Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

On Jul 15, 1:15*pm, Jo wrote:
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

No they are not worn. Those pads have 1000's of miles left.

the-sbray wrote:
On Jul 15, 1:15 pm, Jo wrote:
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

No they are not worn. Those pads have 1000's of miles left.
Depends. They will certainly be sub par on an long highs speed brake.
They are not worn OUT, but they are worn. Marginal call. If you are a
once a year service person, and do more than 8000 miles a year, then
replacing them is a good idea. If ypu do less than 5000, they almost
definitely wont be worn *to the point of damaging the discs* in a year.
Although they will be definitely likely to get a bit hot and lose
efficiency.

If it were my car, Id do it, if it was the parents car doing 3000 a year
on a tight budget, I wouldn't.

the-sbray has brought this to us :
On Jul 15, 1:15*pm, Jo wrote:
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

No they are not worn. Those pads have 1000's of miles left.

They are worn, but not worn out. Doing my own servicing I would have a
set in readiness to go on and be keeping a close eye on them. If some
else does your servicing they would be correct to suggest fitting new,
rather than letting them run.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Jo

Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage
said my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30
for the parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Reasonable hourly rate, but I think he seems to have included eating his
sandwiches & making a cuppa or two in the amount of time.

Jo wrote:
Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).
Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.
They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.


Take it to Marshalls next time,. I was surprised when I got the bills:
they were no more expensive than the back street bloke who totally
****ed my brakes up.


Jo

In message , The Natural Philosopher
writes
Jo wrote:
Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).
Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.
They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.
I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.


Take it to Marshalls next time,. I was surprised when I got the bills:
they were no more expensive than the back street bloke who totally
****ed my brakes up.


Also a couple of years back I needed some information on how to
dismantle the dash of a customers pick up truck that I was installing
some electronics into. I tried the main dealer in Bedford who basically
said "F**k off" you didn't buy it from us. I called Marshalls as the
next nearest dealer and they said to call in and ask for Fred, not his
real name :-) and when I did he showed me, on one of their vehicles,
how to do it and also printed off the relevant pages from their CD
manuals.

Bottom line:-
In my experience Marshalls have darn good customer service, even if you
are not a customer!



Jo

--
Bill

"Jo" wrote in message
...

Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Jo

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

S

Spamlet wrote:
"Jo" wrote in message
...

Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).
Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.
They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Jo

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...


indeed. And then failing to replace the totally seized callipers so the
new disk lasted a mere 500 miles.

S

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Spamlet wrote:
"Jo" wrote in message
...

Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like
they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).
Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.
They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Jo

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that
you need new discs as well...


indeed. And then failing to replace the totally seized callipers so the
new disk lasted a mere 500 miles.

S

Yes, it's always worth checking with a mirror to see if the pads are wearing
evenly. The calliper bushes can be cleaned and greased with a dab of copper
grease occasionally to make sure they are less likely to favour one side.

S

On 15 July, 17:16, "Spamlet" wrote:

You may have got off lightly too. *Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

Get a Volvo. Disks are cheaper than pads and quicker to change.

In message
,
Andy Dingley writes
On 15 July, 17:16, "Spamlet" wrote:

You may have got off lightly too. *Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

Get a Volvo. Disks are cheaper than pads and quicker to change.


But ...

it's a Volvo



--
geoff

Andy Dingley wrote:
On 15 July, 17:16, "Spamlet" wrote:

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

Get a Volvo. Disks are cheaper than pads and quicker to change.
Whatt??

Disk, cheaperthan pads?

If that's the case on a volvo, I wonder anyone buys one.

On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:16:46 +0100, "Spamlet"
wrote:


"Jo" wrote in message
...

Adrian wrote:
Jo gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

Jo

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...


With many modern cars, a set of discs will only normally last through
two sets of pads, so you rather often do need them.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Manure Occurs.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

Spamlet wrote:


You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

TBH replacing pads and disks is such a simple job that it's aggravating
to see what garages charge. Charging 1.5 hours to replace pads is a
rip-off. That's too long even if the job was to replace both front and
rear pads. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes to change every single pad on
the cars that I own, and I'm fussy anout cleaning everything in sight
while I do it. It is the sort of job that anyone with reasonable DIY
knowledge could do. With 90 minutes to spare I actually changed all four
calipers and pads on one of my cars. After all, all it needs is to
undo/redo a total of eight to 12 bolts (depending on the vehicle) and a
willingness to get one's hands slightly mucky. I've changed everything
in that area of the vehicle (bearings, disks, pads, change of brake
fluid) in an afternoon taking lots of time off for tea and pondering.
After all I'm not in a hurry and not getting paid.

