MOT Fail - What sort of price am I looking at for this repair? 10 January at 2:05PM in Motoring 4 replies 373 views

Julian888

Hello there,

My car (SEAT Ibiza 1.2) just failed an MOT for this one thing:

"Brakes imbalanced across an axle front"

The guy told me he doesn't know if I need new brake pads, or if the imbalance can just fixed alone. He said he'll let me know later today. Looking on Google the prices for new front pads range from £105-240... so not very helpful. Also couldn't find anything on just fixing the imbalance.

Can anybody tell me what a good price is? I need to pass this MOT ASAP so ideally I'd like keep it at this garage. However, I will take it elsewhere if the price is too much. I'm just not really sure what a good price is.

Cheers

Goudy

It depends on what is causing the imbalance.
There could be a cope of reasons for it, but without seeing it and stripping the brakes down it's hard to tell.

Without looking it could be new pads and discs.
It could be a seized caliper piston problem or a brake pipe or master cylinder or a combination of all of them.
Or could be something simple like the pins the capliers float on are covering in crud and need a clean and a dab of high temp grease.

Some jobs require parts and labour, some just labour, so getting a idea of price before anyone knows what the problem is isn't that simple.

You will probably find different parts listed for the Ibiza brakes.
There are different aftermarket brands but SEAT also fitted two different OEM braking systems to them, Lucas and Teves, so finding prices for parts isn't straight forward either.

Ebe_Scrooge

Julian888 said:

Looking on Google the prices for new front pads range from £105-240

I'd be mightily surprised if that were the case - pads are more like £20-£30, something of that order.  The price you've quoted sounds more like pads plus discs.  Stick your registration number into Euro Car Parts to get an idea of what the parts will cost.

So, if it is just pads that are needed then it's cheap.  If pads plus discs are needed, it's still not going to break the bank.  But as Goudy says, there are many reason for a brake imbalance, so you'll be better off waiting until the mechanic has had a look and then he'll know what needs doing.

Julian888

Thank you for the responses.

Flight3287462

OP just get the garage it is at to have a look and report back then get them to the job.  Taking it away and coming back is pain and does not engender any loyalty.  If you think they are too expensive then don't go back.

If he says it needs discs as well ask him why, and he should be able to give you a clear explanation.  How old is the car and when last were the discs change?