Your car needs discs and pads sir...
Discussion
J4CKO said:
Brakes are one thing you can really save money on, mainly by checking them yourself and avoiding garages hitting you with this one.
My wifes car needed front brakes, was picked up on the MOT, I had said I knew they were due when I dropped it in and had the parts ready to go on, but still got a phone call saying did we want them doing, for £270.
No thanks, I have disks and pads ready to go, cost me £50 and about forty minutes of my time to fit them, so I saved £220 in that 40 mins, an hourly rate of £330.
People make excuses like they haven't got the time, usually quicker to do it myself than take it in and pick it up. I think some see it as a bit beneath them but unless you are absolutely minted with no debts at all it really isnt, its a good way to save a few quid rather than sticking it on a credit card. Takes some earning for most folk £220, especially when its from your taxed income, and then from your spare cash after bills, food, fuel etc. Can understand if you have a disability or nowhere to do it but a bit with a bit of planning it should be doable for most with half a brain.
For anyone that's able to DIY at all oil changes and brakes are easy money and require a minimum of equipment (easily earnt back after the first or second job). Also gives you the opportunity to rotate the tires and keep up with the general state of the vehicle.My wifes car needed front brakes, was picked up on the MOT, I had said I knew they were due when I dropped it in and had the parts ready to go on, but still got a phone call saying did we want them doing, for £270.
No thanks, I have disks and pads ready to go, cost me £50 and about forty minutes of my time to fit them, so I saved £220 in that 40 mins, an hourly rate of £330.
People make excuses like they haven't got the time, usually quicker to do it myself than take it in and pick it up. I think some see it as a bit beneath them but unless you are absolutely minted with no debts at all it really isnt, its a good way to save a few quid rather than sticking it on a credit card. Takes some earning for most folk £220, especially when its from your taxed income, and then from your spare cash after bills, food, fuel etc. Can understand if you have a disability or nowhere to do it but a bit with a bit of planning it should be doable for most with half a brain.
I think what's putting most people off is that they change cars very often, thus are concerned with main dealer stamps and trade-in value.
If I turn a car in, it's always over 10+ years old so we're talking about pennies (and buy them new or 1-2 years old).
I once changed the rear discs and pads myself, however I couldn’t get the handbrake tension quite right.
I happened to be driving past a Kwik Fit so I thought I’d pop in and see if they’d do they’d just do the handbrake tension.
The guy on the reception desk instantly sucked his teeth and said “sounds like worn pads and discs, that’ll be £xxx”
Then one of the Fitters who’d been out to my car whispered in his ear “Errr, Boss the discs are brand new”
I happened to be driving past a Kwik Fit so I thought I’d pop in and see if they’d do they’d just do the handbrake tension.
The guy on the reception desk instantly sucked his teeth and said “sounds like worn pads and discs, that’ll be £xxx”
Then one of the Fitters who’d been out to my car whispered in his ear “Errr, Boss the discs are brand new”
I took my Discovery to the JLR dealer for its MOT.
2008, so I can't remember why I didn't take it to a local. Maybe it was it's service as well, before the warranty finished.
Failed on a tyre and they wanted over £300 to put a new Pirelli on. No thanks.
Took it to a bloke in a field that dealt with old Land rovers. £100 fitted, same tyre.
But it's not just main dealers.
My e36 clutch went. BMW wanted £1500, the independent wanted £1000. A mates brother, who was a BMW mechanic, took it off me, had it for a week and it cost me £250. New clutch fitted.
Same car, the heater blower motor failed, it had done over 120k miles and it wasn't the resistor. Local garage said £200 and I left it with them.
They called me to say it was actually going to be £500 as the part was hard to get.
I took it back, found the part by Bosch on the net for £80 and with help of a YouTube vid and about 4 hours of my time, it was all sorted.
Was also asked for stupid money when the power steering pump went. Again, I found a refurb part for £50 and then got a guy I knew to fit it for £100.
I guess for a lot of people it's pay for the convenience but I'm just stubborn and hate wasting money.
2008, so I can't remember why I didn't take it to a local. Maybe it was it's service as well, before the warranty finished.
Failed on a tyre and they wanted over £300 to put a new Pirelli on. No thanks.
Took it to a bloke in a field that dealt with old Land rovers. £100 fitted, same tyre.
But it's not just main dealers.
My e36 clutch went. BMW wanted £1500, the independent wanted £1000. A mates brother, who was a BMW mechanic, took it off me, had it for a week and it cost me £250. New clutch fitted.