On accasions when the job has needed doing and I have been too busy to
do it mself I've been charged up to £600 + VAT by a main dealer for
replacement of two disks and pads. If I buy all four disks, calipers and
pads from a motor factors, using original parts, I can expect to pay
£260 for the parts. The price of the calipers includes the brake pads.
The main dealer marks these prices up to three times the parts cost and
then charges almost as much again to fit them.

"Steve Firth" wrote in message
...
Spamlet wrote:


You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that
you
need new discs as well...

On accasions when the job has needed doing and I have been too busy to
do it mself I've been charged up to £600 + VAT by a main dealer for
replacement of two disks and pads.

I could replace my car for £600:-)

But even a non mechanic like me can swap a set of front pads in the street
in less than 1 hour using a trolley jack and a few basic tools. On a ramp
with air tools it is even easier.

I actually got the local garage to change the pads last time as it was in
for an MOT and it was minus 3 outside in the daytime. I supplied the pads
and they charged me half an hours labour. Well worth the money in those
temperatures. It was not much warmer in their garage.

Adam

Steve Firth wrote:
Spamlet wrote:

You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

TBH replacing pads and disks is such a simple job that it's aggravating
to see what garages charge. Charging 1.5 hours to replace pads is a
rip-off.

How much do you think the tools cost to do the job? How much the council
taxes for the premises? Staff bill? Public Insurance liability?
Electricity? Being blamed for the exhaust pipe falling off after
changing the spark plugs?

If being a mechanic is so easy you try having a go at it.

On 17 July, 13:52, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Spamlet wrote:

You may have got off lightly too. *Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

TBH replacing pads and disks is such a simple job that it's aggravating
to see what garages charge. Charging 1.5 hours to replace pads is a
rip-off. That's too long even if the job was to replace both front and
rear pads. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes to change every single pad on
the cars that I own, and I'm fussy anout cleaning everything in sight
while I do it. It is the sort of job that anyone with reasonable DIY
knowledge could do. With 90 minutes to spare I actually changed all four
calipers and pads on one of my cars. After all, all it needs is to
undo/redo a total of eight to 12 bolts (depending on the vehicle) and a
willingness to get one's hands slightly mucky. I've changed everything
in that area of the vehicle (bearings, disks, pads, change of brake
fluid) in an afternoon taking lots of time off for tea and pondering.
After all I'm not in a hurry and not getting paid.

An hour is normally reasonable for 4 pads if the job is
straightforward. However rear shoes (where present) invariably take
far longer, and excessive corrosion can also make the job more
difficult. I must admit I'd struggle to change four pads in 30 minutes
(7.5 minutes per wheel), even if I was going like the clappers.



On accasions when the job has needed doing and I have been too busy to
do it mself I've been charged up to £600 + VAT by a main dealer for
replacement of two disks and pads. If I buy all four disks, calipers and
pads from a motor factors, using original parts, I can expect to pay
£260 for the parts. The price of the calipers includes the brake pads.
The main dealer marks these prices up to three times the parts cost and
then charges almost as much again to fit them.

Lol. You wuz robbed, mate.

In article , Steve Firth
scribeth thus
Spamlet wrote:


You may have got off lightly too. Plenty of places seem to insist that you
need new discs as well...

TBH replacing pads and disks is such a simple job that it's aggravating
to see what garages charge. Charging 1.5 hours to replace pads is a
rip-off.

In the instance quoted how do you know that something wasn't sized or
needed some other work doing that might have taken that bit longer?..

That's too long even if the job was to replace both front and
rear pads. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes to change every single pad on
the cars that I own, and I'm fussy anout cleaning everything in sight
while I do it. It is the sort of job that anyone with reasonable DIY
knowledge could do. With 90 minutes to spare I actually changed all four
calipers and pads on one of my cars. After all, all it needs is to
undo/redo a total of eight to 12 bolts (depending on the vehicle) and a
willingness to get one's hands slightly mucky. I've changed everything
in that area of the vehicle (bearings, disks, pads, change of brake
fluid) in an afternoon taking lots of time off for tea and pondering.
After all I'm not in a hurry and not getting paid.

On accasions when the job has needed doing and I have been too busy to
do it mself I've been charged up to £600 + VAT by a main dealer for
replacement of two disks and pads. If I buy all four disks, calipers and
pads from a motor factors, using original parts, I can expect to pay
£260 for the parts. The price of the calipers includes the brake pads.
The main dealer marks these prices up to three times the parts cost and
then charges almost as much again to fit them.

