Brakes fell off!

[jaykaybi]

A mate of mine had a new disc and new pads fitted to the front right of his VW Golf a couple of weeks ago by a small independent garage.

He used the car twice and could smell burning metal whenever he braked. He rang the garage and they told him to bring it in.

The garage said the brakes were 'binding' and that they needed to loosen the caliper, which they did.

Subsequently last night he had to career into a kerb to stop as, after a loud 'clunk,' he realised his brakes had failed.

Upon inspection the pad was on the floor, and the caliper was nowhere to be seen!


Legal bods - what should he do now?

[GKP]

Buy a new caliper?

[sultanbrown]

Not use a garage that would only replace the brakes on one side in the first place?

[zippee]

sultanbrown said:

Not use a garage that would only replace the brakes on one side in the first place?

brakes should ALWAYS be replaced on both sides.
Also, a binding brake cannot be due to an overtightened calliper - is he sure they used the correct discs? I replaced the discs on my TVR last year and their hub was a different size to standard meaning I had to remove some caliper spacers. I wouldn't have dreamt of just loosening off the calliper in order to stop the binding. Make sure he keeps all the parts and gets them independantly checked to ensure they were correct for his car.

[rustybin]

I would imagine when they said loosen the calliper they meant lubricate the pistons or pad carrier as it was jamming and keeping the brakes partially on, thus the burning smell. They should have checked for this when they replaced the pads as it is a very common problem. The subsequent calliper falling off problem is sheer incompetence and he should demand that they make good at no cost to him. If they won't, get it fixed and get them to pay. Document everything and use the small claims court if necessary.

Edited by rustybin on Friday 2nd March 10:44