MOT failure - brake pads under 1.5mm?
Discussion
G/f had MOT today and they (Audi) failed the car on brakes (front discs and pads). Failure certificate shows failure reason as pads under 1.5mm.
Despite me telling her not to, she let them change pads and discs (about £400).
Since when is pad thickness an MOT failure? I know discs have a minimum thickness but I thought the brake test was purely braking force?
Although I've not actually checked - I find it difficult to believe that a 2013 A5 doesn't have brake pad sensors, and she had not yet reached the point when a warning light was on.
Despite me telling her not to, she let them change pads and discs (about £400).
Since when is pad thickness an MOT failure? I know discs have a minimum thickness but I thought the brake test was purely braking force?
Although I've not actually checked - I find it difficult to believe that a 2013 A5 doesn't have brake pad sensors, and she had not yet reached the point when a warning light was on.
charltjr said:
Thanks. Live and learn I guess.Next time I'll check the car before it goes.....
davek_964 said:
G/f had MOT today and they (Audi) failed the car on brakes (front discs and pads). Failure certificate shows failure reason as pads under 1.5mm.
Despite me telling her not to, she let them change pads and discs (about £400).
Since when is pad thickness an MOT failure? I know discs have a minimum thickness but I thought the brake test was purely braking force?
Although I've not actually checked - I find it difficult to believe that a 2013 A5 doesn't have brake pad sensors, and she had not yet reached the point when a warning light was on.
It might well have pad sensors, but only on 1 pad, & if the other pad wears more which is not uncommon, you have a fail with no warning.Despite me telling her not to, she let them change pads and discs (about £400).
Since when is pad thickness an MOT failure? I know discs have a minimum thickness but I thought the brake test was purely braking force?
Although I've not actually checked - I find it difficult to believe that a 2013 A5 doesn't have brake pad sensors, and she had not yet reached the point when a warning light was on.
8Tech said:
Easy rip off to tell someone that their brakes are dangerous and need doing immediately to get the work during an MOT.
That should have been a £200 job at most and I bet the discs were still serviceable, so really just an £80 job.
Depends on the parts they put in. I’d agree with you if it was ECP bargain basement stuff. Discs are generally very easy to spot - a knackered disk will be wavy and have rust bands all over it. If the disk is nice and smooth, it is very unlikely to be out of spec. On something like an A5, you will be able to see this through the “spokes” of the wheel very easily. That should have been a £200 job at most and I bet the discs were still serviceable, so really just an £80 job.
As a dangerous fault, I bet the MOT guy/girl would have been very insistent the car couldn't be driven away by your girlfriend, so I can see her reason for just getting the repair done.
I see this occasionally whilst waiting for my mots to be done. Kwik fit say to drivers you'd have to "sign something" before it's taken away, but to be fair to them, it is illegal to drive an unroadworthy car.
Which goes full circle back to whether the failure was justif
I hear, but have no first hand knowledge, that parts have a habit of getting thrown away after being removed, making it highly unlikely you'd ever see if the MOT fail was fair, and even less chance of challenging it.
Tricky one really.
I would have got my wife to pick me up, taken tools back and changed the brakes in the car park!
But of course, to our mutual relief no doubt, I am not your girlfriend.
I see this occasionally whilst waiting for my mots to be done. Kwik fit say to drivers you'd have to "sign something" before it's taken away, but to be fair to them, it is illegal to drive an unroadworthy car.
Which goes full circle back to whether the failure was justif
I hear, but have no first hand knowledge, that parts have a habit of getting thrown away after being removed, making it highly unlikely you'd ever see if the MOT fail was fair, and even less chance of challenging it.
Tricky one really.
I would have got my wife to pick me up, taken tools back and changed the brakes in the car park!
But of course, to our mutual relief no doubt, I am not your girlfriend.
Ian Geary said:
I hear, but have no first hand knowledge, that parts have a habit of getting thrown away after being removed, making it highly unlikely you'd ever see if the MOT fail was fair, and even less chance of challenging it.
I hear there’s this new method of communication called ‘talking’ you can utilise to ask the garage to hold on to the old parts - most people don’t want the old bits back, but if you ask they’ll give them to you. Funnily enough I had a similar experience with an Audi dealer a while ago. They rang to say my S4 needed pads and discs so I asked that they keep the old parts for inspection. When I arrived to pick up the car the parts had been ‘thrown away’ but after a firm discussion they knocked a hefty chunk off the bill. I never went back to that dealer and have never had another Audi....
Moral of the story is don't take a 7 year old Audi to a main dealer for an MOT. Ideally, for your own peace of mind, go to an MOT centre that ONLY does MOTs. Your local council will probably have one, if you cannot find an independent one on Google. Then you know they have nothing to gain from stitching you up.
Even without any dishonesty involved, you are more likely to have a fail on a car 7 years old than say a 3 years old car, and you are less likely to want to pay main dealer prices for genuine (Audi) parts and main dealer labour charges. Add to that the fact that most women, when faced with "it's dangerous", will immediately cave in and agree to the repair without questioning if, and you have the prefect scenario for a big bill.
My local garage would have changed those pads for a fraction of the £400, and would only have changed the disks if they were beyond saving. And frankly, take the car yourself next time - women should never be let near an MOT station or repair shop. They would know about things that interest them, and shout bulls
t if they were bullstted, but generally they don't have a clue about cars. If you don't believe me, you should listen to my wife shouting at TV cookery programmes....."you don't do it like that, you idiot!!!". Cooking is her passion.......
My cars all go to a local garage that is an MOT station. They have immaculate workshops, no rubbish, no greasy overalls, no stuff lying about, but they do understand that the owner of a 21 year old Saab is not going to want to fix every little thing that a company car driver would. My wife's Saab passed this year with 9 advisories, a list I will work through this Spring in order of importance and as budget allows. I can guarantee that if anything had actually been an MOT fail they would have failed it, but that the repair cost would have been more in line with my expectations (which are pre-decimalisation!).
