Brake Fluid Warning - please stop safely....

[craneyian]

Driving back from 'Dine on the Line' up at Gaydon last week - got slightly alarming "Brake Fluid Warning - please stop safely" coming up on the dashboard.

Some warnings I will ignore - however this one clearly meritted some attention.
Popped car into North 1 Service (North London) - just had call to say Brake Fluid needs replacing and not so bargain price of £199+ VAT.

Reasons for the post:
- Is this reasonable price or am I being ripped off completely?
- Niavely I would have thought that Brake Fluid would be replaced / topped up as standard in the service (<8 months ago)

Dine on the line was excellent by the way. Made all the better with the DB10 announcemnent whilst we were there on the production line.
Welcome thoughts...

[steveatesh]

I don't believe, subject to being corrected, that it is part of the normal service but is an extra they sell to you at 2 year intervals. Our Porsche just went in for its 2 year service and I had to pay a similar amount for the brake fluid change.

Personally I'd rather it was part of the service, save all the internal debate about whether you were being ripped off, is this just up selling, what happens if I don't, before you reach the conclusion you can't not have such an important thing done and surely the nice service advisor in front of you is not spinning a yarn are they.?

[ds2000]

Depending on the service your brakes should have been bled, in which case I'd expect the reservoir to be topped up.

I think that's an awful lot for brake fluid but then it's an easy DIY for me...... my concerns would be:

1) Are they changing (/flushing) it or just topping up? (If the latter then the cost is about £8
2) If at the service your brakes were bled and the reservoir topped up... where's the fluid gone?

Edited by ds2000 on Thursday 11th December 16:56

[8Tech]

I believe the warning would only come on at a low fluid level and dont believe there is any system in place to warn of old fluid.

I would consider around £75.00 to be a reasonable figure to change the brake fluid and that is what you would expect at a mainstream dealership such as BMW or Audi in my area, SE just outside the M25.

If its a top up required, you either have a leak, or the pads are low, either of which one would hope would have been reported during a service around 8 months ago unless you do high mileage.

I suspect they have seen the Aston Martin and doubled the price and then added a bit for good measure.

Edited by 8Tech on Thursday 11th December 15:36

[Quinny]

Must be special AM brake fluid.....made from a mixture of unicorn tears, dodo blood and mermaid sweat..