Independent examination of brake discs

liviboy

Hi all,

I had my rear brake discs changed in February last year on a 2015 VW Golf at a main VW Dealership

My car went in for it's service & MOT again in February and I have been informed the new discs are "Corroded" and need replacement...this by the same VW dealership that replaced them last year for £300.

The car had travelled just over 10,000 miles in the year and nothing had changed about where, how or when the car was driven compared to the 3 years that the first discs & pads lasted.

VW refused to offer any form of good will and said I would simply need to stump up the cash. This from VW HQ as well as the dealership.

I decided against paying to have them done again and instead bought new discs and pads and fitted them myself at the weekend.

I would really like to have the old discs examined as I believe they are faulty. Neither the discs, nor pads, are worn so I have a real problem being told they aren't covered as they are a "wear and tear" or "consumable" item. If they were worn, or had been consumed, I would agree but they aren't.

When braking, from high speeds (60mph+) there was a vibration and this is what caused me to question the brakes.

Having looked online, VW rear discs seem to be a common theme so really I'd like to know if it's just 'one of those things' or if there actually is a fault with the discs...

Any suggestions on where to find an examiner or anybody had any similar experiences?

debtdebt

Can you see the corrosion that the dealer are on about?

foxy-stoat

Default position for a main dealer or halfords is to replace pads and discs together, even though nothing wrong with discs. If there is a line of corrosion around the disc rather than the normal wear there may be an issue with the pads or calipers.

Last time I had a pair of discs "turned" they cost me £20 and the surface was as good as new, they said one was very slightly worn unevenly.

Not worth pursuing but I would check the calipers are sliding and the pins are not seized.

liviboy

debtdebt wrote: »

Can you see the corrosion that the dealer are on about?

They don't look any more or less corroded than any other brake discs on any car... The issue looked more like the pad wasn't making full contact and therefore a build up of residue on the face of the disc, if that makes sense.

However callipers, etc. were checked and no issues and the pads have worn evenly...

liviboy

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Default position for a main dealer or halfords is to replace pads and discs together, even though nothing wrong with discs. If there is a line of corrosion around the disc rather than the normal wear there may be an issue with the pads or calipers.

Last time I had a pair of discs "turned" they cost me £20 and the surface was as good as new, they said one was very slightly worn unevenly.

Not worth pursuing but I would check the calipers are sliding and the pins are not seized.

The pads and discs at 3 years were definitely in need of replacement, however the issue this time is they say that it's "cheaper" to replace discs and pads rather than just the discs due to VW fixed price servicing.

missile

When braking, from high speeds (60mph+) there was a vibration and this is what caused me to question the brakes.

When braking hard most of the load is transferred to the front. This is more likely to be caused by warped front disks.
I would take the car to an independent garage / MOT test centre.

liviboy

missile wrote: »

When braking hard most of the load is transferred to the front. This is more likely to be caused by warped front disks.
I would take the car to an independent garage / MOT test centre.

The vibration was from the nearside-rear brakes. This is the one that required changing because of corrosion...but again the dealership said it was cheaper to replace both under fixed-price services as opposed to parts + labour.

This has been clarified by the fact I changed the discs on Saturday and vibration all gone :-)

charlotte1994

Is there another garage in your local area you can take them to and get a second opinion? I know it's late but they might have seen the trend from other VWs before. I think you are correct in that they are faulty

liviboy

charlotte1994 wrote: »

Is there another garage in your local area you can take them to and get a second opinion? I know it's late but they might have seen the trend from other VWs before. I think you are correct in that they are faulty

Point is, it doesn't matter what another garage say. A friend who is a mechanic (ironically for the same company that owns the VW Dealership) agrees they are most likely faulty.

I wish to pursue a small claims procedure to get the cost of the replacement parts (purchased from VW) returned. We're only talking £170 but it's £170 on top of the £300 I paid last year.

However to undertake the small claims I really need an independent evaluation to demonstrate likelihood of fault, etc. I just don't know where to begin.

liviboy

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Default position for a main dealer or halfords is to replace pads and discs together, even though nothing wrong with discs. If there is a line of corrosion around the disc rather than the normal wear there may be an issue with the pads or calipers.

Last time I had a pair of discs "turned" they cost me £20 and the surface was as good as new, they said one was very slightly worn unevenly.

Not worth pursuing but I would check the calipers are sliding and the pins are not seized.

Meant to add that nothing is seized, the pads etc are sliding freely and at nearly £200 for replacement parts I definitly think it's worth pursuing. I estimate around £100-£150 for an independent report but that is very ballpark.

System

liviboy wrote: »

My car went in for it's service & MOT again in February and I have been informed the new discs are "Corroded" and need replacement...this by the same VW dealership that replaced them last year for £300.

Any suggestions on where to find an examiner or anybody had any similar experiences?

This is what they'll most likely mean.



Don't bother. It is a common ruse to needlessly sell a brake disc change that isn't needed and often put as an advisory in MOTs as backside covering by the tester. A build up of dirt occurs around the outside edge of the disc and on the central hub area that looks like rust because it gets stained by the disc which has iron in it when the disc gets wet in the rain and it is that which they use to claim the discs are corroded and need changing. Once upon a time it was normal during a service to get a hammer and just chip that off the outer edge of the disc as a matter of course and get a wire brush to the hub area leaving a nice smooth surface instead of a rough one, I still do it on my cars.

In that image above which will be a bit more severe than yours there is absolutely nothing wrong with that disc other than it looking a bit shoddy compared to a nice shiny new one. Now if it looks like the one below then yeah you have a problem and it needs replacing.