I am 99% certain that one of my rear brake callipers has seized on my VRS after only 12500 miles, resulting in severe scoring on one of the rear brake disc surfaces, poor braking performance and a handbrake that is difficult to operate unless brake pedal depressed.

I tried to take it to dealer in Germany, who are refusing to even inspect the vehicle under warranty as brake parts are not covered under the warranty in their opinion - thus far I have managed to get the bloke from behind the service desk to inspect with a torch without even taking the wheel off! My argument is the seized calliper has caused the scoring due to inefficient braking and that it is not as a result of fair wear and tear.

Has anyone had a similar issues? And what was the outcome?

I had a sticking rear calliper, disc was over heating and causing issues. Took it back to the dealer a few times before they replaced the rear calliper under warranty. Problem still persisted so took it back to be told they couldn't find anything wrong. So I removed the rear ash tray and slackened off the handbrake cable half a turn. No problems at all since.

Hope you manage to sort it. How many clicks does your handbrake take to hold the car? Mine now takes 4 when it used to take just 2.

Thanks for your reply.

4 clicks to operate handbrake, but quite a lot of effort required to apply.

Washed the vehicle yesterday evening and drove with the handbrake on for 600 metres in order to generate some heat; appears to have loosened things up.

Checked on roller brake testing machine this morning and everything now appears to be working ok; still dubious about the calliper and obviously the disc is scored. I will probably strip and re-grease the pins/piston in an attempt to free it all up sometime over the weekend.

I will be replacing the car in the not too distant future so will probably live with the scored disc for now.