After 6 years faithful service my 2004 VRS has failed its MOT. I need to replace the front suspension bush to pass and have been given an advisory that all the brake pads are on the limit and will need changing and the rear discs are scored, rusty and need replacing soon.

I've left the car to have the bush done and have been quoted £115 parts & labour including VAT, is this a fair price?

I'm no mechanic & am not even going to consider tackling the brakes myself; I'd prefer to know they were done properly and work! So could someone give me a rough idea of how much I should expect to pay to replace the front pads and the rear pads & discs please parts & labour? I'm fearing the worst!

you can buy front and rear discs with front and rear pads for £150

go to an independant should be about £100 labour

or do them yourself they are so so so easy to do

where abouts in the country are you???

Edited 8 November, 201015 yr by westallc

Might be worth getting the discs and pads yourself online and having a mechanic do it as a homer as it really is a simple job which shouldn't take long provided you have the piston rewinding tool.

Might be worth getting the discs and pads yourself online and having a mechanic do it as a homer as it really is a simple job which shouldn't take long provided you have the piston rewinding tool.

Agreed. No need to be paying extortionate garage prices now.

Strange the life of the pads on the vRS.

Mine is nearly 5 now with 85k, and there's absolutely loads left on the original pads, front and rear.

To stop the rear discs and pads degrading due to lack of use normally, I chuck the handbrake on a couple of clicks whilst going downhill for 20 seconds once a week.

you can buy front and rear discs with front and rear pads for £150

go to an independant should be about £100 labour

or do them yourself they are so so so easy to do

where abouts in the country are you???

So should I be changing the front discs too? I'm in West Sussex.

Honestly it doesn't matter how easy is it I would never trust I had done it quite right & prefer to live in the knowledge that the brakes work! Plus I'm a feeble female & doubt I'd even get the locking nuts undone!

The mechanic at the garage works independantly but I wanted to arm myself with an idea of a fair price before calling him, there's also a possibility a freind can do it for me but I need to speak him too.

Might be worth getting the discs and pads yourself online and having a mechanic do it as a homer as it really is a simple job which shouldn't take long provided you have the piston rewinding tool.

Is this a special tool or something any mechanic should have?

Agreed. No need to be paying extortionate garage prices now.

Strange the life of the pads on the vRS.

Mine is nearly 5 now with 85k, and there's absolutely loads left on the original pads, front and rear.

To stop the rear discs and pads degrading due to lack of use normally, I chuck the handbrake on a couple of clicks whilst going downhill for 20 seconds once a week.

I've done less than 22k miles, does this mean I am heavy on the brakes or do they deteriorate with age?

A lot depends on your driving style. I personally brake very little because I go for fuel economy, braking means wasted fuel so I try to start coasting well before I need to slow down and let the car slow down naturally as I know the road well, if you do a lot of speeding up and slowing down then it might be different. The tool is something I'd expect a mechanic to be get hold of if he didn't already have and is available in Halfords, someone posted a link to it. If you search for threads about changing brakes/pads you'll probably find it. It really is a pretty simple job as you would need to do something pretty catastrophically stupid to get it dangerously wrong. However if you aren't that strong and don't have a good feel for the amount of torque you are applying when tightening things up (or even better a torque wrench) maybe its best left to a mechanic. Would still look for a mechanic to do a homer or someone on here to do it though as it really needn't go into a garage for it and pads/discs are so cheap online.

Thanks for the help, I'll give the mechanic a ring tomorrow & see how much he wants for doing it and speak to my mate too.

I assume there are posts on here somewhere recommending pads & discs and who to buy from online?

A lot depends on your driving style. I personally brake very little because I go for fuel economy, braking means wasted fuel so I try to start coasting well before I need to slow down and let the car slow down naturally as I know the road well, if you do a lot of speeding up and slowing down then it might be different. The tool is something I'd expect a mechanic to be get hold of if he didn't already have and is available in Halfords, someone posted a link to it. If you search for threads about changing brakes/pads you'll probably find it. It really is a pretty simple job as you would need to do something pretty catastrophically stupid to get it dangerously wrong. However if you aren't that strong and don't have a good feel for the amount of torque you are applying when tightening things up (or even better a torque wrench) maybe its best left to a mechanic. Would still look for a mechanic to do a homer or someone on here to do it though as it really needn't go into a garage for it and pads/discs are so cheap online.