Same car, the heater blower motor failed, it had done over 120k miles and it wasn't the resistor. Local garage said £200 and I left it with them.
They called me to say it was actually going to be £500 as the part was hard to get.
I took it back, found the part by Bosch on the net for £80 and with help of a YouTube vid and about 4 hours of my time, it was all sorted.
Was also asked for stupid money when the power steering pump went. Again, I found a refurb part for £50 and then got a guy I knew to fit it for £100.
I guess for a lot of people it's pay for the convenience but I'm just stubborn and hate wasting money.
MikeB444 said:
Agree that many people perceive it as too dangerous or complicated but there's also aspect of having the necessary tools/kit. Also the knowledge of how to use them of course.
For instance my in-laws 'tools' consist of a couple of bent screwdrivers, a hammer and a dodgy adjustable. Hanging a picture is about their limit and wall plugs are an alien concept, there's no way they'd attempt anything on their cars.
My neighbour is like this. He asked me about noises from his brakes on his old Peugeot. I had a quick look and it looked to need new disc's and pads. I said "we can get the bits and I will do it for you, I owe you a favour". He knows I work on cars a lot and brakes will be easy for me. He said "No thanks, I will take it to the dealer as at least I know it done properly then". Never did ask him how much that cost, but guess it was more than £60. For instance my in-laws 'tools' consist of a couple of bent screwdrivers, a hammer and a dodgy adjustable. Hanging a picture is about their limit and wall plugs are an alien concept, there's no way they'd attempt anything on their cars.
HelldogBE said:
I think what's putting most people off is that they change cars very often, thus are concerned with main dealer stamps and trade-in value.
If I turn a car in, it's always over 10+ years old so we're talking about pennies (and buy them new or 1-2 years old).
I've just p/x'd a car that hasnt been near a dealer or a garage for over 5 years other than its £45 MOT each year.If I turn a car in, it's always over 10+ years old so we're talking about pennies (and buy them new or 1-2 years old).
It had - quote the dealer - 'The best and most detailed history I've seen in years'.
All collated and written by me - receipts, descriptions of job, p/n references, date and mileage etc, cross references against the manufacturers schedules, fluid specs etc.
Not 5 or 6 non-descript meaningless 'stamps' for an oil change of cheapest trade 5w/40 (regardless of spec required) in a dirty handbook.
Chipper said:
Reading this thread is one of the main reasons I adore my Tesla. 2 1/2 years in and 23000 miles later, all I have had to do is replace a set of tyres and change the air con filter which you can buy direct from Tesla for £15.
Dealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
Well there has to be some consolation for having to drive a Tesla I suppose. Dealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
BertBert said:
By way of contrast, my vw dealer, which is walking distance away, has never tried any shenanigans and I've got better things to do than grub around on the drive changing the brakes and dealing with the inevitable seized bits!
Fair enough if you've got a dealer so close and can afford it, though as all mine have been about an hour's drive there and back which would be twice over. I'd have it done in less time, never had issues with seized bits though. I do have a Halfords within walking distance if I'm stuck for a part (though I'd usually just order on line elsewhere). Being retired I don't earn the hourly rate that would cover the cost of paying a main dealer for the two hours plus it would take for me to get it to and from them. I'd stick with that VW garage though as mine was awful when I had a VW company car.SEAT dealer for an MOT put discs and pads on as an advisory over 2 years ago and they are still going. They said the pads were at 30% which by my rough calculation gives me about 3-4 years life left in them.
Huge mistake using main dealer for an MOT and leaving it until the last day - they raised a bunch of nonsense and a fail and tried to charge me thousands on a practically new car, I had to get the fail done (somewhere else), but lesson learnt to never use a main dealer.
Huge mistake using main dealer for an MOT and leaving it until the last day - they raised a bunch of nonsense and a fail and tried to charge me thousands on a practically new car, I had to get the fail done (somewhere else), but lesson learnt to never use a main dealer.
Bennet said:
Aren't they supposed to take the carrier off, put it into a vice and sand the surfaces back to being smooth? Also give everything a good clean up and copper grease the moving parts? Seems like this should take longer than 5 minutes.
We are in an absolutely awful and right down wasteful economy right now. It was worth doing that 20 years ago when the cost of calipers far outweighed the cost of rebuilding them. You can get aftermarket calipers that cost a bit more than a rebuild kit, then you have to do the actual work.Everything is just throw away and replace. It's a huge problem in every industry, phones, laptops, home appliances, bicycle parts.
