Brake Discs - how long do they last?

[Luke]

Evening all,

My Grandparents are worried that they might have been fleeced by their local Renault dealership, who have just done a 'service' on their Scenic, and charged them 900 quid.

One of the items in question is the pair of new brake discs, which of course are top-whack dealership prices, at 140 quid the pair. There's no escaping that, afterall if you go to a dealership you pay dealership prices, but I think it's questionable whether they needed changing at all, given the age of the car and the mileage covered.

Trouble is, I couldn't really say what the 'average' lifetime for a set of discs on an auto is. My only first hand experience is my own Landrover, which had new discs when a day offroad ate a set of discs, and changing other peoples discs, where the history was unknown.

So, what does the forum think? how long, typically, would you expect brake discs to last?

Cheers,

Luke

 

[Hitch]

Ive had the same ones on my van for 2 1/2 years now, same pads too, although i think the pads are getting close now. My driving style is quite heavy footed, on all of the pedals, so even grandparent that brake at the first sign of an oncoming vehicle ought to be alright...

If they put discs on, i expect they have used new pads also, and new fitting kit.... thats a third of the 900 gone i expect...

 

[tigler]

How long is a piece of string ? Sorry to be flippant !!

In average use on an average car with an average driver , front discs should give 20 K miles , possibly more. However , if the car is used very intermittently and not very hard they could die due to corrosion in way less than that.

 

[biodoctor]

Firstly i would ask the garage for all of the old parts that have been replaced and take it from there,i would think somewhere on tinternet you will find what the minimum thickness legally is

Jerry

 

[Luke]

How long is a piece of string ? Sorry to be flippant !!

No, it's a fair answer. I appreciate I didn't give much information. I didn't want to sway the discussion either way.

 

[Iain Westland]

was that £140 inc labour and pads? Nice job if you can get it

disks n pads need replacing when they are too worn (disks or pads below min thickness), disks are pitted (long periods of non use) or the pad has scrapped on the disk (not replaced soon enough)

did they explain why they changed them?

iain

 

[shenion]

Depends on the pads.

With old-style asbestos pads, you can get near 100K on the disks. That is, if they don't warp. Will need 2 turnings over the life.

That is how they used to be. Now with cars have metallic pads and rotors that don't have as much extra thickness for them to be turned. The better the pads, the longer they wear, but teh rotors wear more.

Have seen "lifetime pads" advertised. They figure you will not have the same car when these pads finally wear out. The rotor will be too thin anyway by that time.

I get 25-50k miles on pads.

Any dealer will just replace rotors rather than turn them. Faster turn around and more money. I would never take a car to a dealer for any normal wear items. Then again, my Mustang and Jeep have both had engines replaced an most of them reworked over the years. The Mustang was the only one that went to the dealer. That was for a cat converter under warranty.

 

[Luke]

was that £140 inc labour and pads? Nice job if you can get it

Parts only......

disks n pads need replacing when they are too worn (disks or pads below min thickness), disks are pitted (long periods of non use) or the pad has scrapped on the disk (not replaced soon enough)

Yup, understand all that, also understand that the time for the above to occur can vary widely, I'm just after a bit more of a broader feel for it.

did they explain why they changed them?

I suspect it was a suck-through-teeth "ooooh they need changing" My grandfather is in his late 70s and his hearing is going. Also, he's too proud to stop and ask for an explanation, or clarification, because of his hearing.

But.....they might genuinely have needed changing. The car's about 3 years old, and has about 30k on it.

To give you some context, they've also charged my Grandparents for getting a local engineering company to remove the locking wheel nuts, and for replacement locking nuts, as they say the key wasn't provided, despite my Grandfather assuring them that it was in the car.

My parents have gone over this evening to look, and found the key with the jack and tool kit, in the boot of the car......

I'd go and ask for the discs, with verniers in hand, if I were nearer, but I'm 200 miles away, and I suspect that there's probably a set of discs that would be suitably worn, not too far away, and there's no way to prove they did/didn't come from my Grandparents' car.

 

[CKJDJK]

Most garages nowadays replace discs every time pads are fitted. This resolve the delay in new pads bedding in to old discs which may not have worn evenly. Prevents the customer coming back complaing of a bad brake and the garage having to replace more parts to get a decent brake then the customer arguing that the extra parts should be at the garages expense. Also if there were an accident soon after the brakes were serviced, the garage could prove they were not to blame as all reasonable steps were taken.
The other problem is that modern brake pads are more abrasive on the discs meaning that they frequently are worn down to or close to the minimum thickness by the time the pads need changing.
A lot of low mileage cars will wear the pads and discs quicker than a high mileage car due to rust and in town brakes are used more/ mile than on motorways. The rust builds up when the car stands idle then once on the move groves the pads reducing the braking area and this gets progressivly worse. In days gone by it was usual to get the discs skimmed to level the surface before fitting new pads but the labour charge now is more than the cost of new discs.
I have changed discs/pads on cars with 16000 miles on the clock and on similar cars with 50000+ miles on the original discs and pads.
£900 for a service and brake change is over the top. Motor factor brake discs are for many cars around the £20-£50 per pair, pads around £25 a set and labour around an hour.
On my own Megane 1.6RT the discs and pads were changed four times in 110000 miles over six years. Fortunatly I only paid for parts.

