Rear Discs - Falling apart!

[Rooted]

Sorry but could you confirm,  do you need them replaced, both discs and pads,

or are they saying you need them because they are up-selling.?

 

The customer is left not knowing because of trusting a Main Dealership, and the Factory Trained Technicians,

and the greed of many Dealerships and the employees encouraged to up sell,

or as some call it, mislead and de-fraud customers.

[JamesVRSmk3]

Yes my print out service sheet says they will both need doing shortly. I should get an indicator come on the display when down to 5% which will means phoning up to get it booked in.

[Rooted]

Seeing as you say you 'do drive quite hard',  maybe an idea to keep an eye on your Brake pads and discs yourself when checking and adjusting tyre pressures or even cleaning the wheels, rather than trusting to Electric Systems and Warning Messages. Just a quick visual check of them.

 

Then upgrade the Discs and Pads when they get replaced.

[V6Jules]

Yes my print out service sheet says they will both need doing shortly. I should get an indicator come on the display when down to 5% which will means phoning up to get it booked in.

Probably worth checking the disc thickness yourself to make sure the dealer isn't trying to mug you off, If you haven't got a vernier calliper or a micrometer maybe a friend has one you can borrow to check? You might be able to measure without taking the wheel off as well.

[decuk]

Earlier this year my wife' 5 yr old Seat had to reluctantly go to a dealership for a software update to cure a flattening battery issue. Got the call to say job done but.... as a duty of care we have to check the car over and.... The front discs and pads need changing. Strange I thought as the were done 3 months and 1500 miles earlier at a non dealer. When I checked it was surface rust due to the wet winter weather and lack of use. I used it for a few days to work, and surprise surprise the discs looked like new. So don't always trust a garage. I'm totally baffled how the discs in the pictures on here can be so bad. But we had a Z3 for 9 years that did 3000 miles/ year, and think the rear discs were changed 3 times due to glazing over with rust,due to lack of use.

[JamesVRSmk3]

Seeing as you say you 'do drive quite hard',  maybe an idea to keep an eye on your Brake pads and discs yourself when checking and adjusting tyre pressures or even cleaning the wheels, rather than trusting to Electric Systems and Warning Messages. Just a quick visual check of them.

 

Then upgrade the Discs and Pads when they get replaced.

 

Everytime I wash the car I do give them a visual check but I wouldn't really know what I am looking for......they look nice and shiny though!

 

I haven't washed my car in 6 months because it has been at the dealers that much that I never have to wash or hoover it myself.......Out of 18 months of ownership it has spent nearly 2 of those months at the dealers getting repaired for various problems!

[Jeeves]

Yeah.  I check mine when I wash the wheels as part of the simple (as in I don't "detail" it...ever) washing process.

 

I will admit to using my leaf blower on the discs if I'm blowing leaves but will never leave a washed car stood longer than overnight after my experiences.

 

The leaf blower is orange unlike the silver F1 versions.

[JamesVRSmk3]

Inspected the discs last night. A1 surface condition but they are lipped at the edges. I'll just have to drive more sensibly.

[V6Jules]

Not sure on the minimum thickness but it should be on the disc itself. I seem to think that on a vrs 30mm new and 27 or 28 minimum rings a bell for some reason... Discs can feel like they have a good lip on them and still have plenty of life left.

[JamesVRSmk3]

Well it turns out I have "self healing" brakes. My car was back in the dealers for further warranty work and on this latest health check my brakes are in perfect conditions and not worn at all......

 

I pointed out that only 3 months ago they were down to 10% and he said it must have been a mistake last time....despite him being the same person who gave me the previous report and giving me the price to get them both replaced  

 

So I am none the wiser and going to take it to a "proper" garage this week to get them checked and find out the real condition.

Edited 2 March, 2016 by JamesVRSmk3

[HeBeGeeBee]

And you'll probably get a different story in the next garage you take it too.

I had my old car in for a timing belt change last year with the main dealer (hadn't the time to do it myself) and was sent a video by the dealer telling me that my front & rear discs were shot. The "mechanic" was scraping/scoring the disc surfaces with a screwdriver highlighting the lip on the discs - not a thickness calipers in sight! I told the dealer that's funny as I replaced the rear discs myself only last year (I only do about 9k km per year). Utter bullsh!t. Parts and servicing are where the dealerships make their money honestly or otherwise.

[octavianestate]

And you'll probably get a different story in the next garage you take it too.

I had my old car in for a timing belt change last year with the main dealer (hadn't the time to do it myself) and was sent a video by the dealer telling me that my front & rear discs were shot. The "mechanic" was scraping/scoring the disc surfaces with a screwdriver highlighting the lip on the discs - not a thickness calipers in sight! I told the dealer that's funny as I replaced the rear discs myself only last year (I only do about 9k km per year). Utter bullsh!t. Parts and servicing are where the dealerships make their money honestly or otherwise.

Your are spot on. My own dealer manager said he gets tough yearly performance targets for aftersales parts set by the VAG. He was quite open admitting it's at times difficult to achieve the numbers. I think your example is how they at times make these targets at the expense of the customer when work may not always be required. Appears very shady and deceitful

[Alpha2110]

So, started to notice a shudder under braking, surprised as the car is only 18 months old, wasn't felt through the steering, so had a look at the rear discs......

I wasn't expecting that! The rear disc on the other side isn't much better.

Now, normally discs aren't covered under warranty, but surely they're not meant to do that within 2 years!

Thoughts and opinions of the Briskoda collective welcomed before ringing the dealer....