Completely off topic I know but coasting uses more fuel than just taking your foot off the throttle in gear As long as you don't hit the antistall, your ecu should have cut all fuel from being injected as you slow, rather than holding the clutch in and using enough fuel to keep it ticking over.

Ontopic though, you can find a full set off discs and pads for under £100 easily, then find someone competent to change them for you. It's a reasonably simple job.

I got front and rear discs and pads for about £130 - I'm sure. I will try and find the link for you. You may need somebody with some mechanical knowledge to help you get the right ones.

Edit: Try this place! I got mine for about £90 actually.

Edited 9 November, 201015 yr by Bezzy

I bought mine here

The garage who fitted seemed quite impressed by them and couldn't believed the price I paid (cheap). I think he (seller of the discs) is still a forum sponsor.

Edited 9 November, 201015 yr by joelk2010

Just to give you some more info, there are different types of calipers fitted on vRS's, so be careful which pads you buy. The discs are standard. Mine came to about £92 delivered. PM me if you require anymore help.

Thanks for all the help guys, discs & pads for £100 or less is so much better than I was expecting!

Just to give you some more info, there are different types of calipers fitted on vRS's, so be careful which pads you buy. The discs are standard. Mine came to about £92 delivered. PM me if you require anymore help.

This is what I feared! How do I find out which calipers I've got so that I get the right pads?

Thanks for all the help guys, discs & pads for £100 or less is so much better than I was expecting!

This is what I feared! How do I find out which calipers I've got so that I get the right pads?

You can tell by looking at the pictures provided and doing a matching exercise by looking at your car. If you look at the shape of the caliper (green bit), it should be a similar shape to the pads.

Brake sizes are 288mm for fronts and 232mm for rear. I don't think any vRS has pad wear sensors on, so don't get the ones with those on.

Hope that helps.

Make sure you buy OE parts for the VRS brakes, don't use cheap copies or you'll be back in the garage a year later having it all done again and they don't have the same stopping power. If you are buying the parts ask the helpful sales guy to supply OE's, don't ask for the cheapest. Places like ECP , GSF sell OE's and cheapo's so make sure you are buying the right ones.

PS. Any competant mechanic will be able to wind back the rear calipers without the special tool, you can make one with a bit of flat metal. While you are having the brakes done why have the brake fluid changed as well? Then you will be OK for another 6 years.

Make sure you buy OE parts for the VRS brakes, don't use cheap copies or you'll be back in the garage a year later having it all done again and they don't have the same stopping power. If you are buying the parts ask the helpful sales guy to supply OE's, don't ask for the cheapest. Places like ECP , GSF sell OE's and cheapo's so make sure you are buying the right ones.

Did you check the link for the OP to see if the parts are OE or not?

I've used this website (I have no affiliation with them, and will not be held responsible if anybody uses them) and the parts seemed to be of decent quality (still on my car after 2 months, and still stopping me). There is only the one sort available on the website too, so I would assume they are OE spec/standard.

I bought them on a tight budget, and this was the cheapest I could find.

To the OP - I was charged £20 per corner for fitting the brakes, think it should have been £25, but I was having other work done, so got it a little cheaper. That should give you an idea on the cost of fitment.

Brake sizes are 288mm for fronts and 232mm for rear. I don't think any vRS has pad wear sensors on, so don't get the ones with those on.

Cheers!

PS. Any competant mechanic will be able to wind back the rear calipers without the special tool, you can make one with a bit of flat metal. While you are having the brakes done why have the brake fluid changed as well? Then you will be OK for another 6 years.

Thanks for the suggestion I'll see what the mechanic says when he gives me a price.

