My now seven year old Yeti has just been through its MOT and passed without incident but a substantial list under "Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories)". They all relate to brakes and suspension and as I'm of the old-fashioned view that the bits that stops you are rather more important than the bits that make you go faster they will be done  - the cars booked in for a couple of weeks time. But I am a bit curious as to whether the age and mileage (just coming up for 60,000 miles) makes these repairs pretty much to be expected. The advisories are:

 

Replace front discs.

Replace front and rear pads (this was identified at a service about 6 months ago and was intended to be done at the same time as the MOT ).

Replace both front brake disc backing plates - one has corroded away the other isn't far behind.

Replace nearside front shock absorber. 

 

When I were a lad shock absorbers were always replaced in pairs and it seems reasonable at 7 years/60,000 miles if one is failing then the other could be close behind so my gut feeling is bite the bullet and have both sides done together but is it normal practice these days to only have one replaced? (The additional cost of having both done is £200)

 

With both shock absorbers and all the brake work it's looking like around £350 parts and £500 labour which bearing in mind it's the first major expenditure (excluding tyres) in seven years and I'm not keen, or probably competent, to do the work myself doesn't seem so bad. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Are they not jobs you can do with help?
For not more than £250?

Edited 27 May, 20206 yr by Urrell

I’ve been asked to replace just one strut as the customer couldn’t afford both, but would always advise replacing both. 
 

Is this a independent or main dealer prices??

 

Fag packet maths .... At say £80/hr, £500 labour is 6.25hrs ..... 2.5 hrs for brake discs and pads (front and rear) 1.75 for both struts, leaving 2 hours for the stone guards by my rough calculations .... seems OK to me. 
 

If money is tight you could always buy your own parts, which would be cheaper.

 

Edit: I’ve guessed at the book times for these jobs as don’t know them for a Yeti off the top of my head 

Edited 27 May, 20206 yr by jars

Thanks guys. As regards doing it myself, with limited tools and less experience I don't fancy messing around with brakes and having been fortunate to have had a reasonably successful career in retirement the costs are affordable.  To answer Jars, it's a local garage that came well recommended to me and specialise in VAG cars and thanks for confirm my thought that replacing just one strut may be inadvisable and false economy in the long run. 

58 minutes ago, jars said:

Fag packet maths .... At say £80/hr, £500 labour is 6.25hrs ..... 2.5 hrs for brake discs and pads (front and rear) 1.75 for both struts, leaving 2 hours for the stone guards by my rough calculations .... seems OK to me. 

 

2 hours for replacing 2 stone guards with discs and struts off?

1 hour ago, jars said:

I’ve been asked to replace just one strut as the customer couldn’t afford both, but would always advise replacing both. 
 

Is this a independent or main dealer prices??

 

Fag packet maths .... At say £80/hr, £500 labour is 6.25hrs ..... 2.5 hrs for brake discs and pads (front and rear) 1.75 for both struts, leaving 2 hours for the stone guards by my rough calculations .... seems OK to me. 
 

If money is tight you could always buy your own parts, which would be cheaper.

 

Edit: I’ve guessed at the book times for these jobs as don’t know them for a Yeti off the top of my head 

on a ramp i would be disappointed if i couldn't do the brakes job in under 90 mins. front shocks no more than an 30 mins each being as wheels will be off already etc. stone guards are a 5 min job once the discs are off.

 

if the £500 labour includes vat it isnt too bad, if its plus vat then they are taking the pee.

Hi

 

If one shock absorber was damaged, e.g. in a collision, and the other was still fairly new, then replacing just one would be reasonable.  On the other hand if they have both done a fair mileage but just one is leaking, I would be inclined to replace both.  Then you can be pretty sure that they were made at the same time and have the same characteristics.  On a par with replacing both tyres on the same axle at the same time I suppose.  The MOT standard isn't especially arduous - no obvious leaks and a fairly minimal damping action. I would want a better standard for something I drove.

 

Surprised at backplates rusting through, that's a new one on me.  Again, I would replace them but I'm not sure it's strictly an MOT item for disc brakes, they are there to keep dirt off the inside faces of the disc but don't mechanically support anything.

 

Front and rear pad change and front disc change aren't too difficult as DIY jobs, but rear discs need a Spline Bit and a Caliper Wind Back tool, which will add £30 - ish to the DIY bill.  Although I enjoy and take a pride in doing my own maintenance,  when faced with brake work the prospect of dealing with filthy tight fasteners with limited working space under axle stands makes the idea of paying someone else to to it seem more and more attractive as the years go by ! 

Edited 27 May, 20206 yr by Austin 7
typo

29 minutes ago, Urrell said:

 

2 hours for replacing 2 stone guards with discs and struts off?

As I say, I was guesstimating the book times for the jobs that needed to be done.

 

Yes, they could be done quicker, as rover also states, but the garage will be charging the book time for each of the jobs as per the manufacture. 

 

1 hour ago, jars said:

Yes, they could be done quicker, as rover also states, but the garage will be charging the book time for each of the jobs as per the manufacture. 

 

If anybody quoted me that I would be going elsewhere and letting them know what for.
How can they charge for taking something apart that they have already charged for.

An additional 5 minutes for the stone guards as has been said.

 

Main dealers quote everything on the book times including 5 minutes to go to the stores for each of the parts

My car at its 2nd year service was recommended to have rear discs and pads replaced due to corrosion? I undersand this is a commom con as discs always look rusty at the edge where the pads don't touch. However it is only an mot fail if the discs are badly scored or go below the minimum thickness which is very unlikey in 2 years and about 30k miles.

I have ignored this and have noticed no issues with the brakes as the car comes up to its third service and what will be its first mot. So as the car has passed, these are actually still serviceable at the moment?

Doesn’t seem unreasonable at 7 years and 60,000 miles in UK

 

Of course it depends on routes taken, you could get more corrosion if you have travelled on salt laden motorways than untreated roads, especially if damp and it sprays into wheel bays.  Of course if you lived in semi-desert of Southern Spain would not expect this.

 

I notice your location shows as Havant, which is also near the sea, salty air will also raise corrosion levels.   The good news is if it has lasted 7 years then no logical reason that replacements of same quality shouldn’t last another 7 years.