Brake discs skimmed below minimum thickness!!
Discussion
Hi all
First post and sorry if its a long one, but would like to get peoples opinion
Recently realised i hadn't had my brake pads changed for some time since having all new pads and discs fitted a couple of years ago so after a quick visual inspection the pads looked low so i booked the car into a garage a couple of doors down from where i work.
I had used them a couple of times before so was happy to use them and left the car with instructions to replace pads all round with good quality parts and replace the discs if they needed doing but that i thought they would probably be fine as they hadn't yet been through a set of pads.
Once they had looked at the car they came and told me the pads needed doing all round and something about the disc thicknesses on the front and back and what the minimum was and quoted me £300 for new discs and pads all round or they can skim the discs and replace the pads for £250 to which I said go ahead and replace the discs and pads all round for £300 which they then went off to do.
A couple of minutes later they called me back into the garage to tell me about how they could skim the discs on the car and how it would be better and actually last longer and work better than new discs ...something to do with correcting the runout on the hub apparently. To this I said I'm not interested in saving £50 and just fit new discs please.
After this this they said something else about how it'd be better to skim them and they're only trying to save me money etc so in the end as i was in a hurry and meant to be at work I said ok just do it if is going to better and cheaper.
Now normally I always check everything down to the price of parts and exactly what parts are being fitted etc before anything is done, but i had thought i could trust this garage to do a good job and didn't want to worry about saving a couple of quid if a good job was done.
So after having the job done i started to think whether it was the right thing to have done so did a bit of research and decided to measure the thicknesses of the discs. By my measurements i make the front disc thicknesses now to be somewhere around 0.2 - 0.4mm (will need to double check this as it was a couple of weeks ago) below the manufacturers minimum thickness!
Checking the invoice they also charged me £24 each to skim the discs when the same make of discs could have been bought new for £26 each and even less on the back!!
Im now thinking the whole job should be again if they are below minimum thickness as im really not interested in saving any money by driving around with brakes below what they should be!!
What do people think???
Forgive my ignorance, but how does a skimmed disc last longer than a new one? I've never really understood skimming discs unless they are exceptionally expensive to replace - most quality OEM discs cost around £50 a pair on most run of the mill cars so what is the point in not replacing them when everything is off the hub?
morgrp said:
Forgive my ignorance, but how does a skimmed disc last longer than a new one? I've never really understood skimming discs unless they are exceptionally expensive to replace - most quality OEM discs cost around £50 a pair on most run of the mill cars so what is the point in not replacing them when everything is off the hub?
Yep, i agree completely, never even really heard of skimming discs before to be honest, and completely redicoulous to do it and charge as much as the cost of the disc to do it, but having been worn down and in a rush and not thinking straight stupidly agreed. I swear they told me they will actually last longer and i remeber even asking how , i must have been feeling particuly stupid that day!! I think the garage just want to get the money from doing that instead of paying for the discs, so they get £250 and only fit £40 ish worth of parts. Im wondering whether I should now just get the discs replaced if they are below minimum thickness..
Stupid question but am i right in thinking that the minimum thickness i.e. when they should be replaced is the same thing as what is listed as 'minimum thickness' on car parts websites etc as below or am i being thick?
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Hyundai_Coupe_2....
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Hyundai_Coupe_2....
Had upgraded MOV'IT brakes on previous car that worn unevenly and were making the car shudder under braking, all garages told me 2k for new brakes, got the brake discs skimmed instead and saved myself £1500.00, in some instances it is well worth doing, lots of cowboys out there though, see Marcus Bailey, he's the best in the business ...
OP - ask for new brake discs, tell them skimmed ones are illegal. It would have taken them 20 mins to skim discs, tell them you don't mind paying the extra £20.
OP - ask for new brake discs, tell them skimmed ones are illegal. It would have taken them 20 mins to skim discs, tell them you don't mind paying the extra £20.
john banks said:
You gave them the go ahead. I would always fit new discs and not hear otherwise.
Don't let Ed China hear you day that as the Boxster they did up was skimmed all round discs on hubs. IIRC the actual saving v brand new discs wasn't great to the point I was questioning the logic - however if it we're 20% of the price for new discs then maybe Why on earth is there this never ending obsession for people to do things on the cheap - especially when the things needing fixed are effectively the things that could save your life?
e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
Troubleatmill said:
Why on earth is there this never ending obsession for people to do things on the cheap - especially when the things needing fixed are effectively the things that could save your life?
e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
Because he trusted a professional to do a professional job. Shocking I know that when a professional gives you advice on something you don't know about and have asked them for advice on you trust them...e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
Troubleatmill said:
Why on earth is there this never ending obsession for people to do things on the cheap - especially when the things needing fixed are effectively the things that could save your life?
e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
I agree, never had any intention of trying to save money, if comes to it and i have to pay again for the whole job to be redone elsewhere then thats what i'll do. I actually told them twice to fit new discs and said I wasnt interested in saving 50 quid on the brakes but got convinced that the cheaper option was the better one!!! They also told me that the best thing to do when fitting new discs is to then skim them on the hub when you put them on to correct the lateral runout .....apparentlye.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
SteveSteveson said:
Troubleatmill said:
Why on earth is there this never ending obsession for people to do things on the cheap - especially when the things needing fixed are effectively the things that could save your life?
e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
Because he trusted a professional to do a professional job. Shocking I know that when a professional gives you advice on something you don't know about and have asked them for advice on you trust them...e.g. Brakes/ brake discs.
It just beggars belief.
And after close to 50 years on this planet - I can't believe people still continue to try and do it - and expect it to come out well.
Discs out of spec = Just replace them with new ones.
Anything else = asking for trouble.
I dispair.
1/ Professional is running a business. He is out to line his own pockets. You are the revenue stream.
2/ The margins for him are much bigger by using his labour to skim the disks - than buy new ones and fit.
3/ If new disks are out of tolerance - there is a guarantee with them - and will be replaced.
4/ Old skimmed disks have no warranty.
5/ Do not let trades try to bleed you dry by tricking you into - lower cost to you = greater margin for them tricks ever again.
Seriously fella. These guys are not your friends.
If they try to talk you into something like this - then you need to get a lot of detail in writing.
a/ Specification.
b/ Warranty
c/ What happens if discs are out of a/ within 6 months etc etc etc
Learn from the lesson - and never be taken for a ride again.
Edit - As lessons learned go - this is a cheap one. I bet you will learn a lot from this.
Every 2-3 weeks someone on GG posts up about buying a Cat D - and no-one told them... It's a harder and bitterer lesson.
BTW - Why don't they teach this stuff in schools?
Edited by Troubleatmill on Wednesday 4th February 23:12
Randomcat said:
I agree, never had any intention of trying to save money, if comes to it and i have to pay again for the whole job to be redone elsewhere then thats what i'll do. I actually told them twice to fit new discs and said I wasnt interested in saving 50 quid on the brakes but got convinced that the cheaper option was the better one!!! They also told me that the best thing to do when fitting new discs is to then skim them on the hub when you put them on to correct the lateral runout .....apparently
The false economy of skimming discs on anything other than exotica aside, disc brakes need some run out to work properly.MacD1 said:
OP - ask for new brake discs, tell them skimmed ones are illegal.
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