 

[Robotstar5]

I changed the discs on my Freelander at 30K due to ridges, but Mrs Robo's Vitara auto is on original discs at 80k!!

 

[zxr400]

It depends on lots of factors, including whether the car is an automatic or manual. Typically, an auto will wear brakes out quicker.

I used to work for Renault (For my sins ), and I would say that the brakes don't generally wear out any faster or slower than any other car manufacturers. There are so many variables though!

As mentioned above, pads tend to be made from Sintered metal these days, and they are harder on the discs.

What else did they have done to justify £900? It must've been a 'major' service or something fairly substantial?

Cheers,

Mark.

 

[Iain Westland]

Fleeced, unfortunately there's nothing you can do... unless they paid by credit card maybe

the dealer will claim the locker was not there when the car was bought in, even so theres not normally a reason to call an engineer. they should also have made every attempt to contact your GP before undertaking any course of action

seen disks go 50K+ so sounds a bit soon

 

[Drains]

they've also charged my Grandparents for getting a local engineering company to remove the locking wheel nuts, and for replacement locking nuts, as they say the key wasn't provided, despite my Grandfather assuring them that it was in the car.

My parents have gone over this evening to look, and found the key with the jack and tool kit, in the boot of the car......

I'd tell them to stick that one where the sun don't shine.

Shame you're so far away. And I presume the bill has already been settled? In my experience the old folk don't like to fight, even when they know they've been robbed. Guaranteed the garage won't back down to your GPs, not without you being there...

 

[mike os]

I have gone through a set in less than 12k

god knows how as I would expect 60k+ from an original set ( for a "normal car")

It happens sometimes but ime usually if something else is wrong.... can be grooving from a trapped stone, bad pads.... crap just sometimes happens. or an aftermarket "unbranded" set that was not really up to spec.

 

[brightspark]

ive just replaced the pads on my peugeot van its done 50 thousand miles and its realy had a hard life the disks show wear but are still servicable . the last van i had the garage changed them at 40 thousand miles i was ill in hospital when it was serviced .i told em to keep my old ones and give em back .needless to say they didnt i got conned 240 quid to replace them .they wanted 40 quid to change wiper blades that i got for 9 quid and change a fuse for windsceen washer motor 10 quid +vat needles to say i declined to ////ers

 

[Luke]

In my experience the old folk don't like to fight, even when they know they've been robbed.

Aye Drains, got it in one. fortunately, my parents have been supportive and they've drafted a letter to be sent to the dealership.

I'd tell them to stick that one where the sun don't shine.

Yup, regardless of the brake pads issue, the cost of the contracted out work, new parts and labour are definitely up for argument. It transpires that the locking wheel nut key, jack, wrench etc were all together, in a cubby hole in the boot underneath my Grandmother's wheelchair, so it seems like someone couldn't be arsed to look properly.

I know you could argue that the wheel nut key should have been handed over, but I can't help but feel that having been told it was in the car, they should have at least looked for it properly.

 

[Can'tWeld]

The discs on my Polo were still OK at about 80k, I got rid of them when I replaced them for Mintexes but still had plenty of life left (slight lip but nothing major).

Toyota especially have been terrible with my mother, she was having the discs replaced every year until I told her there was nothing wrong with the ones she had on! I think main dealers do tend to be like that.

 

[Iain Westland]

I ring the customer if i cant find the locking nut, if i havent their number (some asians wont give me the home numbers in case their wife answers) i dont do the work.

 

[zxr400]

Did they contact you GPs' for authorisation for the engineering work? If no, then they are liable for the costs.

You GPs' authorised the service to be carried out, but not for any sub-contract work. Hopefully your parents will be able to settle the matter, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

Any work the garage took upon themselves to do, without authorisation from your GPs' is their own liability.

Cheers,

Mark

 

[muddydisco]

It all depends why they changed them etc.

1. Worn below discard thickness
2. Heavly worn/ correred.

Pads are made out of a hard material now and the disc's take the hammering...

A mondeo will normally do 2 sets of pads to a disc on the front?