Even without any dishonesty involved, you are more likely to have a fail on a car 7 years old than say a 3 years old car, and you are less likely to want to pay main dealer prices for genuine (Audi) parts and main dealer labour charges. Add to that the fact that most women, when faced with "it's dangerous", will immediately cave in and agree to the repair without questioning if, and you have the prefect scenario for a big bill.
My local garage would have changed those pads for a fraction of the £400, and would only have changed the disks if they were beyond saving. And frankly, take the car yourself next time - women should never be let near an MOT station or repair shop. They would know about things that interest them, and shout bulls
t if they were bullstted, but generally they don't have a clue about cars. If you don't believe me, you should listen to my wife shouting at TV cookery programmes....."you don't do it like that, you idiot!!!". Cooking is her passion.......My cars all go to a local garage that is an MOT station. They have immaculate workshops, no rubbish, no greasy overalls, no stuff lying about, but they do understand that the owner of a 21 year old Saab is not going to want to fix every little thing that a company car driver would. My wife's Saab passed this year with 9 advisories, a list I will work through this Spring in order of importance and as budget allows. I can guarantee that if anything had actually been an MOT fail they would have failed it, but that the repair cost would have been more in line with my expectations (which are pre-decimalisation!).
Oh, and little story about main dealers:
About 10 years ago I bought a 10 year old, 150,000 mile Mercedes E320 CDI. Came with a fresh MOT.
The Merc main dealer was advertising a free health check, so for a laugh I went along and sat and waited with my dog while they did the check. Some 90 minutes later, by which time my border collie had systematically made friends with every member of staff and customer in the place, some of them more than once, a young geezer came out with one and a half pages of closely typed problems and an estimate for £1,617 to sort them out. I said thanks, a bit shocked, took the list, and said I would think about it.
Took the car home and next day went to see my local garage, 2 geezers both with 30 years experience, to find out how much of a shed I had bought.
They got the car up on the ramp and went through the list item by item.
Some 15 minutes later they handed me back the list, laughing, and booked it in for a new pair of rear brake pads, £37 fitted.
So my advice to anyone reading is never take a car over three years old to a main dealer - you are not the reason they exist.
It's horses for courses.
About 10 years ago I bought a 10 year old, 150,000 mile Mercedes E320 CDI. Came with a fresh MOT.
The Merc main dealer was advertising a free health check, so for a laugh I went along and sat and waited with my dog while they did the check. Some 90 minutes later, by which time my border collie had systematically made friends with every member of staff and customer in the place, some of them more than once, a young geezer came out with one and a half pages of closely typed problems and an estimate for £1,617 to sort them out. I said thanks, a bit shocked, took the list, and said I would think about it.
Took the car home and next day went to see my local garage, 2 geezers both with 30 years experience, to find out how much of a shed I had bought.
They got the car up on the ramp and went through the list item by item.
Some 15 minutes later they handed me back the list, laughing, and booked it in for a new pair of rear brake pads, £37 fitted.
So my advice to anyone reading is never take a car over three years old to a main dealer - you are not the reason they exist.
It's horses for courses.
Pretty much as posts above.
I love the non-pc post re women drivers!! Spot on accurate, but probably illegal to mention stuff like that these days....
I have a couple of excellent local garages, including one with some of the best diagnostic set ups I've seen. Really good bloke who can diagnose intermittent electronic gremlins in minutes!
I love the non-pc post re women drivers!! Spot on accurate, but probably illegal to mention stuff like that these days....
I have a couple of excellent local garages, including one with some of the best diagnostic set ups I've seen. Really good bloke who can diagnose intermittent electronic gremlins in minutes!
My local MOT garage mildly annoyed me last month. Car went in (20 year old SLK), has a good recent MOT track record (as in passes with no advisories). I knew the headlight adjustment was out, so when I booked it in I asked them to adjust the headlights before doing the test.
So what do they do?
They test it, fail it on the headlights then adjust and pass. MOT history now has a fail on it. No other issues at all. Grrr.
They did say it was the 'routine' way to deal with it. Not sure if they're right or not?
So what do they do?
They test it, fail it on the headlights then adjust and pass. MOT history now has a fail on it. No other issues at all. Grrr.
They did say it was the 'routine' way to deal with it. Not sure if they're right or not?
Blimey, some interesting opinions.
Firstly - the car is serviced annually (at Audi) and for obvious reasons hasn't done a huge mileage since the last service. So "letting the brakes get so low" is hardly due to neglect.
Secondly - for the smart arse - of course a car should fail if the brakes don't work. I was unaware that there was a minimum brake pad thickness, and am quite sure that it would still have actually passed the brake test.
I wouldn't take a 7 year old car to a main dealer for an MOT either - she did, because she got "free" MOTs due to getting services there and hasn't had an issue in the past. I don't believe she's intending to continue that.
Feel free to carry on - it was a simple enough question, which somebody answered fairly quickly.
Firstly - the car is serviced annually (at Audi) and for obvious reasons hasn't done a huge mileage since the last service. So "letting the brakes get so low" is hardly due to neglect.
Secondly - for the smart arse - of course a car should fail if the brakes don't work. I was unaware that there was a minimum brake pad thickness, and am quite sure that it would still have actually passed the brake test.
I wouldn't take a 7 year old car to a main dealer for an MOT either - she did, because she got "free" MOTs due to getting services there and hasn't had an issue in the past. I don't believe she's intending to continue that.
Feel free to carry on - it was a simple enough question, which somebody answered fairly quickly.
Edited by davek_964 on Saturday 6th February 16:05
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