Been meaning to post this for a while, but time rolls on quickly..

 

As the title says, my 2014 VRS has just had a major service at Skoda and has just turned 30k miles. I was advised that both my front discs and pads, AND rear discs and pads should be changed because: (quoting the paperwork i have)

 

"Front brake discs slightly lipped, pads worn between 65-70%" - £295.00 to replace

and

"Rear brake discs slightly corroded on outside edge of face, pads ok at current" - £295.00 to replace (i think they do discs and pads at the same time hence the same price). (they kinda look like the pad is not making contact with the whole disc so the outer edge has a little bit of rust on them..the sort of thing I would expect to form after a car wash, and then you put your foot on the brakes and 'clean that off' (except not in my case i guess.) It really doesn't look bad to me - but I guess I am not a brake expert.

 

So a cool £590  The car has been fully Skoda serviced and whilst I was expecting that the pads would need replacing, that all the discs are 'shot' all round is a bit of a shock, as is the bill, and at only 30k miles

 

Now brakes are pretty important so I will probably look to get this done but I figure that I may as well use the 30% left on the pads anyway first,  but is this a typical sort of lifetime for brakes? I appreciate its the VRS model - but its fitted with the VRS brakes and I assume Skoda fit whats needed to stop the car? I am just being tight here and should cough up the dough, I bought a fast car - I need to pay for the upkeep?. 

 

2014 model and 30k miles is well below average mileage (i only do around 8k a year) can I ask, how have other 2014 model VRS owners faired, is this the norm?

 

Another question, I seem to recall that VRS front brake disc size shrunk on newer models, but I am guessing I would get the same size disc replacements that I currently have on the car, right? they wouldn't downsize them as that's the new 'standard'? would they..

 

Thanks for your time.

 

 

Got a mate in the trade to ask for a 2nd opinion? Probably just Skoda dealer trying to scare you into parting with your money well before you need to. I get the rears rusting up a bit from time to time, I think it's down to the back calipers getting 'lazy' if you just pootle around because the front discs are so bloody big they do all the braking before the rears are called upon to act. I tend to give it a 'spirited' drive and that gets the rears heated up and shiny again.

 

From what I've read on here it was only the diesel Vrs that had the smaller front discs fitted after a certain time 'yr16' I think.

 

 

Edited 22 August, 20187 yr by hatchy

Sounds like there’s plenty of life left in them yet. 

 

My independent dealer just told me my front pads are 70% worn, but he said, not to worry, we’ll have another look at them when we MOT it in six months’ time. 

 

Save your money for now. 

That much wear over such a short mileage is higher than usually reported.

The disks are not made of a particularly durable material and they are not very thick, so corrosion from salted winter roads and mainly urban journeys with a lot of brake use will take its toll. It is not unusual to have to replace pads and disks at the same time for recent VW based vehicles.

The rear brakes on my mk2 (over 90k km) wore faster than the front brakes because I did a lot of light braking and the rear brakes are applied before the front brakes to reduce the nose dipping. Normal or heavy braking will put more wear on the front brakes.

I'd concur with the above comments suggesting that based on the dealer's report, that replacement may be a bit premature especially with your low annual mileage. 

I'd put it under their 'duty of care' requirements and their may be poetic license in the wording to prompt the unwary into commissioning unnecessary work.

When is your MOT due? That would provide a less biased second opinion at least. 

 

I would ask if that is their best price as my local did keener prices for cars older than three years because they know out of warranty people will go to cheaper independent VAG specialists - you have time to carry out a bit of price research.

I've never needed new discs or pads on any car I've had from new, right to the point I usually part-ex at 60-80K miles.  They've never even been flagged as advisories on an MoT.  I had a Leon FR ST 184 TDI which was the same vintage as your vRS and shared most components incl. brakes IIRC and those were fine after about double the mileage you're on, and that was remapped too. 

 

The dealer is likely chancing some extra work off the back of the service.  I wouldn't worry about the 'slightly corroded' comment either; my car has covered less than 4k and the hubs and outer lip on the discs are already starting to rust. 

 

If you're concerned then get a 2nd opinion from a reputable VAG indy specialist. 

 

Seems pretty low milage but of course depends on how you drive. Just had my first discs & pads (front only) at ~60k.

 

My pads did manage to gain material between dealer visits once (70% wear then 60% wear a couple of months later) - so take values with a rich of salt!

Depends entirely on your driving. Identical cars can have a wild variation of brake life depending on the driver. 

 

Get it done at an independent or do it yourself. It'll be a fraction of the price. 

Get a free brake check at ATS or many other garages. Free second opinion  

 

My Nissan Leaf electric car has regenerative motor braking, we rarely use the actual brakes. But was told needed £250 to replace front pads and disks when had warranty work carried out. I took the car to my trusted ATS garage: nothing needs doing, brake had hardly worn and looks perfect.

2015 vrs tdi with the big brakes only lasted 110k (miles not km) front and rears the same 

40 minutes ago, johnrowley said:

2015 vrs tdi with the big brakes only lasted 110k (miles not km) front and rears the same 

 

Only 110k? That's good going in my book!

 

My car is on its third set of discs/pads now, the first two sets both lasted about 70-75k miles. On the most recent replacement the pads weren't actually that low but the discs were quite corroded and lipped. Since the pads have to be removed to replace the discs and the pads are cheaper than the discs it makes sense to replace them at the same time.