Yes rather pricey..

Never mind, when the OP qualifies and is up to being a consultant then I
suppose she'll be grumbling about what main dealers charge;!!.
--
Tony Sayer

On 15/07/2010 14:20, Jo wrote:

Adrian wrote:
gurgled happily, sounding much like they
were saying:

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

They look like they've got plenty of life left.

£30 for parts? What car?

£55 to change 'em? Depends where you are. In the SE, that's towards the
lower end of average for an hour's labour - which is not unreasonable.
For a little back-street place in the frozen wastelands ooop north, it
seems steep.

I live in Cambridge. He charged for 1.5 hours of labour and just the
brake pads were replaced.

I bought a Rover 45 when they went bust and had to have the pads and
disks changed at 30,00 miles. It was at the end of the day and they did
the job in less than 20 minutes. Can't remember what he charged, but I
thought it reasonable.

Dave

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember Jo
saying something like:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Depends purely on your style and pattern of driving, but I'd say there's
anything from 5K to 20K miles left in those.

"Jo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

5mm is plenty. What often happens though, is that the garage tells you stuff
that would probably need doing in 12 months time. It's a common trick, and I
usually tell them I'll pop back in a month or so, and never do. £85 probably
isn't bad for a complete replacement of brake pads at one end of the car.
Though I generally do my own brakes, and often do the discs as well, so not
sure on costs of pad alone. That said, I tend to go for Mintex, which I
think are reasonable quality - whereas your local garage will probably be
using something a bit cheaper.

I've had two blinding attempts by garages trying to skank me. First was
almost twenty years ago. Took Mk3 Escort into Formula 1 for a new cambelt.
Was done quickly, but when being shown it afterwards, was told that the
noisy knocking noise was my valves, and that they could do with replacing.
They would "do it as a favour over the weekend for me, for only £400!" Was
sure that it didn't do it before, so took it home, with it driving
absolutely dreadfully. Soon fixed it though, as what they'd done was not
bother to re-time it. So I just lined up the manufacturer's mark on the
distributor and engine, and all was fine.

Second attempt was from a garage that I'd actually started to trust. They
replaced my clutch as a result of a failed seal, which leaked loads of
antifreeze into the bellhousing. Not sure how that happened - or if it was
true. Anyway - £550 later, I had a new, non-slipping, though never as good
as the original clutch. A year later, I go in for servicing, and they say
"we've noticed your clutch needs replacing - it's understandable with the
age of the car". I reminded them that they'd fitted one last year, and after
a quick check on the computer, the requirement for a new clutch quickly
became 'for another customer's car'.

Oh - and then there was Essex Ford, who had the audacity to list 'new pollen
filter housing' required on the after service notifications. Yes - it did
need a new pollen filter - and which bunch of monkeys had broken it!!

JW

On 15 July, 13:35, "John Whitworth"
wrote:

Second attempt was from a garage that I'd actually started to trust. They
replaced my clutch as a result of a failed seal, which leaked loads of
antifreeze into the bellhousing. Not sure how that happened - or if it was
true.

That's actually more common than you may think!

"Ste" wrote in message
...
On 15 July, 13:35, "John Whitworth"
wrote:

Second attempt was from a garage that I'd actually started to
trust. They
replaced my clutch as a result of a failed seal, which leaked loads
of
antifreeze into the bellhousing. Not sure how that happened - or if
it was
true.

That's actually more common than you may think!

Is it? I can understand a faulty seal allowing sump oil into the
bellhousing area, but not antifreeze. Unless he has a watercooled
clutch, of course........ (or, possibly, a defective intercooler which
is allowing antifreeze into the oil, in which case a failed seal is
the least of his problems).

On 15 July, 17:35, "Ian" wrote:
"Ste" wrote in message

...

On 15 July, 13:35, "John Whitworth"
wrote:

Second attempt was from a garage that I'd actually started to
trust. They
replaced my clutch as a result of a failed seal, which leaked loads
of
antifreeze into the bellhousing. Not sure how that happened - or if
it was
true.

That's actually more common than you may think!

Is it? *I can understand a faulty seal allowing sump oil into the
bellhousing area, but not antifreeze. *Unless he has a watercooled
clutch, of course........ (or, possibly, a defective intercooler which
is allowing antifreeze into the oil, in which case a failed seal is
the least of his problems).

