A Brake question if I may....

Type_R

Type_R

Type_R

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My sister drives a VW MK5 Golf 2.0 TDI 140 PS.

Her car went in for service at the stealers yesterday and they called to say both front brake discs & pads were shot as were the rear discs and pads!! They charged ~£430 to change the lot.

The car has done 27000 miles. Had the car from new and my sister drives like a girl, 70 mph on the motorway and rather sedately! It is a DSG, doubt that makes any difference!

So have I just been had or can the discs/pads really die after just 27,000 miles. Is it worth contacting VW UK, as I think it is unreasonable for a '05 car which has done 27k to need new discs/pads all round!

I got the rear discs back from them to show u guys:

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Edit - Side profile pic added
 
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Oh dear, here we go again with the current craze in the dealer network. Sorry, she has more than likely been ripped off to my eyes they look find and at the end of the day if they didn't they would probably be a set of 100K disks they keep in their stores for such "can I have the old ones back" requests. Disks should not be wearing in 27K
 
Personally the wearing are of the disk to me looks fine, cant see a profile down it to see how much its been worn away. Looks to me like the disks were only being part used, the shiney area should be pretty much to the edge shouldnt it?

Perhaps the pads were shot but to be honest the disks dont look that bad :/
 
Just added some overhead shots. Any more thoughts on them being only partly used. And also anyway of proving from the chasis number of anything that these discs were actually the ones on her car, and arent in fact someone elses they picked up and handed to her.
 
There is no way of matching the parts to the car I'm afraid. I'd lay money on the fact that she has had the parts replaced many thousands of miles too soon. It seems to be the norm at dealers these days. I now take what they say under advisement and check for myself.

I had the same story from Toyota recently on my car. They estimated a couple of hundred pounds, and when I checked them all myself they were fine and wouldn't need touching for many months.
 
The only way you will know for sure, and be able to prove that they were/weren't below minimum is by measuring them with a micrometer or caliper and comparing the figures you get to the manufacturers recommended minimum. It's usually the original disc thickness minus about 2mm.

However, despite the top-down photograph being almost impossible to really be able to make a sensible conclusion from, I'd say they at least look okay.
 
I don't think I've ever replaced a rear disc for wear, they just don't have the same work to do as the fronts. It's nearly always because they've gone generally manky/rusty as shown in the pics. The question I would ask is does the pad normally sweep the area that is rusted at the edges of the disk, if the answer is yes then I would say suggesting replacing them was fair enough (they'd probably be usuable for years yet though ;) ).
 
Ha ha. Nothing wrong with them at all.

They probably gave it the old 'they're rusty' line. So will her new ones be within a week.

I've had the same with garages trying to pull one on my missus. I've even had to sign something with Kwik Fit (it was late on a Sunday) to say they're not liable because they've said the disks should be changes. (again, because the edges were rusty :rolleyes: )
 
look 'fine' to me.. Just a bit mouldy but I'm betting her new ones will be looking as mouldy as that soon :D


Although in some ways it is a good thing they got changed as she probably wouldn't do anything about it until her next service in about a year lol
 
Thanks for all the help with this. I have just found the 'receipt' from the service at Listers VW Nuneaton which states:

'Brake discs corroding (front+rear) on surfaces, effecting brake pad surfaces and efficiency'
Signed by the technician.

Sounds like they are referring to the rust on the outer aspect of the disc, which surely requires a pad change if that?

Im taking the discs to an independent garage tomorrow to see what they say about them, then calling VW UK and asking for an explanation.
 
Type_R said:
Im taking the discs to an independent garage tomorrow to see what they say about them, then calling VW UK and asking for an explanation.
Click to expand...

Save your time, you won't get anywhere. We complained to the dealer and had it investigated by VW but they always take the word of the dealer over yours and once the parts are removed there's no way to prove it came from your car.

Write it off as an expensive lesson.
 
Well, looking at those photo's its clear that there is no corrosion on the surfaces where the pad meets the disk.

There will always be corrosion on the surfaces where the pad doesn't meet the disk. You'll get corrosion within hours of leaving the forecourt. The only way to stop it is to paint the disk (as I always do when I change disks myself).

The only reasons to change rear disks are excessive wear - if the metal is too thin, or the disk is damaged - cracked, warped or scored.
 
There shouldn't normally be a wide band of rust at the edge of the disk. Simply replacing the pads will not fix this as heavy corrosion tends to grind the pad away faster than it removes the corrosion. The disks could have been salvaged by skimming if there is enough material left on them, but that would probably work out more expensive than new disks.
 
Cooper BMW tried to get me to change all my pads and discs when the car went in for a service, they are almost like new, I was shocked! :mad:
 
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