Your car needs discs and pads sir...
Discussion
Mars said:
My dealer has been asking for permission to replace my discs and pads for three services, to which I've declined until now that the wear indicator has come on. It's a bit of a risk if you're not prepared to get down on your hands and knees and take a looksee but it also shows how enthusiastic (read: corrupt) their upselling tactics are.
... and now I've had them replaced at the cost of £900-ish (mixed in with other things). Glad I got the most out of the previous hardware. Should see the life of the car out now.Not a dealer this time - local "specialist" (they're good but they've only become local since I moved into the area).
Had a mercedes e-class estate a few years back. Had a call from the garage saying that the rear pads needed changing, asked if there was a wear sensor - was told yes , so declined the change and said when the wear sensor activates we'll change them. Service report was issued saying pads were 75% worn.
Car went back to the same main dealer - to have the winter tyres changed back to summer ones - obligatory vehicle check - 6 months later rear pads 55% worn, and Ok on the vehicle check after doing an additional 10000 miles.
So the first Mercedes where the pads were self regenerating!!
pulled up the service manager - shrugged his shoulders and said it was a visual measurement....
A joke. None are trust worthy - especially those part of major groups, I always question everything now. And surprisingly due to my experience with the local Mercedes dealer, unless the ownership changes - I'll never have another Merc.
Car went back to the same main dealer - to have the winter tyres changed back to summer ones - obligatory vehicle check - 6 months later rear pads 55% worn, and Ok on the vehicle check after doing an additional 10000 miles.
So the first Mercedes where the pads were self regenerating!!
pulled up the service manager - shrugged his shoulders and said it was a visual measurement....
A joke. None are trust worthy - especially those part of major groups, I always question everything now. And surprisingly due to my experience with the local Mercedes dealer, unless the ownership changes - I'll never have another Merc.
Main dealer standards are a total lottery. Audi I’ve found very good but local BMW we’re terrible. I remember dropping off my 3 series in for a service a few years back, Within 30/40 minutes had the usual call about brakes, tyres etc. what they didn’t know was I was out the front waiting for a very slow taxi and had my car in plain sight, it hadn’t moved or had anyone go near it. The backpedaling was incredible. Needless to say no brakes or tyres were needed.
Boom78 said:
Main dealer standards are a total lottery. Audi I’ve found very good but local BMW we’re terrible. I remember dropping off my 3 series in for a service a few years back, Within 30/40 minutes had the usual call about brakes, tyres etc. what they didn’t know was I was out the front waiting for a very slow taxi and had my car in plain sight, it hadn’t moved or had anyone go near it. The backpedaling was incredible. Needless to say no brakes or tyres were needed.
I would have absolutely crucified them and took the complaint to their MD.Mars said:
Mars said:
My dealer has been asking for permission to replace my discs and pads for three services, to which I've declined until now that the wear indicator has come on. It's a bit of a risk if you're not prepared to get down on your hands and knees and take a looksee but it also shows how enthusiastic (read: corrupt) their upselling tactics are.
... and now I've had them replaced at the cost of £900-ish (mixed in with other things). Glad I got the most out of the previous hardware. Should see the life of the car out now.Not a dealer this time - local "specialist" (they're good but they've only become local since I moved into the area).
Boom78 said:
...I remember dropping off my 3 series in for a service a few years back, Within 30/40 minutes had the usual call about brakes, tyres etc. what they didn’t know was I was out the front waiting for a very slow taxi and had my car in plain sight, it hadn’t moved or had anyone go near it. The backpedaling was incredible. Needless to say no brakes or tyres were needed.
Crikey, that is the best one yet!"Ah yes, you are absolutely right. I have just double-checked and indeed my colleague had mixed up your car with another one"
Most recent service on my Cupra, took it to an independent who said the front pads were at 45% - the car is 6 years old now so I've got at least a couple more years in these (checked myself when getting a tyre change and there is loads of life left in them and the discs are fine)
My local VW/SEAT dealership flagged them as a yellow warning (pads wearing thin, discs scored) on an MOT 2 years ago wanting to replace pads and discs (at a cost of over £1000 too!).
My local VW/SEAT dealership flagged them as a yellow warning (pads wearing thin, discs scored) on an MOT 2 years ago wanting to replace pads and discs (at a cost of over £1000 too!).
Hereward said:
Boom78 said:
...I remember dropping off my 3 series in for a service a few years back, Within 30/40 minutes had the usual call about brakes, tyres etc. what they didn’t know was I was out the front waiting for a very slow taxi and had my car in plain sight, it hadn’t moved or had anyone go near it. The backpedaling was incredible. Needless to say no brakes or tyres were needed.
Crikey, that is the best one yet!"Ah yes, you are absolutely right. I have just double-checked and indeed my colleague had mixed up your car with another one"
As mentioned, the only decent/honest main dealers seem to be my local audi. Friendly, open, fair and can’t help you enough
Bryanwww said:
Most recent service on my Cupra, took it to an independent who said the front pads were at 45% - the car is 6 years old now so I've got at least a couple more years in these (checked myself when getting a tyre change and there is loads of life left in them and the discs are fine)
My local VW/SEAT dealership flagged them as a yellow warning (pads wearing thin, discs scored) on an MOT 2 years ago wanting to replace pads and discs (at a cost of over £1000 too!).