Make sure you buy OE parts for the VRS brakes, don't use cheap copies or you'll be back in the garage a year later having it all done again and they don't have the same stopping power. If you are buying the parts ask the helpful sales guy to supply OE's, don't ask for the cheapest. Places like ECP , GSF sell OE's and cheapo's so make sure you are buying the right ones.

Did you check the link for the OP to see if the parts are OE or not?

I've used this website (I have no affiliation with them, and will not be held responsible if anybody uses them) and the parts seemed to be of decent quality (still on my car after 2 months, and still stopping me). There is only the one sort available on the website too, so I would assume they are OE spec/standard.

I bought them on a tight budget, and this was the cheapest I could find.

To the OP - I was charged £20 per corner for fitting the brakes, think it should have been £25, but I was having other work done, so got it a little cheaper. That should give you an idea on the cost of fitment.

I'm not good with forum abbreviations, OE? OP? & who are ECP, GSF?

I wasn't expecting to have to have the pads & discs done so cost is a factor but I love my car and personally for things like brakes, tyres etc I feel its worth spending a bit extra if it means better quality, what I don't want is to pay over the odds for something that turns out to be cheap & nasty if that makes sense.

For want of a better term; I haven't "pimped my ride" so don't feel like I need to spend a fortune on the best of the best, top of the range pads & discs but I do want whats right for what the car is capable of.

I thought it was going to be a simple case of "this brand is good, this brand isn't"!! :S

Cheers!

Thanks for the suggestion I'll see what the mechanic says when he gives me a price.

I'm not good with forum abbreviations, OE? OP? & who are ECP, GSF?

I wasn't expecting to have to have the pads & discs done so cost is a factor but I love my car and personally for things like brakes, tyres etc I feel its worth spending a bit extra if it means better quality, what I don't want is to pay over the odds for something that turns out to be cheap & nasty if that makes sense.

For want of a better term; I haven't "pimped my ride" so don't feel like I need to spend a fortune on the best of the best, top of the range pads & discs but I do want whats right for what the car is capable of.

I thought it was going to be a simple case of "this brand is good, this brand isn't"!! :S

GSF are German, Spain and French car parts,

ECP are Euro Car Parts

OP is Original Poster (I believe)

OE is Original Equipment (I believe)

The above parts people sell OE and other cheaper parts. You won't always know which parts are advertised on a website, so it's best to ask at the counter or phone them, I've found ECP and GSF to be totally honest about which parts are OE and which ones are not, The price usually is a good indicator of which is which.

Eurocarparts do a good price on disc's and pads.

Although my fronts pads need replacing, only done 12k as well :p

Just to give you some more info, there are different types of calipers fitted on vRS's, so be careful which pads you buy. The discs are standard. Mine came to about £92 delivered. PM me if you require anymore help.

I'd deduced this about a month ago but only because the option code at the beginning of the handbook changed on later models - does anyone know what the difference is?

I'd deduced this about a month ago but only because the option code at the beginning of the handbook changed on later models - does anyone know what the difference is?

Different manufacturer. I think one is Lucas, not sure of the others. Apparently there are 2 or 3 different sorts on the vRS... not very helpful!

Edit

This is what I was told: -

Brake fitment is a problem because Skoda occasionally changed what was fitted due to supply shortages.

The vast majority (90%+) of vRS have Lucas system, 288mm front discs and no wear sensor.

Edited 12 November, 201015 yr by Bezzy

Right. Had the Fab' serviced last night by my tame Skoda techie, and it's been decided that 86k on the original discs and pads is enough. The discs are looking decidedly tired and knackered now.

Been on the bed of fleas to purchase, but knowing which to buy is a bit of a nightmare.

Thinking of cross drilled for heat dispertion too.

Don't mind paying top whack for this rare but essential and extremely important purchase, so recommendations and observations would be greatly appreciated, standard or drilled.

GSF are German, Spain and French car parts,

actually its German "Swedish" and French

Edited 20 January, 201214 yr by Lycanthrope