So last car I had that failed an mot was 2005 I think so in uncharted territory 😆

 

Cars down at main dealer for service and they want 1k to replace the front disks and pads !

 

I said no thanks and called my local Indy who can do it for half that ish.

 

Car is at main dealer and I’ve said I will pick it up on Monday morning and take to Indy.

 

Main dealer will re test for free so question is would it be legal to pick car up on Monday and drive it home then back to dealer on Tuesday for retest ?

 

They'd retest for free even if you remove the car from their premises ?

As to driving was it classed as a Dangerous Defect ?  As if so then it can't be driven.

 

A thousand pounds to replace front discs and pads. I must be so out of touch with prices or are they something special ?  Those bits would cost me about £100 on my Yeti and take me a couple of hours at most.

Edited 30 August, 20241 yr by aubrey

19 minutes ago, aubrey said:

They'd retest for free even if you remove the car from their premises ?

As to driving was it classed as a Dangerous Defect ?  As if so then it can't be driven.

 

A thousand pounds to replace front discs and pads. I must be so out of touch with prices or are they something special ?  Those bits would cost me about £100 on my Yeti and take me a couple of hours at most.

They will retest for me for free.

 

Dangerous ? They said the light had just come on wasn’t on when I took it down .

 

cant be driven how’s that work if you are just at an mot station then ?

 

Well done on the Yeti price I don’t have the time or inclination to do the job myself anymore.

Put your reg number into the MOT Checker

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

As said if they logged it as a dangerous fault then it can't officially be driven. If the light only just appeared then there will be some pad material still left, but I've no idea how MOT classes that.

Also the pad sensor is often only on one side so uneven wear could be different other side 

Edited 30 August, 20241 yr by aubrey

The light coming on was awfully convenient for them don't you think?

 

I bet if you were to turn up unannounced to take the car away they would start flapping and saying there is something they have to do urgently to your car before handing it over like reconnect the sensor connector they disconnected and do a print out of the logged fault code.

 

Its undesirable to have an MOT done by a place that also does repairs but I appreciate that MOT garages like my pals who only do MOTs are thin on the ground, even more undesirable is allowing a main stealer to do it.

41 minutes ago, Nick_H said:

called my local Indy who can do it for half that ish.

 

And still make an obscene profit.

Mmmm MOT says still valid to 6th September…

 

Maybe it takes a while to update …

 

Maybe ..

 

Google says usually updates overnight

Edited 30 August, 20241 yr by Nick_H

1 minute ago, Nick_H said:

Maybe it takes a while to update …

Or maybe they didn't do an official MOT.

Sure I've checked afterwards and my details were there almost immediately.

So if not officially failed then as the website states your vehicle is still has a valid MOT.

Recheck in the morning I guess to be sure.

6 minutes ago, aubrey said:

Or maybe they didn't do an official MOT.

 

Which would be a shame because VOSA would come down hard on them if they did what I suspect.

 

 

 

So you can drive the car  from the testing station because the old MOT is still valid, The Police would only be interested  if it was flagged as Dangerous.

 

If the light has only just come on it would be unlikely the pads were dangerous

 

 

6 minutes ago, aubrey said:

Or maybe they didn't do an official MOT.

Sure I've checked afterwards and my details were there almost immediately.

So if not officially failed then as the website states your vehicle is still has a valid MOT.

Recheck in the morning I guess to be sure.

I had a look at the pads last week and thought they are just about ready and the disks are lipped but if I thought oh crap they are dangerous I would have sorted straight away. No way do I think they will be dangerous for the 2 mile drive from the stealer to the Indy.

Given that discs and pads with zero wear are routinely shown on the service invoice to be "75% worn" (its simply a keystroke code in the invoicing software to make money) then I'm not surprised they would start the scare tactics with pads that maybe are approaching 75% worn.

 A good place for an independent MOT is the Local council yard/garage

The .GOV site might say ‘overnight’ but I’ve found it be almost instantaneous…….

Well I was told the car needed new disks and new pads and I could not drive it so I had to come home on the bus and leave it at the dealer until Monday ....

 

MOT Expires on September 6th

 

This is what the site says :

 

Repair immediately (major defects):

• Offside Front Brake pad(s) worn down to wear indicator (1.1.13 (a) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):

• Front Brake disc worn, but not excessively (1.1.14 (a) (i))
• Nearside Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement Wishbone Bush (5.3.4 (a) (i))

 

https://bookmygarage.com/blog/will-worn-brake-pads-lead-to-mot-failure/#:~:text=If your brake pads are,a reason for MOT failure.
According to this, 1.5mm pad thickness is the criteria and not the warning light. Pretty recent article so should be fairly accurate.

Maybe worth calling them out on it armed with knowledge and a little bravado, I personally think they are trying to make a mug out of you. You can also dispute their decision too I believe but not sure how long winded that would be. 

https://www.theaa.com/mot/advice/what-do-i-do-if-my-mot-fails

 

I would take my chances & drive it from the dealer to the garage of your choice. 

 

If the brakes were working fine when you drove it there, they will be working fine for 2km more.

 

Pads worn to the indicators still have material on them. 

There is a risk you'll scratch the disks if you don't replace sooner then later but again 2km won't destroy them.

-

Edited 31 August, 20241 yr by Paws4Thot
Error in statement deleted

Is there even a wear indicator on an offside front brake pad?

Usually on inner pad of nearside front?

 

Edit: wiring diagram says there is, front right looks like the only one on S3.

Edited 31 August, 20241 yr by Breezy_Pete
checked

I had this last year. Main dealer said it was a fail, I took it to a local garage I trusted who wanted to know why I thought they needed to be replaced. The re MOTed and off I went.

 

@Nick_H did you get this sorted? I just finally got mine MOT’d this morning after failing on a bulge in the front o/s tyre on Monday at a local F1 Autocentres, ordered two new tyres and went back at 4.30 yesterday for the retest. 
The fitter then proceeded to wreck my locking wheel nut trying to remove the first wheel with brute force. Had to go home and remove it myself after remedial work to bodge the nut back into shape. 
Seriously tight bolts being the cause and a heavy handed lad with a breaker bar of course!

Anyway, hope you got it sorted which ever route you had to take 🤞🏻

1 hour ago, Windybum said:

The fitter then proceeded to wreck my locking wheel nut trying to remove the first wheel with brute force.

Er, they're not supposed to dismantle the car to carry out an MoT!

On 31/08/2024 at 06:48, Breezy_Pete said:

Is there even a wear indicator on an offside front brake pad?

Usually on inner pad of nearside front?

Mine is offside front. Managed to mangle the connector when taking out the old pads though. It seemed to have become a little brittle over time. 

35 minutes ago, Gammyleg said:

Mine is offside front. Managed to mangle the connector when taking out the old pads though. It seemed to have become a little brittle over time. 

Yep, as per my edit, seems S3 are all (and only) right side front.