Chipper said:
Reading this thread is one of the main reasons I adore my Tesla. 2 1/2 years in and 23000 miles later, all I have had to do is replace a set of tyres and change the air con filter which you can buy direct from Tesla for £15.
Dealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
You say that but good luck when the car throws up a fault code related to the battery system. Tesla will have you lubed up and bent over the service desk because they won't ever fix a fDealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
ked up battery, just try to drop you with a 4 figure sum repair.EVs are still early days, none of them are old enough to actually show long term issues because the only thing that can really go wrong is the battery. We are now just over 10 years since people bought a Model 3 in 2012/2013. There is going to be a lot of dead cars because the batteries are too expensive to replace. We can't be affording to throw away 10-20 year old cars anymore, we can't sustain it.
TheLoraxxZeus said:
Bennet said:
Aren't they supposed to take the carrier off, put it into a vice and sand the surfaces back to being smooth? Also give everything a good clean up and copper grease the moving parts? Seems like this should take longer than 5 minutes.
We are in an absolutely awful and right down wasteful economy right now. It was worth doing that 20 years ago when the cost of calipers far outweighed the cost of rebuilding them. You can get aftermarket calipers that cost a bit more than a rebuild kit, then you have to do the actual work.Everything is just throw away and replace. It's a huge problem in every industry, phones, laptops, home appliances, bicycle parts.
Bryanwww said:
Huge mistake using main dealer for an MOT and leaving it until the last day - they raised a bunch of nonsense and a fail and tried to charge me thousands on a practically new car, I had to get the fail done (somewhere else), but lesson learnt to never use a main dealer.
Never had that issue, and I have left MOTs until the last day at a main (BMW) dealer. I think you build up a rapport and a reputation with a main dealer. On a parallel theme, they always measure the tyre depths, but never make a recommendation.
ARHarh said:
My neighbour is like this. He asked me about noises from his brakes on his old Peugeot. I had a quick look and it looked to need new disc's and pads. I said "we can get the bits and I will do it for you, I owe you a favour". He knows I work on cars a lot and brakes will be easy for me. He said "No thanks, I will take it to the dealer as at least I know it done properly then". Never did ask him how much that cost, but guess it was more than £60.
fking hell.. Are you known as a bit of a bodger on your street then? How rude!OldSkoolRS said:
Fair enough if you've got a dealer so close and can afford it, though as all mine have been about an hour's drive there and back which would be twice over. I'd have it done in less time, never had issues with seized bits though. I do have a Halfords within walking distance if I'm stuck for a part (though I'd usually just order on line elsewhere). Being retired I don't earn the hourly rate that would cover the cost of paying a main dealer for the two hours plus it would take for me to get it to and from them. I'd stick with that VW garage though as mine was awful when I had a VW company car.
Yes different circumstances for different people. I prefer to spend spannering time, little though there is, on hobby cars. When I get stuck with something I just close the garage door and go and have a cup of tea, not worrying about how I'm going to get the car back on the road for tomorrow when my wife needs it!snotrag said:
I've just p/x'd a car that hasnt been near a dealer or a garage for over 5 years other than its £45 MOT each year.
It had - quote the dealer - 'The best and most detailed history I've seen in years'.
All collated and written by me - receipts, descriptions of job, p/n references, date and mileage etc, cross references against the manufacturers schedules, fluid specs etc.
Not 5 or 6 non-descript meaningless 'stamps' for an oil change of cheapest trade 5w/40 (regardless of spec required) in a dirty handbook.
Last time I px'd a car the dealer dropped everthing into the bin except the service book and last MOT. And both of those are generally electronic now.It had - quote the dealer - 'The best and most detailed history I've seen in years'.
All collated and written by me - receipts, descriptions of job, p/n references, date and mileage etc, cross references against the manufacturers schedules, fluid specs etc.
Not 5 or 6 non-descript meaningless 'stamps' for an oil change of cheapest trade 5w/40 (regardless of spec required) in a dirty handbook.
Chipper said:
Reading this thread is one of the main reasons I adore my Tesla. 2 1/2 years in and 23000 miles later, all I have had to do is replace a set of tyres and change the air con filter which you can buy direct from Tesla for £15.
Dealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
So your Tesla doesn't have Brakes? Dealers and ICE manufacturers are stuffed
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