Hi guys,

Bought a VRS in january, and since I bought it, when I brake gently, there's a grinding noise from the rear brakes.

It was due a service, so took it to Skoda (Preston) and asked them to have a look whilst it's in. They said it's nothing to worry about, the pads are fine. However, it's persisting, and quite annoying. I've had a look, and compared with the front pads, and it looks slightly rusty on the outside of the disc.

Is there anything I can do with this? The car is still under warranty, 19,000 miles on it, so it's strange that it's making this noise. It's my first 'new' ish car, so it's upsetting that it sounds like my old corsa on approach to traffic lights...

I've done a forum search and couldn't find anything else on this.

When you took it to the dealer and they said it was fine, what was there explanation then for the grinding?

It could just be that light corrosion is forming on the discs overnight due to the wet weather etc. It should "burn" off after driving though. If it doesnt i would be going back to the dealer for another opinion.

Hi guys,

Bought a VRS in january, and since I bought it, when I brake gently, there's a grinding noise from the rear brakes.

It was due a service, so took it to Skoda (Preston) and asked them to have a look whilst it's in. They said it's nothing to worry about, the pads are fine. However, it's persisting, and quite annoying. I've had a look, and compared with the front pads, and it looks slightly rusty on the outside of the disc.

Is there anything I can do with this? The car is still under warranty, 19,000 miles on it, so it's strange that it's making this noise. It's my first 'new' ish car, so it's upsetting that it sounds like my old corsa on approach to traffic lights...

I've done a forum search and couldn't find anything else on this.

How big is the rusty bit, any photos? Both front and back of mine have rusty lips atm, probably covers 1-2mm of the discs face. may be slightly bigger on the rear.

I don't get any grinding noise though apart from when its been sat overnight and rust has formed on the faces. burns off quickly.

Mine grinds as well, usually worse after it's been out in the wet but it grinds in the dry as well. Mine almost sounds as bad as metal to metal but I've got plenty of pad left. It's been like it since new. I'll be changing the rear pads soon and I'll have a better idea but my suspicion is that it's a poor set of pads because I've never been impressed with the brakes anyway.

They said some nonsense about it just being gritty, and suspected the car hadn't been driven that much recently, and that they've given them a 'blast' and any continued noise should drive off soon.

I've just noticed a linked thread on here, which says that:

My 56 plate vrs has gone in the garage today to try and sort out a low moaning noise coming from the near side rear wheel. I've just been phoned by the garage (Benfield in Newcastle) and they say its the rear pads rusting up, and they need to be stripped and cleaned. They say this is not covered by the warranty and therefore will cost me. At first the mechanic said it would cost £82, but after I pointed out I've only had the car since May he spoke to the sales team who have offered to contribute 50%.

Is this acceptable? Has anyone else had to pay to have this done?

Mine's a 56 too, odd. Rainworth Skoda ended up doing it for free though...

yeah mines too!mines seem to be rusty on the inside of the disc:mad:

Think its a common problem with rear brakes on vrs my 55 plate did it all the time

Mine too on my September 2004 54 vRS. Sounds pretty horrible, but they still work and the pads have LOADS of life in them yet (prob about 5mm left)

Basically you want to put them to work a bit - perhaps Lummox can comment if this is a 'bad' thing or not, but I would imagine if you drove at reasonable speeds (not really fast or anything) and pulled the handbrake on sufficiently to create a half-decent slowdown, then keep the speed for a while with the accelerator (gentle again). That will definitely get rid of a bit.

I definitely would *not* do this at high speed, or be too aggresive yanking the handbrake on, and obviously do it in a safe place etc etc etc (usual disclaimer stuff, own risk).

Dont overdo it because you may cause the pads to glaze up, but a few short bursts of doing this should clear off a load of the gunk.

Pretty much normal and not a problem apart from the noise.

mine dont seem to make any odd noises but they are rusty around the outside of the disc, at least 5mm

Its because the rear brake do very little, they corrode up before they wear out.

Yeh mine do it too. I changed the pads which shut it up for a while but its started again. It's defo due to lack of use because if they have had some stick they are better.

The back suspension seems to be noisy on these cars at the best of time aswell mine groans when its cold.

I get this quite a lot mate,,, think the bottom line is,,, if they still work nothing is wrong !!!!

Heh, thanks for the comments guys.

Didn't realise this was such a widespread problem.

The brakes themselves are fine, loads of disc and pad left, and if I hit the brakes hard, it stops very quickly.

Mine grinds as well, usually worse after it's been out in the wet but it grinds in the dry as well. Mine almost sounds as bad as metal to metal but I've got plenty of pad left. It's been like it since new. I'll be changing the rear pads soon and I'll have a better idea but my suspicion is that it's a poor set of pads because I've never been impressed with the brakes anyway.

totally agree - mine sound liek a flower mill after a bit of rain - compared with wifeys bog standard fabia the brakes feel like they dont work so ive never been impressed. probably more due to the weight of the diesal engine though.

once the disks are spun up to temp they always seem to be fine thogh

There's a control in the middle of the dash that you can use to reduce the rear brake noise. It's called stereo volume and works very well, if you also have something like Van Halen in the CD player.

"Is that your brakes grinding"? "Eh?"