Think of a number and double it

scaredofdebt

Here's a fun game, how much do you reckon a Kia main dealer is trying to stitch me up for this little lot - 62 plate Kiao Rio 1.1 CRDi.

How does £800 plus sound?

treeroy

why are you getting an out-of-warranty vehicle serviced at a main dealer?

AdrianC

Full car set of discs and pads.
Strip, clean - possibly replace - at least one rear caliper, ideally both.
Pair of front ball joints.

Three hours doesn't seem excessive for the lot. Plus parts. And, of course, all at main dealer premium price - labour alone could easily be a hundred quid an hour. Plus VAT.

Emissions is the biggie - how long is a piece of string?

Perhaps more to the point, why have you let the brakes get to that state?

Goudy

£800 sounds cheap to me, particularly as it's obvious more than that figure has been saved on servicing and maintenance.

Ganga

Take it to an independent garage and get a price to compare with the dealers.

scaredofdebt

Goudy said:

£800 sounds cheap to me, particularly as it's obvious more than that figure has been saved on servicing and maintenance.

Oh really, got a crystal ball have you?  Brakes were done last year and came to about £300 all in, the car has been serviced religiously according to the Kia service intervals (I'm actually a bit early with this one), admittedly not usually by the main dealer, for reasons that should be obvious.

scaredofdebt

AdrianC said:

Full car set of discs and pads.
Strip, clean - possibly replace - at least one rear caliper, ideally both.
Pair of front ball joints.

Three hours doesn't seem excessive for the lot. Plus parts. And, of course, all at main dealer premium price - labour alone could easily be a hundred quid an hour. Plus VAT.

Emissions is the biggie - how long is a piece of string?

Perhaps more to the point, why have you let the brakes get to that state?

OK a few things.

The service was done as a deal, so it was actually cheaper than the back street garage I usually use.  The also gave a courtesy car which is very handy for me as I live in the sticks, bus is £10 return and takes over an hour each way. Taxi is £30 plus each way.

They offered an MOT at £20 (I know, they're going to find things at that price) so thought might as well get it done at the same time, the car has only ever failed on very minor things before, headlight adjustment etc.

Anyway, I don't think the brakes are "in a state" as they were all done last year, I've done less than 20k miles since then so not sure what they've found.

I am taking it to another garage (my usual mechanic) on Monday see what he says, I don't believe the brakes are an issue, we shall see.

They didn't mention emissions when I collected the car, which is odd.

Will report back once my usual mechanic has had a look, I am not driving the car until then.

AdrianC

scaredofdebt said:

They offered an MOT at £20 (I know, they're going to find things at that price)

What they find in a test doesn't depend on what they charge. The tester's manual prescribes in detail how everything is tested, and what the criteria for a fail is.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles

Anyway, I don't think the brakes are "in a state" as they were all done last year, I've done less than 20k miles since then so not sure what they've found.
I am taking it to another garage (my usual mechanic) on Monday see what he says, I don't believe the brakes are an issue, we shall see.

There are only three choices here.
1. The tester at the dealer is lying.
2. You got tucked up last year.
3. You've worn them out more quickly than you realise.

They didn't mention emissions when I collected the car, which is odd.

Indeed it is. Where are you getting that fail list from? The list you pasted isn't formatted as it would be from the horse's mouth.
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/

Looking at those brake fails in more detail...

1.1.14.a.ii is "insecure, fractured or otherwise likely to fail" - and is a DANGEROUS, not just a FAIL. They should not be letting you drive the car away.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/1-brakes#section-1-1-14

1.2.1.f is "Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake". That would certainly wear through pad and disc far more quickly than expected - 20k could easily be more than enough to take even a brand new pad to bare metal and wreck the disc.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/1-brakes#section-1-2-1

patman99

Take it to a local MOT centre and get them to MOT it. You might find that it passes without any issues.

A few years back, I owned an LDV Convoy and took it for an MOT at a supposedly reputable commercial vehicle workshop. They failed it on 3 things including king pins excessively worn and badly corroded brake pipes.

Now, funny thing is, they replaced them for the previous MOT 5000 miles previously.

I booked the van in at the Council workshops for the next day and it sailed through the MOT with no advisories. In fact, it passed the next 3 MOTs without any advisories (all done at the workshop for the County Fire Service as the Council place had been handed over to a private company).

The_Rainmaker

When my car goes for its MOT it runs from start to finish so that by the time Ihets to emissions it is hot.  When I had the Jeep it regenerated 3 years in a row half way through the MOT.

Do all testers run the car for the duration of the test?

AdrianC

patman99 said:

Take it to a local MOT centre and get them to MOT it. You might find that it passes without any issues.

A few years back, I owned an LDV Convoy and took it for an MOT at a supposedly reputable commercial vehicle workshop. They failed it on 3 things including king pins excessively worn and badly corroded brake pipes.

Now, funny thing is, they replaced them for the previous MOT 5000 miles previously.

I booked the van in at the Council workshops for the next day and it sailed through the MOT with no advisories. In fact, it passed the next 3 MOTs without any advisories (all done at the workshop for the County Fire Service as the Council place had been handed over to a private company).

I once took a car to a local council test centre.
NEVER again.

It was made VERY plain to me that I was not welcome, that I was in their way, and if there was any way they could have refused to test my car, they would have. It failed, with a long test of total guff. It went to a local garage the next day, and passed. Yes, I could have appealed it and dropped them in it - but, frankly, I CBA. I know when to take a hint.