 

In the OP's case I doubt they really need doing yet. I would get a second opinion. If/when they do need replacing then you should be able to save a lot of money taking it to an independent garage. There's nothing special about the brakes that requires a dealer/specialist.

Because I use gears /rally the car…& only drive it once a week I eat discs & pads....

 

I have the 312mm discs...& I have found that the front face will look ok, but the rear face is totally shot with pad deposits…(I park in gear with HB off in garage)...

 

Basically if the disc has uneven wear its new pads also...you never fit new pads to worn unlevel discs....

 

 

I would look for a garage which does "pro lathe" cutting of the disc whilst still on the hub...much cheaper & just new pads...

Edited 24 August, 20187 yr by fabdavrav

2015 vRS here and I had to have new rear discs at 20k miles as they were noisy and pitted.  Front discs have a bit of a lip, but are otherwise fine.

 

Gaz

Edited 23 August, 20187 yr by V6TDI
can't type to save my life!

Never fit new pads to part worn disks??

 

since when?!?!

 

There are minimum thicknesses for disks. You are fine to that as long as disks are in good condition and with suitable remaining wear.

 

suggest ask your dealer what the remaining disk thicknesses were if they’re advising replacement they should know.

4 minutes ago, cheezemonkhai said:

Never fit new pads to part worn disks??

 

since when?!?!

 

There are minimum thicknesses for disks. You are fine to that as long as disks are in good condition and with suitable remaining wear.

 

suggest ask your dealer what the remaining disk thicknesses were if they’re advising replacement they should know.

 

Clarified that for you.....

 

It is recommended that the discs are level..eg recut flat.....if the discs have uneven wear, etc fitting new pads is unwise as the uneven surface of the worn disc will eat the new pads....

Ahh yes,

 

if the disks are not in good condition then I agree they shouldn’t have new pads on.

So they are saying you have a third of your brakes left to wear at 30,000 miles, so will run out at 45k assuming the wear rate stays the same. Just carry on and keep an eye on them. The wear indicator will surely display on the dash when they get down to 10% or so? 

5 hours ago, markrtw said:

 The wear indicator will surely display on the dash when they get down to 10% or so? 

Do they? I honestly did not know that was a feature on the Skoda having never run brakes that low.

I thought the sound of metal on metal would be the first indication.

Back in May after my first MOT and brake fluid change, with about 35k miles, was advised that my front pads were 80% worn, with an estimate of about 1000 miles left on them. This was at a Skoda dealer. In July I had it serviced (according to fixed schedule) at a recommended independent. Told that discs ok. Now on 42k miles and intend to replace them myself in the next month or so. Discs and pads from local factor for £90. Skoda wanted £320 for front set only...... 

Thanks for all the replies, good advice all. 

 

I agree that I should have some time to go yet, Interestingly the dealer has left me a answerphone message asking if I wanted to book the car in to get the work done, 2 months or so since the service, Its only done around 1/1.5k more miles since the service so not likely..at least not yet. Sounds very much, as some have commented, that the garage is trying to drum up some work a little early here. 

 

MOT was done at a different garage and there was no mention of brakes at all on that - passed 2 months or so prior to the service.

 

I didn't know that 2014 VRS has a low brake pad warning? if it has (can anyone confirm this?) then great..otherwise I was thinking if the discs needed doing anyway I may as well use them till they are truly shot or I feel they are unsafe (or MOT fail etc) IE. just short of having to open the door and dig my heel into the ground shouting "Whoa" as loud as I can to cover the passenger screams. (joking!)

The low brake warning used to be on the front left inner pad (on RHD cars)

 

i assume it is still there.

 

as for the garage....

 

mot doesn’t mention, garage does. I would get a quick check from a good Indy, or if you have a look and see what is what.

Are you f@#king mental,new discs at 30k,has it been on a permanent trackday since new ?

Location location location, there are plenty that have the Crap Discs that come from the VW Group needing Skimmed or Italian Tuned, or replaced from being a 'Demonstrator' Ex Management car that had been there 3,000 miles / 3 months and not sold.  Just red rusty pieces of crap.

 

I have had cars that needed new discs ever 18,000 months or so because they get seldom used while driving because the car has a DSG., and when the car sits a few hours after a drive or a wash the discs have 'Cosmetic Rust'.  

 

I have had other cars over a decade old sit next to new VW Group cars that can sit for weeks or months and the discs do not rust, and do not bind, and do not need to clean the rust off of as you set off driving.

 

Try 'Google Images'   and keywords 'briskoda rusty discs'   and see some of the crap that needs replacing with few miles or the passage of time.

Edited 25 August, 20187 yr by Offski

20 hours ago, Offski said:

I have had cars that needed new discs ever 18,000 months or so because they get seldom used while driving because the car has a DSG...

I'm curious to know what the link might be there - how does a DSG vs manual affect brake usage?

On 25/08/2018 at 14:49, 181ce said:

Are you f@#king mental,new discs at 30k,has it been on a permanent trackday since new ?

Hmmmm, I'd expect to replace discs every other set of pads so, yeah 30-35k miles seems about right.

 

Kinda depends how you drive I guess

Edited 26 August, 20187 yr by themanwithnoaim