads is probably what you actually need, and nothing more. Maybe £100 at a decent garage who charge a lot.

Front pads on my Honda cost me £25 to fit myself, and less than 30 minutes.

AdrianC

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

It is worth mentioning that the MOT standard for brake inspection is, at best, woeful.

If viewed as a "brake inspection", it is woeful, yes. But that's not what it's intended to be. You might as well say the MOT is a woeful service because it doesn't change the oil.

The MOT brake check is a check of brake function - and, in that, it works. The bare minimum standard acceptable is not high, and could arguably be higher, but bear in mind it has to apply to brakes of all types, from unassisted drums the size of a button up to disks the size of plates.

It simply isn't possible to incorporate a proper inspection into a one-size-fits-all test. I have cars which require special tools to remove the rear drums, and which require new nuts to be used whenever the drum is refitted - and the wheel bearing can need to be replaced after removing the drum. I have cars where the pads can be checked easily (and even changed) without even jacking up let alone removing a wheel - and I've had a car which required the driveshafts and part of the engine to be dismantled, and the master cylinder removed, to remove a front drum.

jungle_jeff

Kwik Fit are literally unbelievable. How they still do this sort of sheistering is beyond me.

In my more naive days I once went for a new tyre and ended up coming back with 5!! Never again did I go back.

New brake pads won't cost £700 and neither would new discs all round. Go to a good independent garage and get some new pads puts in. If you need new discs they'll tell you to change them too. But it shouldn't cost anywhere near that figure

System

tubbymalov wrote: »

My question is, should the MOT have picked up the fact that the pad was almost worn out and would soon cause damage.
.

My question is why didn't you have the pads changed at the previous service where they would have notified you they were low and would soon need changing?

arcon5

What's the breakdown on the Bill?

AdrianC

tubbymalov wrote: »

We did not have a service at the same time as the garage could not fit the service on the same day.

Within a few weeks, there was a noise while braking

Anybody else notice the time-gap between these two statements?