No, what happens is if you have an antifreeze leak above the
bellhousing (I've come across quite a few Ford Zetec engines, in
particular, with leaky thermostat housings directly above the
bellhousing), that trickles down onto the linkage or release fork, and
the release fork tends to conduct the antifreeze into the bellhousing
and onto the clutch, so moving parts start to rust and the plates
become contaminated. As I say, it's surprisingly common.

"Ste" wrote in message
...
On 15 July, 17:35, "Ian" wrote:
"Ste" wrote in message

...

On 15 July, 13:35, "John Whitworth"
wrote:

Second attempt was from a garage that I'd actually started to
trust. They
replaced my clutch as a result of a failed seal, which leaked
loads
of
antifreeze into the bellhousing. Not sure how that happened - or
if
it was
true.

That's actually more common than you may think!

Is it? I can understand a faulty seal allowing sump oil into the
bellhousing area, but not antifreeze. Unless he has a watercooled
clutch, of course........ (or, possibly, a defective intercooler
which
is allowing antifreeze into the oil, in which case a failed seal is
the least of his problems).

No, what happens is if you have an antifreeze leak above the
bellhousing (I've come across quite a few Ford Zetec engines, in
particular, with leaky thermostat housings directly above the
bellhousing), that trickles down onto the linkage or release fork, and
the release fork tends to conduct the antifreeze into the bellhousing
and onto the clutch, so moving parts start to rust and the plates
become contaminated. As I say, it's surprisingly common.
.....................................
Ah. Thanks.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "John Whitworth"
saying something like:


I've had two blinding attempts by garages trying to skank me. First was
almost twenty years ago. Took Mk3 Escort into Formula 1 for a new cambelt.
Was done quickly, but when being shown it afterwards, was told that the
noisy knocking noise was my valves, and that they could do with replacing.
They would "do it as a favour over the weekend for me, for only £400!" Was
sure that it didn't do it before, so took it home, with it driving
absolutely dreadfully. Soon fixed it though, as what they'd done was not
bother to re-time it.

I'd not be surprised if what they'd done was deliberately make it like
that, to extract more money.

So I just lined up the manufacturer's mark on the
distributor and engine, and all was fine.

As they should have.

"Jo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

Hi,
1st, it is interesting that he handed you or left on your car the old parts.
If shifty then being viewed as an 'easy customer' I would have thought your
parts would have been "in the bin" and not handed back. 2nd, by parts do
you just mean just the pads or were the disks changed too? If pads and
disks then I feel that was a very good price. If pads only then not knowing
what quality was fitted and expecting the lowest cost price items to be
installed then the price is a little steep. e.g. From a Vauxhall dealer
front pads for my Zafira are £30.80 retail or £18.42 trade cash a/c.

As for changing unnecessary items, I assume he consulted with you before
going ahead with the unrelated change and perhaps spoke about when was your
last service done etc because he may have been genuinely thinking about your
safety. If for example you are expecting to drive say 20,000 miles before
the next service then it would be beneficial to have them changed or say you
live in a hilly area. Personally I would leave them till they neared 3mm of
friction material left if they were parallel and not tapered due to uneven
wear / semi seized calliper but then again, when do you think you would
actually look at the pads on the car or would you drive it till they were
metal to metal and no friction material left. By then your disks are being
destroyed too.
As ever with these things the parts are relatively cheap, it is when it is
combined with dealer overheads to carry out this relatively simple task that
the bill becomes unpalatable.

Gio

"Gio" wrote in message ...

"Jo" wrote in message
...
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me £30 for the
parts and £55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

Hi,
1st, it is interesting that he handed you or left on your car the old
parts. If shifty then being viewed as an 'easy customer' I would have
thought your parts would have been "in the bin" and not handed back.

I agree, usually they give you back someone else's "down to the metal" pads
to prove how bad they were, then fit yours into someone else's car and
charge *them* full price for new ones.

Strange to give you back your perfectly good pads, but I expect if you take
the matter further, he'll say that the customer *insisted* on having them
replaced despite the mechanic telling him that they were fine... and he even
gave the customer his old ones back to prove it.

Mentalguy2k8 wrote:
"Gio" wrote in message ...

"Jo" wrote in message
....
Hello,

My car was taken to a garage for an unrelated problem. The garage said
my brakes were worn and needed replacing. They charged me �30 for the
parts and �55 for labour (excluding VAT).

The guy seemed shifty - he said if I paid with cash I wouldn't need to
pay VAT!

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8355/brakediscs.jpg

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, I'm a medical student!

Thanks.

Jo

Hi,
1st, it is interesting that he handed you or left on your car the old
parts. If shifty then being viewed as an 'easy customer' I would have
thought your parts would have been "in the bin" and not handed back.