I had a call from an Audi service reception when my car was in to tell me that the rear discs and pads were 90% worn and should be replaced IMMEDIATELY!!!!. I declined, "but they are 90% worn sir, they need replacing IMMEDIATELY!. It's fine I said. I have had the car from almost new and its now on over 80,000 miles. If they are 90% worn (and it was a big if) then I think they will get to the weekend. My local VW/SEAT dealership flagged them as a yellow warning (pads wearing thin, discs scored) on an MOT 2 years ago wanting to replace pads and discs (at a cost of over £1000 too!).
Bobupndown said:
Mars said:
Mars said:
My dealer has been asking for permission to replace my discs and pads for three services, to which I've declined until now that the wear indicator has come on. It's a bit of a risk if you're not prepared to get down on your hands and knees and take a looksee but it also shows how enthusiastic (read: corrupt) their upselling tactics are.
... and now I've had them replaced at the cost of £900-ish (mixed in with other things). Glad I got the most out of the previous hardware. Should see the life of the car out now.Not a dealer this time - local "specialist" (they're good but they've only become local since I moved into the area).
Tyres next - that'll be another £1100 - and the wheels need a refurb so probably another £500. These costs are consistent with the past 6 years. I have an EV now as well so this car is just the road trip car now... a bit of an extravagance but it's tough and reliable when properly maintained. Owning the EV will cut my annual maintenance bill as well as fuelling costs. In fact, even factoring-in the cost of leasing the EV, it will save me up to £2K/year.
Interesting the different experiences everyone has had - I kept my 2011 C-class serviced by the MB dealer in Swindon from when I bought it in 2016 (I have only changed cars 3 weeks ago)
First of all, the rear disks were picked up on one service, but they said they probably have a couple of thousand miles before the pads are finished, get it all done at the same time to save money on labour.
They were spot on when they wore out, and I got a quote from both them and a local independent and they were 8 quid more expensive (I specified OEM parts to the independent). So they got my business for that.
Roll on a couple of years and they advised me that the front disks were near the wear limit, but again, there was probably another 3k left on the pads so again get it all done at the same time. Again, they were spot on price so they got my business.
No lies, no pressure, no upsell.
So perhaps not all main dealers can be tarred with the same brush?
First of all, the rear disks were picked up on one service, but they said they probably have a couple of thousand miles before the pads are finished, get it all done at the same time to save money on labour.
They were spot on when they wore out, and I got a quote from both them and a local independent and they were 8 quid more expensive (I specified OEM parts to the independent). So they got my business for that.
Roll on a couple of years and they advised me that the front disks were near the wear limit, but again, there was probably another 3k left on the pads so again get it all done at the same time. Again, they were spot on price so they got my business.
No lies, no pressure, no upsell.
So perhaps not all main dealers can be tarred with the same brush?
blademansw said:
Interesting the different experiences everyone has had - I kept my 2011 C-class serviced by the MB dealer in Swindon from when I bought it in 2016 (I have only changed cars 3 weeks ago)
First of all, the rear disks were picked up on one service, but they said they probably have a couple of thousand miles before the pads are finished, get it all done at the same time to save money on labour.
They were spot on when they wore out, and I got a quote from both them and a local independent and they were 8 quid more expensive (I specified OEM parts to the independent). So they got my business for that.
Roll on a couple of years and they advised me that the front disks were near the wear limit, but again, there was probably another 3k left on the pads so again get it all done at the same time. Again, they were spot on price so they got my business.
No lies, no pressure, no upsell.
So perhaps not all main dealers can be tarred with the same brush?
I had a C Class from 2005 and had it service by the dealer for 10yrs. Most of the time it was covered by MB's Service+ cover and I've never owned a car which needed so little work. One time they told me it could do with pads and discs due to poor condition discs - then said they didn't ask Service+ as they were only 10% worn so must have been recently replaced and they assumed they'd reject a request to change them. First of all, the rear disks were picked up on one service, but they said they probably have a couple of thousand miles before the pads are finished, get it all done at the same time to save money on labour.
They were spot on when they wore out, and I got a quote from both them and a local independent and they were 8 quid more expensive (I specified OEM parts to the independent). So they got my business for that.
Roll on a couple of years and they advised me that the front disks were near the wear limit, but again, there was probably another 3k left on the pads so again get it all done at the same time. Again, they were spot on price so they got my business.
No lies, no pressure, no upsell.
So perhaps not all main dealers can be tarred with the same brush?
We then got into a "discussion" about what difference does it make who's paying - they either need changing or they don't? In fact the brakes had never been changed - it's just that I pretty well only used the car for motorway use and it often stood unused for days so they went rusty and pitted. They did change them in the end.
Bumping this - my BMW was in for a recall last year, and was due a service. The fixed price for the service wasn't unreasonable enough to have the hassle of taking it somewhere else, so I got them to do that at the same time.
"It needs new pads all round and new front discs"
Really? OK, I'll take a look at those.
I looked at them, and they didn't look like a problem to me, so I left it. That was the end of July last year and about 6000 miles ago.
I've just had it in with my local garage, asked them to take a look at the brakes and replace what was needed.
1 set of pads, discs are all fine.
It's fraud, really, isn't it?
"It needs new pads all round and new front discs"
Really? OK, I'll take a look at those.
I looked at them, and they didn't look like a problem to me, so I left it. That was the end of July last year and about 6000 miles ago.
I've just had it in with my local garage, asked them to take a look at the brakes and replace what was needed.
1 set of pads, discs are all fine.
It's fraud, really, isn't it?
I’ve given up arguing about the ‘washer top-up’ costs on a service, even though I know it was pretty much full to start with. I know it’s giving in, but to be honest, I’d rather them charge and put nothing in, than fill an empty one with any old s
t that could clog the washer pump filter.
t that could clog the washer pump filter.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff