Brake pad warning - what percentage wear does it illuminate?
Discussion
My car is booked for a service in about six weeks time. I'm probably going to do about 1,000ish miles in that time. And the 'brake pads worn' warning light has just come on. When the car was serviced March last year they were 75% worn apparently, so as you can tell I don't punish them.
So I'm in a dilemma now. The dealer is about an hour away so it's the best part of a day to get the pads changed, leaving me with three options.
1. Leave it till the car goes in for service.
2. Bring the service forward (the OCD in me wants to keep the service to the same month as it is a March registered car that has always been done in March. Plus the MOT is being done at the same time so want to preserve the MOT date)
3. Go get the pads done soon, then go back again for the service.
Does anyone know at what point the warning light comes on? If it is at 80% wear then I've only done 5% wear in 11 months, but if it's at 95% then I'm going to need to get them done soonest.
Also, £223 to change the front pads, is that reasonable, expensive, extortionate? Seems a lot but I've had company cars for years so I'm a bit out of touch.
So I'm in a dilemma now. The dealer is about an hour away so it's the best part of a day to get the pads changed, leaving me with three options.
1. Leave it till the car goes in for service.
2. Bring the service forward (the OCD in me wants to keep the service to the same month as it is a March registered car that has always been done in March. Plus the MOT is being done at the same time so want to preserve the MOT date)
3. Go get the pads done soon, then go back again for the service.
Does anyone know at what point the warning light comes on? If it is at 80% wear then I've only done 5% wear in 11 months, but if it's at 95% then I'm going to need to get them done soonest.
Also, £223 to change the front pads, is that reasonable, expensive, extortionate? Seems a lot but I've had company cars for years so I'm a bit out of touch.
Depends on the car and the pads. Eg my bmw 3 series 335 said it needed rear pads when in fact on looking at the pads it still had 30% of thier material on them, so we left it like that for another year. Have had other cars where you can be through to the metal within a few hundred miles of the wear lamp coming on the front pads.
Reasonableness of cost is largely dependent on the car - the ones on my Astra 1.7 cdti were £150 supplied and fitted at an indy a few years back.
The same car did 60k on the original front pads - they gave the audible screech warning from the indicator at 55k miles, did another 5k with it warning me and still had a slither of pad left so presume somewhere around 10%.
I like you was very careful on the brakes and did mainly motorway miles - 90k in 3 years - going to the service next month won't be an issue IMO
The same car did 60k on the original front pads - they gave the audible screech warning from the indicator at 55k miles, did another 5k with it warning me and still had a slither of pad left so presume somewhere around 10%.
I like you was very careful on the brakes and did mainly motorway miles - 90k in 3 years - going to the service next month won't be an issue IMO
The warning it just two wire contacts that eventually short and complete the circuit as the pad wears down.
How much will vary from make and model, to actual physical brake pad and then a percentage for manufacturing tolerances.
Basically it's a guide and nothing else.
I also don't subscribe to any mechanic or garage bring able to tell you the percentage of brake pad left or what has been used. In order to do this you'd need to know the exact starting size and then measure the current remaining pad very accurately.
Not too mention pads on either side of the disc may not wear at the same rate either.
Unless your car is something very specialist, then chances are changing the brake pads is easy peasy. No need to use a dealer for such a job, just find a local mechanic.
How much will vary from make and model, to actual physical brake pad and then a percentage for manufacturing tolerances.
Basically it's a guide and nothing else.
I also don't subscribe to any mechanic or garage bring able to tell you the percentage of brake pad left or what has been used. In order to do this you'd need to know the exact starting size and then measure the current remaining pad very accurately.
Not too mention pads on either side of the disc may not wear at the same rate either.
Unless your car is something very specialist, then chances are changing the brake pads is easy peasy. No need to use a dealer for such a job, just find a local mechanic.
)kiethton said:
Reasonableness of cost is largely dependent on the car - the ones on my Astra 1.7 cdti were £150 supplied and fitted at an indy a few years back.
IMO
Thanks. If they're £150 for the rears on an Astra from an indy then £233 for the fronts on a fastish Merc by a main dealer sounds pretty reasonable. IMO
Ari said:
kiethton said:
Reasonableness of cost is largely dependent on the car - the ones on my Astra 1.7 cdti were £150 supplied and fitted at an indy a few years back.
IMO
Thanks. If they're £150 for the rears on an Astra from an indy then £233 for the fronts on a fastish Merc by a main dealer sounds pretty reasonable. IMO
Changing them should take 45 min to an hour I suspect.
Ari said:
It's just pads (I hope!)
They will try to sell you discs anyway (in which case, ask them what the minimum disc thickness is and what thickness your current discs are- that usually does the trick).If getting it to a garage is a massive inconvenience then just wait until it's in for it's service.
Ignore the folk who are recommending after market pads for a fraction of the dealer cost, they are almost invariably awful compared to OEM parts or decent quality after market ones.
Ari said:
I'm not sure I can see them. They're pretty buried behind fairly chunky wheels.
You could always... remove a wheel. I know, I know. Stupid suggestion. But one that you might consider...Don't forget that you can get the MOT done up to a month before the expiry, and preserve the expiry date.
HustleRussell said:
They will try to sell you discs anyway (in which case, ask them what the minimum disc thickness is and what thickness your current discs are- that usually does the trick).
If getting it to a garage is a massive inconvenience then just wait until it's in for it's service.
Ignore the folk who are recommending after market pads for a fraction of the dealer cost, they are almost invariably awful compared to OEM parts or decent quality after market ones.
It will only be getting original OEM parts. If getting it to a garage is a massive inconvenience then just wait until it's in for it's service.
Ignore the folk who are recommending after market pads for a fraction of the dealer cost, they are almost invariably awful compared to OEM parts or decent quality after market ones.
TooMany2cvs said:
You could always... remove a wheel. I know, I know. Stupid suggestion. But one that you might consider...
Don't forget that you can get the MOT done up to a month before the expiry, and preserve the expiry date.
But, but, they're dirty!!Don't forget that you can get the MOT done up to a month before the expiry, and preserve the expiry date.
And I'm not sure where the jacking points are.
According to the previous MOT the earlist I can MOT and keep the same date is 1st March.
HustleRussell said:
Ignore the folk who are recommending after market pads for a fraction of the dealer cost, they are almost invariably awful compared to OEM parts or decent quality after market ones.
Sorry, but this is misleading and completely wrong!Car makers by and large do NOT make brake pads, they are all made by 3rd parties. You can buy OEM spec (or better) pads quite easily for almost all mainsteam cars. In fact many pads are even used across different car makers.
Believing the only source of OEM is from the dealer, is frankly deluding yourself.
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