I took my car to one of these fast fit tyre places (the one the begins with K) for a MOT this week as it was close to home and it has failed on front brake imbalance.  

 

They offered to do one of these free brake inspections which I thought they would say it would pass with just a clean and regrease as the pads / discs are no more than 3 years old but they have recommend a full front brake disc and pad change at £276 to resolve the issue.

 

Anyone with any experience with resolving front brake imbalance? 

 

 

No more than 3 years old can still be a lot of braking.

 

How many miles and what sort of driving within that three years is the question, and do they generally brake well?

 

If you are light on your brakes then I guess a strip and clean should sort it.

 

Or take it elsewhere for a 2nd opinion although that is gonna cost a new mot rather than just a retest.

 

As they have only failed on imbalance then new parts are obviously not required unless an advisory has been issued on this.

 

Can you not strip and clean them yourself? and file the lugs.

pads and discs have done 30k and plenty meat on them and discs are have no lip so think it could be pad transfer as I'm running ebc redstuff pads can feel slight judder only when stopping quickly from high speed.

Anyway I've got some new pagid discs and pads today from ecp for £77 so going to replace them myself and get another mot test, as the place only do free test if the brakes are done by them. It a good job it was only £27 for test.

I'd get an MOT done somewhere else before fitting the brakes. If it fails, then fit the new discs and pads and get it back for a free retest.

Sticky Caliper Piston?  If the discs and pads look ok, and similar on both sides, I wouldn't of thought that would contribute to a force imbalance.

Anyone reading this - please stop using Kwikfit for anything other than tyres and Halfords for car accessories, these threads are becoming increasingly common.

 

Take it to a proper garage with proper mechanics. 

I thought it was common knowledge that Kwik fit were known for these sort of tactics, you go in for one thing and end up with a multitude of repairs that you do not need.

Yeah I should of known better as it was a last minute impulse decisions as I had a day off work and thought I'll just book it online.  I'll stick to my local mechanic in the future and stay away from these places.  Anyway here are the comments on the failure notice.

 

• Reason(s) for failure
   

  offside front brake excessively fluctuating (3.7.B.3)
• Advisory notice item(s)
   

  nearside front brake binding

Take it out and do some very heavy braking from speed. (Obvs where it is safe to do so)

 

Sometimes the calipers go a bit out of balance over time if you are gentle on the brakes, and an Italian tune up can restore balance.

 

Of course a proper garage would have taken the car out and tried this themselves......My Octavia had front brake balance problems at the last MOT that was sorted with a few harsh brake applications.   

Edited 21 May, 201610 yr by booke23

I bet they are fine. Unless you suspect otherwise - car pulling to the one side, vibrations, hot wheel after a drive etc......

You should get a proper test done at another garage for peace of mind.

It's awful how these cowboys rake it in just by spouting drivel about repairs that are not needed.

Strip and clean the brakes and reassemble with some copper grease at appropriate places. If there is still an issue, which I doubt, take it else where for further diagnostics.

Sounds like they are trying to rip you off. They could have just said, your brakes are not 100% efficient, we can solve the problem by jacking up the number plates and fitting a new car.

That says fluctuating not imbalance. Its showing a warped disc which u also say you get vibration when breaking. New discs and pads is what u need

pads and discs have done 30k and plenty meat on them and discs are have no lip so think it could be pad transfer as I'm running ebc redstuff pads can feel slight judder only when stopping quickly from high speed.

Anyway I've got some new pagid discs and pads today from ecp for £77 so going to replace them myself and get another mot test, as the place only do free test if the brakes are done by them. It a good job it was only £27 for test.

willydog you even say the brakes judder when braking from high speed this = warped discs  

unfortunatly the place every one is slating is correct they cant give a car an  mot if it has failed a brake test with warped discs.  

Take it out and do some very heavy braking from speed. (Obvs where it is safe to do so)

 

Sometimes the calipers go a bit out of balance over time if you are gentle on the brakes, and an Italian tune up can restore balance.

 

Of course a proper garage would have taken the car out and tried this themselves......My Octavia had front brake balance problems at the last MOT that was sorted with a few harsh brake applications.   

the op has already been doing heavy braking as he says they judder when braking quickly from high speed he has warped discs no amount of braking can fix this .

 

i love your comment (of course a proper garage would take your car out and thrash the brakes to fix them) a proper garage would do a brake test to diagnose the problem then strip and clean or replace and put fresh copper slip on .    

Thanks for all the comments and advice. The only thing I'm not happy is the price for the work as it is more than what a Skoda garage would quote and their attitude when I refused to ask them to do the work.

Bazzer1955, on 21 May 2016 - 20:38, said:

I thought it was common knowledge that Kwik fit were known for these sort of tactics, you go in for one thing and end up with a multitude of repairs that you do not need.

A mate of mine took his old Fiesta to Kwikfit as they were doing a special offer on MOT's. They failed it on a "binding" rear brake, and told him that it required new brake shoes, drums and handbrake cables and quoted him £370 to do it all    .

He brought it to me and when I spun the rear wheel, it completed about 5 full rotations until stopping and I quickly realised that it was just the handbrake cable that was a bit stiff. A few squirts of WD40 soon had it spinning freely. Total cost £0.00. 

His Mrs was straight on the blower to Kwikfit head office to complain !!

may sound daft but  have you checked the tyre pressures  had something similar AFTER servicing the front brakes  

the op has already been doing heavy braking as he says they judder when braking quickly from high speed he has warped discs no amount of braking can fix this . 

 

The first post of this thread said the problem was brake imbalance, hence my advice......which I stand by as the first thing you should try with those symptoms (ie imbalance). If the brakes are juddering then the discs are warped and need replacing along with the pads......although not at £276. A dealer would probably charge less than that.   

 

 

i love your comment (of course a proper garage would take your car out and thrash the brakes to fix them)

 

Awww.......thanks!  

Edited 22 May, 201610 yr by booke23

Anyone reading this - please stop using Kwikfit for anything other than tyres and Halfords for car accessories, these threads are becoming increasingly common.

 

Take it to a proper garage with proper mechanics. 

Wise words

 

Every time my Mrs's Aunty has a Kwikfit MOT it always has an advisory for a brake imbalance on the rear brake drums and for the past 2 years I have re-adjusted them.

 

Now I know not to bother judging by all of these threads.

Irrespective of anything else in this thread as to whether or not another MOT garage would of failed or not, It seems KF have certainly put up their prices. Skoda dealers are only £235 for pad and disc change or £275 for vRS!