Having taken the care in for it's anual service the garage (dealer) declared that the rear disks were 'badly pitted and corroded' and needed replacement (£250 + vat).

As the car is used daily, with a mixture of town and longer runs I really did not expect that news- after all I have put nearly 9800 miles on it during this year.

I have used the same dealer for a number of years and have always found them OK. The service manager stated that the brakes were outside the warranty as this was 'wear and tear' though he did manage a good reduction on the job, also a further discount on the service charge so I can't fault them on that point.

My previous car (Fabia estate, 1.9Tdi) had the disks replaced at 45,000

Has anyone else experienced excessive wear on the rear disks of their Roomy in a relatively short space of time?

Not on the Roomie, too early yet!) but my old Fabia estate went through the first set of rear discs in under 20k miles... but the replacements were still ok after 80k! I used one of the tyre places for the replacements, not the dealer, so don't know if aftermarket ones are better quality!

I'd get a second opinion on the brake disks. In these hard times, its possible the dealer is fishing for extra work. For example, its quiet common for a Porsche dealer to say that the discs/pads need replacing at every service, happened to me and a second opinion said the brakes were indeed fine.

It's rust not wear that gets the rears and the Fabia suffers the same after about 2 years

Mind you £250+vat?????? And thats reduced????? Was that the service as well?

That's daylight robbery for just disks!

I'm over 30k in the Roomie and have no need of new disks - the wear rate seems excessive for such a low mileage

Not on the Skoda, but on the old Peugeot the dealer stated that new discs & pads were needed. They said the pads were wearing the discs excessively in an uneven way. I took his word but begrudged the price quoted to replace them. Went to Halfords & bought the new parts to fit myself. I checked the discs & found the wear to be even, the discs running true & thousands of miles left on the pads. He also said the exhaust needed replacement, even though it lasted another 2 years. Funnily enough, that dealer didn't do the next service.

Steve.

It could happen, particularly if the car doesn't have dust shields on it. I would have insisted on seeing the discs before authorising the work though.

Once asbestos was banned from use in brake lining material, the new compounds employed made brake discs effectively sacrificial devices. It's certainly worth making sure that the rear discs get used (and thus cleaned) regularly: when in a quiet part of a car park I reverse fairly fast then brake hard. I'm only up to 16,000 miles on my R3 but I am aware they will need changing some time in the future.

John

Just crossed 9k and mine look fine.

I'm not exactly miss daisy and have about 60kgs extra load normally around Welsh roads.

A lot will depend on the mix of driving, lost of motorway, but short distance generates a lot of wear, maybe they stuck a little?

I'll check mine again now, given the size of them I'd be amazed if they wore down from normal wear and tear on a car this size in that distance. The fronts maybe, heavy nose oil burners they are.

Was this Mitchells by any chance or further a field from your location?

It's not the wear that does it.....

What Meadway says is correct, because nonasbestos pads are more abrasive. Of course, this should make "excessive corrosion of disc" less likely, but does limit the likely life of a front disc to about 2 sets of pads.

The rear discs on my VRS did 52k on one set of pads and it wasn't the wear that killed them it was the falling apart rust that got them. The Zimmermans on the front did the same 52k going through 4 sets of pads (I like my track days).

Currently my Roomy has just hit 35k and it's pads and discs are totally fine apart from the rear showing signs of corrosion. If you can wear a set of pads out on anything driving normally in 10k you have a problem somewhere

The rear discs on my VRS did . The Zimmermans on the front did the same 52k going through 4 sets of pads (I like my track days).

Not using stock front pads then? One of the selling points of several makes of fast road pad is that they are less abrasive than stock pads.

Not using stock front pads then? One of the selling points of several makes of fast road pad is that they are less abrasive than stock pads.

2 sets of OEMs, EBC reds (I had greens in for 200 miles but these were so carp I dont count them) and a set of Mintex

My new Roomster 3, 1.9TDI engine, should arrive mid March. Whilst I was reading every single word in the brochure after signing the deal, I noticed a symbol next to "Standard Equipment", that rear disks are only fitted to the "Tiptronics" version.

I was quite concerned about that, but it is too late in my case, I should have read every character in the equipment list! However, it seems that rear drum brakes may actually be an advantage, and not the step backwards which I had resigned myself to!

I know of several mechanics and some automotive engineers who consider rear discs unnecessary on FWD cars, because under hard braking the rear wheels don't do much more than stop the rear bumper dragging on the ground!

i have rear disks on my 1.4 petrol

no TC or ESP

car is an ex-demo though

My new Roomster 3, 1.9TDI engine, should arrive mid March. Whilst I was reading every single word in the brochure after signing the deal, I noticed a symbol next to "Standard Equipment", that rear disks are only fitted to the "Tiptronics" version.

Mines a standard 1.9TDi 3 and it comes with front and rear discs... I think that's standard on all the 1.9s, the 1.4s may have rear drums, mind!

Mines a standard 1.9TDi 3 and it comes with front and rear discs...

Same here