I agree, usually they give you back someone else's "down to the metal" pads
to prove how bad they were, then fit yours into someone else's car and
charge *them* full price for new ones.

Strange to give you back your perfectly good pads, but I expect if you take
the matter further, he'll say that the customer *insisted* on having them
replaced despite the mechanic telling him that they were fine... and he even
gave the customer his old ones back to prove it.

I wasn't born yesterday!! He seemed dodgy so I asked for them back
with the intention of checking with you guys. None of my housemates
know anything about brake pads!

Jo

Gio wrote:

If for example you are expecting to drive say 20,000 miles before
the next service then it would be beneficial to have them changed or say you
live in a hilly area.

OP lives in Cambridge. A bit flat.

Andy

"Jo" wrote in message
...

Are these brakes worn and were his charges reasonable? I estimate the
thickness of the abrasive portion of the parts to be 5mm thick.

--

They look OK to me. Depending on how you drive you could possibly get a year
or more off them. I suspect that they would have to have been done in about
a year's time, the mechanic was just drumming up business a little early.

The price is not too bad for parts. Labour.....depends on the car. I have
replaced the front brake pads on a Focus in about 15 minutes as they are
basically a matter of 2 bolts per caliper. Other cars can take much much
longer.

Andy

On Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:49:25 +0100, "Andy"
wrote:


They look OK to me. Depending on how you drive you could possibly get a year
or more off them. I suspect that they would have to have been done in about
a year's time, the mechanic was just drumming up business a little early.


As you say, it does depend on how she drives (and what car they came
off).

No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which seems
unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a pretty new
driver.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

"Alex Heney" wrote in message
...
As you say, it does depend on how she drives (and what car they came
off).

No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which seems
unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a pretty new
driver.

My daily commute is over 100 miles but most of that is on motorways so
although I do a lot of miles I never have to brake much. Brake-wise my
commute is probably similar to 20 miles of urban driving.

Andy

"Alex Heney" wrote in message
...


No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which seems
unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a pretty new
driver.

How do you manage to wear them so quickly?
I have never managed to wear out a set of pads on a car yet and I do about
80,000 (about 3 years) miles before changing cars.

On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:05:28 +0100, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"Alex Heney" wrote in message
.. .


No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which seems
unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a pretty new
driver.

How do you manage to wear them so quickly?

By driving normally.


I have never managed to wear out a set of pads on a car yet and I do about
80,000 (about 3 years) miles before changing cars.


You must be driving almost entirely on motorways then.

And even then, that seems exceptional. When I have looked it up
previously, it has always been suggested that "normal" life for a set
of front brake pads is around 15000 - 25000 miles, depending on the
style and type of driving.

That is quite a wide range, and there will always be people outside
even that, but more than three times the upper end of the "normal"
range seems very high.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
A professor is one who talks in someone else's sleep.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

Alex Heney wrote:

On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:05:28 +0100, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"Alex Heney" wrote in message
...


No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which
seems unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a
pretty new driver.

How do you manage to wear them so quickly?

By driving normally.


I have never managed to wear out a set of pads on a car yet and I
do about 80,000 (about 3 years) miles before changing cars.


You must be driving almost entirely on motorways then.

And even then, that seems exceptional. When I have looked it up
previously, it has always been suggested that "normal" life for a
set of front brake pads is around 15000 - 25000 miles, depending on
the style and type of driving.

That is quite a wide range, and there will always be people outside
even that, but more than three times the upper end of the "normal"
range seems very high.

I have managed 50,000 miles on a set of pads , 99% of milage was
motorway , then again on the same vehicle i have managed 8000 miles
on a set of pads driving in london

In message , Alex Heney
writes
On Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:05:28 +0100, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"Alex Heney" wrote in message
. ..


No set of front brake pads would get near to lasting me a year at
present, from new. But I am driving 40,000 miles per year, which seems
unlikely for somebody who (from her other posts) is a pretty new
driver.

How do you manage to wear them so quickly?

By driving normally.


I have never managed to wear out a set of pads on a car yet and I do about
80,000 (about 3 years) miles before changing cars.


You must be driving almost entirely on motorways then.

And even then, that seems exceptional. When I have looked it up
previously, it has always been suggested that "normal" life for a set
of front brake pads is around 15000 - 25000 miles, depending on the
style and type of driving.

How can this be so?

Dennis stated only a few days ago that he did 30,000 miles last year

Surely the rest of the world must be wrong


That is quite a wide range, and there will always be people outside
even that, but more than three times the upper end of the "normal"
range seems very high.

--
geoff