Did my brakes need doing?

bmturner88

I had my car MOT'd on Friday just gone and it failed on the rear nearside brake pad being to thin, it had an advisory of the offside rear brake as well, but no mention of the front brakes what so ever on the MOT test certificate.

I have taken it back to the same gaarage Today and now they are saying the front ones would fail the MOT and need to be replaced, this just seems a little suspicious to me. 

Any mechanic able to advise if this is right and could happen? I drove an extra 27 miles.

Nearlyold

Obviously 27 miles of travel is unlikely to have dramatically affected the pad thickness.  So either the tester missed the worn front pads or they're actually OK for now. Why not politely ask the garage to show you the pads if you doubt their word.

Goudy

It's hard to tell seeing as none of us can see your brakes.

The fail are the rears, if you got them changed and presented the car for a retest, they would only likely check that the items it failed on have been repaired.

It's possible the fronts need replacing as well or they might be just fishing for work.

You could ask them what are they worn too.
Discs can easily be measured and there will be a wear limit on the discs. (ie new they might be 22mm thick and need replacing at 20mm). This limit will be stamped into the edge of each disc.
If it wants new discs, you will always fit new pads at the same time.

They can measure pads as well. For MOT tests, they usually fail if they are below 1.5 mm of friction material but I would replace when at 3mm.

Baldytyke88

Take it to a different garage?

Did the front pads get an advisory?

Mildly_Miffed

Mr MOT isn't allowed to take wheels off to look at brake pads and discs. He can only flag what he can see through the rim, or past the backplate.

None of us can see how thin your pads are. Obviously, if they're thin, they need doing.

bmturner88

So, having just collected, the garage advised that front were 3mm thick and rear was 2mm thick

m0bov

My car was recently serviced and MOT. Fronts at 3mm from the service but mot said nothing.

Mildly_Miffed

bmturner88 said:

So, having just collected, the garage advised that front were 3mm thick and rear was 2mm thick

Pretty damn low, then.

Goudy

bmturner88 said:

So, having just collected, the garage advised that front were 3mm thick and rear was 2mm thick

I can see now why it failed on the rears and not the fronts.

As Mildly_Miffed states, the MOT tester can't dismantle your car to test/measure parts. They will be able to view the edges of the pads and make a decision at that time based on what they see.

Your garage are saying it needs the fronts done (and from the above, I can't disagree) but perhaps gone about it the wrong way and said they will fail and MOT even though they have just been tested.

To be fair with average driving, they aren't going to make the next month let alone next MOT. 

Bigwheels1111

I do not trust garages, I look and check myself.

I use these to check the breaks. 2 minute job.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LYZZR2J?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1

or

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brake-Thickness-Measuring-3-Colour-Coding/dp/B0F5HNBV3H/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3K34WXKX01JFO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5FFQ2NYX1zqWFRhgOA1ZT-7UheT3TC__vLFtPljbC8p2D7xNyz_iwEsnPNvqwZTS4jsMZ5KgILxFj-cvuCP-Bo_OujE1lx7tA0m_4n0ceV8c91SSIOty2flG_ID1-HR6H9zmqSl4YqtNl1v9EMDyqHDYE1zWsIy22NPICY9mUBbN-qgNhB-wrYR-4CJ3NAY2ElUYvaUZJ-0YI9e7ohjPRxt9OXksLWz--OIFECg0rgataXccuMDg4Lpkg3y-B-VIop6FRGna3fRkteli-Jz63O6B7UZ40QsrfSXIwV7XwLo.hkx4lSNHUywZ_cRD99V_v-WsFx9pSTvv-PwreWyyZMY&dib_tag=se&keywords=Brake+Pad+Thickness+Gauge&qid=1759754725&refinements=p_85:20930949031&rnid=20930948031&rps=1&sprefix=brake+pad+thickness+gauge,aps,196&sr=8-2

HonestJohn

Seems to be missing the point of an MOT and the part good brakes pay in keeping the driver alive.