Niall

I can explain what's happening, it's a common problem with front wheel drive cars that have disks. Rear disk brakes on front wheel drive cars don't do a lot under normal driving conditions, upto 90% of the braking assist is done by the front disks this is in part desirable as the weight shifts over the front wheels but also due to the inertia of the drive train. The problem starts when the rear brakes don't get used, over time bits of grit score the disk and leave grooves in the disk that rusts, as the rears don't get fully utilised the Normal brake Ware doesn't remove the Grove done by the grit. The Grove gets deeper and rusts more, I think if you looked at a disk under a micro scope you would see the surface area of the disk increases more area to rust speeding up the corrosion, while only the flat of the disk gets skimmed. Edited 2 March, 2016 by Alpha2110

[Alpha2110]

Also looking at the picture I can see the disk edge had corroded this is normal. As the coating is removed, the edge of the disk doesn't see any pad so it will corrode.

I have had disks corrode and fail an mot after 6 months, some brands are better than others, even oem ones, they can still be made by bosch, but branded skoda, that's an hypothetical example. There are many factors in brake wear patterns, dodgy steel, weather, car use, driving style, proving these are a warranty issue is a waste of your time, and will probable just get you nowhere. I would just get them replaced asap, as disks can explode, also wrecking other parts, not to mention the fact you can't stop.

Edited 2 March, 2016 by Alpha2110

[Gerrycan]

As a dinosaur (a fact confirmed regularly by my kids) I still have some of the driving habits from the days when cars only had drum brakes, that and I drive for economy means that I don't use brakes as much as others or only apply them lightly.

The rear brakes on my previous mk2 had worn far more than the front at 90k klm because on light use the rears engage more than the front to reduce the nose dipping.

 

The disks on my son's Subaru Outback were machined rather than replaced at one service, when I suggested that to a VW mechanic for mine he just laughed and said there was no comparison as mine were too thin and light for that sort of treatment, replacement was ever the only option.

 

I'm a pommie ex-pat so know that winter driving conditions on salt-strewn wet roads promote high corrosion levels but I never saw disks in that state on any of the old cars I had there.

I did see near new Lancia Beta bodies in similar condition (incredibly poor quality Russian steel) and I am inclined to side with the poor manufacturing argument for the shocking state and de-lamination that is occurring on the disks shown.

[Jeeves]

I've often thought that reversing reasonably hard before braking hard might give the rear discs a bit of extra action.  Can anyone confirm my theory on brake bias before I annoy the neighbours each morning?

[meb90]

I've often thought that reversing reasonably hard before braking hard might give the rear discs a bit of extra action.  Can anyone confirm my theory on brake bias before I annoy the neighbours each morning?

 

I can't see it doing much harm.

 

I don't think the brake bias will be changed, so I would expect that as the weight will be onto the rear wheels, the fronts will be more prone to locking (ABS will sort that), but the rears will do most of the braking. But be aware that as the rear brakes are smaller than the fronts, you won't stop as quickly!

 

My solution to the problem, which seems to be working so far, is to apply the handbrake slightly whilst driving for a few seconds every once in a while to give the discs a clean.

[Jeeves]

I can't see it doing much harm.

..but my dogs don't like it and the kids keep telling me to do a J-turn!

 

Agree with you with occasional handbrake use (always in a straight line and on private land of course ) but that's a problem for any car with an EPB.

[FluffyEyeball]

Just give it a good leathering from time to time, driving like a hooligan for a couple of miles should clean your disks right up .

(Safely of course )

Edited 3 March, 2016 by FluffyEyeball

[glosrich]

Isn't it the quality of discs and pads has changed since asbestos was taken out of the brake pads in the mid 1990's?

 

Brake pads are a lot harder, discs have to be softer to create the same braking effect, by product is they rust and wear out quicker.

[Pophods]

New rear discs/pads just fitted to my VRS. 20k miles, 2.5 years old. The inside face of the offside disc looked just like the one in the OP - drove like a mildly warped disc when braking. I'm another light brake user (IAM instructor!). Lookers (Benfield) Harrogate (I've bought 3 cars from them over the years) paid 25% goodwill which apparently obliges Skoda to also cough up 25% even though Skoda refused to foot the whole bill. Pleased with that, even if it shouldn't happen in the first place.

[swany]

16500 miles rear discs and pads replaced and an advisory for replacement of the front discs and pads. 2014 vrs. 78000 miles done on my mk1 heavily modified before anything had to be replaced. In my eyes the problem is with the quality of the components used on the early mk3 octavia vrs

[CCTaylor]

I used to have problems with Discovery rear brakes operating only on one side of the disc. This was caused by the mechanism sticking due my normal light braking. The answer to this is not heavy braking while on the move but to try pushing the brake pedal through the floor while stationary. This is much more successful at keeping the brake mechanisms free than slamming the brakes on while driving.

Every month or so when stopped in traffic I just push the brake pedal as hard as I can.

Shortly after buying my Octy 2 (with 15k on the clock) my brother in-law noticed that one of the back discs was showing signs of rust. I used my old Discovery trick and had no problems after that and sold the car with the same discs with 45k miles on the clock.

[harrylime]

On 02/08/2015 at 21:20, decuk said:

Looks like a disc from a car found in a scrapyard. Assuming you had it serviced by a dealer at 12 months or 20,000 miles. I fail to see how a problem wasn't found before they got to this stage. Someone hasn't swapped them while you've had it parked up while on holiday or something have they ????

Looking at the state of those discs, that is a very intelligent question. Parking at one of these off site airport car parks perhaps? Must be a tempting idea for a poorly paid car park attendant? 

[edwards]

My old Astra had a lip on the edge of the discs. When you have a lathe, anything round becomes a project - off car, clocked in on lathe and lip removed. Not necessary at all but strangely satisfying :-)