Corrosion and pitting on discs

[GoneAnon]

My wife has a W205 C200 Sport saloon that is just 2 years old with less than 18,000 miles. Recently there's been a vibration when braking and the local MB garage say all 4 discs are pitted and corroded.

She doesn't do a lot of miles and the car lives outdoors, but her previous A-Class had no such problems.

£750 sounded like a lot of money for 4 discs and pads so I said I'd shop around and would MB contribute? The answer back is No, due to the age and mileage (so much for the 3 year unlimited mileage warranty, then!) but they did reduce the quote to £651.

So, am I wrong to think this isn't "normal"?
Is it worth getting a price from our trusted local indy?
Or, do you think the problem might go away with a bit more regular use of the car and the pads sweeping the discs?

[Mike.T]

Warranty doesn't cover wear and tear items. It would be like asking for replacement tyres because they have a vibration from a flat spot due to it not being moved.
Best bet is to get a quote of an Indy but request genuine parts and compare the price.

[ecain63]

£750 is not a huge amount these days, especially from MB themselves. Find a good indy and go that way if you feel its excessive. Or, as an alternative you could have the discs skimmed.

[eldar]

ecain63 said:

£750 is not a huge amount these days, especially from MB themselves. Find a good indy and go that way if you feel its excessive. Or, as an alternative you could have the discs skimmed.

Disks & pads are relatively cheap and straightforward to change (but make sure you have a decent quality 7mm allen key). Not worth having the disks skimmed, would cost almost as much as replacing them. An indy should charge between 350 & 400 + VAT

[J4CKO]

They are a doddle to change, especially on a newish car, £750 is mad money to spend on what I would class as a £250 - £300 job.

The I would expect the disks and pads themselves will be fine at that mileage in terms of thickness, they all have corrosion due to the type of steel used, the surface rusts but doesnt affect braking, even when it has gone crispy, tap it with a hammer or run a flap disk over it and it comes of, a bit of rust is the oxidised metal from the surface that expands to many times its size pre oxidisation, so it looks a lot worse than it is, a light sanding and coat of VHT paint over the centres smartens them up.

I would take it out and do some stops from high speed and get them properly hot, might just need that to resurface the disks, very rare anyone messes with skimming, the front disks are £49 each, the effort to skim them is probably not worth it.

I know people will say dont have time, dont have the tools, dont have the skill, then fair enough, pay £400 more than you need to Mercedes, £400 buys a fair few hours of my time to learn, buy tools and do the job, plus you have to take it in and lurk/amuse yourself whilst it is being done.

I am glad that people dont do them to be honest, a great bargaining point on SH cars, it needs brakes, knock £750 off !

[GoneAnon]

Thanks chaps. Car has been used more over the last few days and she says the brakes are already much improved.

I'll take it for a pin myself over the weekend but, at the moment, I'm glad I didn't just say to go ahead.