Mazda Dealer & their "duty of care" vehicle inspection

Robby1988

Just had my car in with a Mazda dealer for a service & MOT, had the usual email with a video of the car on the ramp. My car passed it's MOT first time but with advisories for the front two tyres. The video Mazda sent showed clear as day that the treads were getting low so I have them booked in for replacement at my local tyre place this weekend. Thats fine.

The thing thats niggling me is that Mazda are also telling me that the car needs new brake pads at the back & new brake pads and discs at the front 'urgently'. No mention of this on the MOT.

Last time I had the car in with them for a recall job I had one of these reports and they told me that the front brakes needed new pads and was quoted £150. Had the job done at my local garage for £75 and thought jobs a goodun, but now they saying the discs needed doing as well (within 0.4mm of the limit they say) which of course means new pads as well. So, they are suggesting I bin 6 month old healthy pads and it feels like a swindle. The wear on the discs surely cannot have gone from not worth mentioning to urgent in 6 months?

Should I be worrying about having this brake work done? Or just take my new front tyres & MOT certificate and forget about it for now.

mluton

You said it "take my new front tyres & MOT certificate and forget about it for now."

If they were that bad they would be advisories. Typical Main Dealer.

Stick with your indy's.

AdrianC

Robby1988 wrote: »

The thing thats niggling me is that Mazda are also telling me that the car needs new brake pads at the back & new brake pads and discs at the front 'urgently'. No mention of this on the MOT.

The MOT doesn't remove the wheels. The pad thickness is only testable if it can be seen with the wheels on the car.

Apart from that, brake efficiency for the test is fairly minimal.

Last time I had the car in with them for a recall job I had one of these reports and they told me that the front brakes needed new pads and was quoted £150. Had the job done at my local garage for £75 and thought jobs a goodun, but now they saying the discs needed doing as well (within 0.4mm of the limit they say) which of course means new pads as well. So, they are suggesting I bin 6 month old healthy pads and it feels like a swindle. The wear on the discs surely cannot have gone from not worth mentioning to urgent in 6 months?

Or when the pads were changed last time, the mechanic didn't really look at the discs, and didn't notice they were getting thin.

Should I be worrying about having this brake work done? Or just take my new front tyres & MOT certificate and forget about it for now.

Take a front wheel off, and have a look. Measure the thickness.

forgotmyname

Buy new discs and reuse the used pads. Will it be cheaper when you take into account the extra wear on the new discs from the contaminated pads?

If the discs/pads appear legal and passes the roller test then it passes the MOT. They wont know they are 0.4mm off the lower limit.

Many years ago I had a piston pop out of a caliper due to the wear on the pad and disc both being below the minimum. It was a large fast car which I had recently bought. Approaching a roundabout at speed and no front brakes (in an auto also). Not recommended.

Rarely for an auto back then the handbrake worked enough to slow the car.

loskie

you don't mention how many miles you do. if you do 3k a yr they may kast till next yr if 3000 a month then its a different matter.
have a look at the discs/pads when your car has its wheels off for new tyres.
don't mention the brake report to the tyre place in case they latch on and also upsell

roddydogs

For insurance purposes most tyre changers won't let you wander into the service area to "have a look "

AdrianC

roddydogs wrote: »

For insurance purposes most tyre changers won't let you wander into the service area to "have a look "

That's the official excuse.

The real reason many fast-fit tyre places won't let you near the bay is far simpler. They don't want you to see the upsells that they've just made up.

A reputable place will be quite happy to show you. They probably won't want you just meandering around on your tod, but that's as much to let the guys get on with their work without distractions.

vacheron

I would walk away with your MOT pass and take the car to a good independent to have a look at the brake situation.

Last year my VW main dealer told me my control arm bushes were "perished" "critical" and "a risk to safety" and strongly pushed me for replacement at a cost of £450.

Took the car to a recemmended specialist who bought in the pair of bushes for £70 and asked just £30 to fit them (looking at the work required I could have done them myself, but why bother for £30!) . When I went to collect the car he said the bushes were like new, and that both he and the MOT centre next door had both looked at them, gave them a good flex with a pry bar and they both felt "like new" with no play or excessive movement whatsoever.

He even had the new bushes there on his desk which he said he would return to his supplier for a refund and I received my new MOT with no advisories whatsoever.

They aren't referred to as "main stealers" for nothing!

Robby1988

Thanks for the posts.

Well i'm definitely going to get a second opinion. Will hold off on the tyres in the mean time (I have a little bit of tread left to play with) until I have chance on a weekday to visit an independent. I will have both jobs done at the same time if the brakes do need changing.

I did 9K miles since the last service, so I wouldn't say the car is getting hammered.

Goudy

Someone has replaced the brake pads at the front and left the old discs in place.

This tends to accelerate the wear on the discs as the old pads wore to the discs contours, gripping the surface completely even though it might have been rippled and worn, now the new flat pads have been hitting the high points on the old disc first, wearing away the thicker points of the discs, reducing the overall thickness of the disc quicker.

At the MOT they won't measure the discs and pads, they just glance at them that they are in reasonable condition.
As long as the aren't overly rusty, leaking and pull up balanced, they will pass.

At the service they should measure the discs and pad thickness and report them then which is why you have an MOT pass but a service report that they need attention.

If it was mine, I probably wouldn't have tried to save a few quid and replaced the pads with new discs at the same time, first time, but you are where you are and need to sort it with new discs and another set of new pads, you might get away with reusing the pads you have, but I don't know of any garage that would do that, they should want to use new with new.

You might want to consider new discs on the rear, although they don't do anywhere near as much braking as the front so don't wear as quick, they rarely get hot so tend to rust up quite quickly and depending on how they are, you could be looking at repeating the same mistake as the fronts.

Robby1988

Goudy wrote: »

You might want to consider new discs on the rear, although they don't do anywhere near as much braking as the front so don't wear as quick, they rarely get hot so tend to rust up quite quickly and depending on how they are, you could be looking at repeating the same mistake as the fronts.

Not wanting to make the same mistake again re: changing the pads and not the discs, it seems I could be looking at replacing the discs & pads all round in order to be able to get it done & forget about it. In addition to two new tyres.

Don't you just bloody love cars :mad: