Brakes Brakes Brakes!!!
Discussion
Well so my Little Red 56 plate S went to B&C for a service ... I wouldn't normally bother but I thought £390 was a reasonable number and hell it gets me a stamp in my service book.
I opted to go with the courtesy car they provide (a gorgeous little 1.2 polo oh how we zoomed home :-)).
Phil phoned me this morning to give me the bad news new disks and pads fore and aft (even though I only changed the pads last year, perhaps the bad disks didn't help)... apparently barely legal if not actually illegal.... So I now have a bill for nearly £1800 all in parts labour & vat including the service..... OUCH !
I know the majority of this is labour and I could have probably either done it myself or got it done cheaper at a local independant garage but the car was there and since I'm also trying to move house, I'm not sure I needed the hassle.... so in a moment of weakness I've agreed to let them do it, gulp !
I know it's part of the deal but I can't help thinking this could be a short lived affair if it's going to be this expensive.... Hopefully nothing else will fall off in that time !
8.
I opted to go with the courtesy car they provide (a gorgeous little 1.2 polo oh how we zoomed home :-)).
Phil phoned me this morning to give me the bad news new disks and pads fore and aft (even though I only changed the pads last year, perhaps the bad disks didn't help)... apparently barely legal if not actually illegal.... So I now have a bill for nearly £1800 all in parts labour & vat including the service..... OUCH !
I know the majority of this is labour and I could have probably either done it myself or got it done cheaper at a local independant garage but the car was there and since I'm also trying to move house, I'm not sure I needed the hassle.... so in a moment of weakness I've agreed to let them do it, gulp !
I know it's part of the deal but I can't help thinking this could be a short lived affair if it's going to be this expensive.... Hopefully nothing else will fall off in that time !
8.
cre8toruk said:
Well so my Little Red 56 plate S went to B&C for a service ... I wouldn't normally bother but I thought £390 was a reasonable number and hell it gets me a stamp in my service book.
I opted to go with the courtesy car they provide (a gorgeous little 1.2 polo oh how we zoomed home :-)).
Phil phoned me this morning to give me the bad news new disks and pads fore and aft (even though I only changed the pads last year, perhaps the bad disks didn't help)... apparently barely legal if not actually illegal.... So I now have a bill for nearly £1800 all in parts labour & vat including the service..... OUCH !
I know the majority of this is labour and I could have probably either done it myself or got it done cheaper at a local independant garage but the car was there and since I'm also trying to move house, I'm not sure I needed the hassle.... so in a moment of weakness I've agreed to let them do it, gulp !
I know it's part of the deal but I can't help thinking this could be a short lived affair if it's going to be this expensive.... Hopefully nothing else will fall off in that time !
8.
It was a 40k car new though, so I don't really understand the problem? If you drive something like this hard, you can easily spend 10% a year of the new purchase price in maintenance, or mods? Pads and discs are needed on all cars eventually. Hell the main volvo dealer wanted £600 just to do the rear pads and discs on my wife's Volvo, I took it to a local garage who charged £250. You need to find a specialist - I'd recommend Hangar 111.I opted to go with the courtesy car they provide (a gorgeous little 1.2 polo oh how we zoomed home :-)).
Phil phoned me this morning to give me the bad news new disks and pads fore and aft (even though I only changed the pads last year, perhaps the bad disks didn't help)... apparently barely legal if not actually illegal.... So I now have a bill for nearly £1800 all in parts labour & vat including the service..... OUCH !
I know the majority of this is labour and I could have probably either done it myself or got it done cheaper at a local independant garage but the car was there and since I'm also trying to move house, I'm not sure I needed the hassle.... so in a moment of weakness I've agreed to let them do it, gulp !
I know it's part of the deal but I can't help thinking this could be a short lived affair if it's going to be this expensive.... Hopefully nothing else will fall off in that time !
8.
Replacing the brakes on an Elise is pretty easy and quick. The only "strange" bit about the Lotus is the nature of the jacking points, otherwise it's no harder than a family hatch. You should be able to get a full set of OEM quality discs and decent pads (I like Mintex 1144s) for <£400 and fitting shouldn't be more than another £200, IMO (it's a very easy job).
Hi All,
right got my baby back and I'm £1800 lighter...still the service I got from B&C has made it feel not so bad... Expensive yes, but Phil has given me discounts on the parts etc...
Luckily I don't have to have new brakes every week and I take the point about a £40k sports car... My Wife's Golf has done 110k miles, never had a service or an oil change and costs me nothing apart from fuel, mot and insurance...still you pays yer money :-).
I think you do get what you pay for at a main dealer and B&C are very good, car was even washed and polished (thanks guys), I'd just prefer not to have a nose bleed every time it has to go there :-)
8.
right got my baby back and I'm £1800 lighter...still the service I got from B&C has made it feel not so bad... Expensive yes, but Phil has given me discounts on the parts etc...
Luckily I don't have to have new brakes every week and I take the point about a £40k sports car... My Wife's Golf has done 110k miles, never had a service or an oil change and costs me nothing apart from fuel, mot and insurance...still you pays yer money :-).
I think you do get what you pay for at a main dealer and B&C are very good, car was even washed and polished (thanks guys), I'd just prefer not to have a nose bleed every time it has to go there :-)
8.
antiok said:
cre8toruk said:
car was even washed and polished
2 bucket method? Doubt it...Wouldn't let any dealer wash monkey touch my paintwork.
This is just one more reason I won't take my car to a main dealers.
OP glad you are happy with B&C's work. Don't loose faith in the little car, do research first before jobs and don't be adverse to driving a bit further to a specialist.
IMHO some jobs don't require a specialist. I am lucky to have a friend who has access to a garage out of hours, so jobs like discs, pads etc can be done with me helping out with a wad of printouts from SELOC TechWiki!
All 'Lotusy' stuff and the car goes to Phoenix.
I do everything in my own garage these days. Even the double cam-belt on the VVC is a pretty easy job; there's surprisingly good access to the Elise's engine even if you don't take the clam off.
If nothing else, I want' to be able to pick my own parts. One of the best things about Lotus ownership is the wealth of easily-available information on after-market parts. It's rare that I replace something without upgrading it (often at less cost than OEM).
If nothing else, I want' to be able to pick my own parts. One of the best things about Lotus ownership is the wealth of easily-available information on after-market parts. It's rare that I replace something without upgrading it (often at less cost than OEM).
I was sufficiently surprised by this thread that I went and looked at the last receipt I had for brakes and servicing. I use Phoenix Motorsport for all work & parts on my cars, and frankly wouldn't trust anyone else.
I know it's not like-for-like as it was for my Evora, but front discs were £314, front pads £148 plus VAT. To put all that in perspective with a 'drive away' price, my total bill came to £1250 - but that was for supply & fit of new front discs & pads (Pagid) and a full service for my Evora, along with (randomly, I know) supplying a new tow post and ProAlloy radiator for my Elise.
I don't know where you are based, but if you are anywhere in/near the North West, I would highly recommend you give Phoenix Motorsport a try. They are based in Accrington; PM me if you would like any further info. No connection to them; just a happy customer.
[k]
I know it's not like-for-like as it was for my Evora, but front discs were £314, front pads £148 plus VAT. To put all that in perspective with a 'drive away' price, my total bill came to £1250 - but that was for supply & fit of new front discs & pads (Pagid) and a full service for my Evora, along with (randomly, I know) supplying a new tow post and ProAlloy radiator for my Elise.
I don't know where you are based, but if you are anywhere in/near the North West, I would highly recommend you give Phoenix Motorsport a try. They are based in Accrington; PM me if you would like any further info. No connection to them; just a happy customer.
[k]
Lotus price for 4 discs and 2 sets of pads is a little over £1000, they've charged you about £400 to fit them.
I changed mine recently and went for plain undrilled Pagid discs and Mintex pads for less than £250, took about 1.5 hours to fit.
I changed mine recently and went for plain undrilled Pagid discs and Mintex pads for less than £250, took about 1.5 hours to fit.
Edited by madmax666 on Sunday 21st February 13:43
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