Hiya,

I have a Skoda Fabia mk3 2020 and have recently been experiencing issue with the rear bakes sticking when the hand brake is released. This tends to happen when the car has not been used for 12 hours. The brakes release with a bit of a thud when the car is put into reverse or driven forward slowly. Any advice on what this could be caused by and potential cost to get it fixed.

Thanks

Depends if you have a (to me, proper) mechanical handbrake or (to me, horrible) electronic handbrake to possible, er, possibilities but are you sure it's the handbrake and not just the brakes being wet rusted, though 12 hours does seem a bit quick. Have a look at the brake discs and see how clean or rusty they are before using the car after a 12 hour brake.

It may be because of use and parking circumstances you need to clean up the rear brakes but a bit more use of them, more frequently and heavily. If you park on long grass or a hardstanding or drive that holds surface water and/or out of the wind and in the shadow.

It also depends on other systems on the car as to how much and how the brakes are generally used.

With the "old" mechanical handbrake you could apply it (when and where safe to do so) at lower speeds on and off to help clean the rears.

Very, very occasionally I think I've had a clonk from brakes when first reversing or driving off our hard(luck)standing with my wife's 2015 Mk3 manual gearbox manual handbrake and that usually doesn't sit used for more than a day unless my wife hasn't taken it away with her.

HTH.

Hi

The hand brake is a manual old school type and the rear brakes are drums rather than discs.

IIRC there used to be something about rear drums on VW (VWŠkoda) not being great but I can't remember this on Mk3 Fabia (but my memory isn't the best) so perhaps it is a fault. You could try having a look around the rear brakes for anything obvious but, er, obviously drum brakes are mainly within themselves, handbrake cable is visible though.

If the handbrake feels normal in use and no slack then if you don't have any warranty I can't think of anything else other than removing the wheels and having a look inside the drums. Others might know more and better.

When taking out the stupid wheel bolts (instead of wheel studs) do yourself and your back a favour and use two (or at least one) "wheel alignment tool(s)".

Have the brakes ever been serviced/cleaned, if not, that is something that you should get done now. Brake work tends to be "extra work" so can get left out at service time to avoid spending more money I'd think.

Hi, thanks for the advice

I do have a warranty on the car, as part of the all in one plan.

Do you think that this issue would be covered under warranty or might it be excluded and come under warranty the wear and tear exclusions ?

4 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Have the brakes ever been serviced/cleaned, if not, that is something that you should get done now. Brake work tends to be "extra work" so can get left out at service time to avoid spending more money I'd think.

Hi, all the servicing has been completed by Skoda main dealer so I suspect the brake drums would have never been cleaned/serviced.

Hopefully as I have an extended Skoda warranty they will complete this task if nothing else flags up as being the reason for the issue encountered

I'd think it will come under wear and tear, but how long did you have this car before this started to happen, if soon after buying it, I'd be expecting the seller to sort this out as it indicates a lack of servicing/checking before sale.

Just now, rum4mo said:

I'd think it will come under wear and tear, but how long did you have this car before this started to happen, if soon after buying it, I'd be expecting the seller to sort this out as it indicates a lack of servicing/checking before sale.

I've had the car from new however diagnostics is covered as part of the extended warranty, so it it's a case of the brakes needs cleaning rather than any parts failing, then fingers crossed it won't be a costly repair

I'm with rum4mo brakes will be wear and tear.

Dealership "oil servicing" on modern cars is little more than annual engine oil and filter change and a look for any chargeable (that they can get away with often) so not even a service for the engine let alone car. AFAIK they check the brake pads and linings, visually I would have thought by the guesses on the paperwork of my wife's car, certainly not any disassembly and/or cleaning. Changing the brake fluid is "additional work".

I've always taken diagnostics to be plugging in a scan tool though I've never seen any evidence of this from my wife's visits to the Dealership(s).

I doubt they well clean the rear brakes as they will want to change them - before you consider or have any work done ask the Dealership for a quote for both cleaning the rear brakes and replacing the wear and tear parts. I bet if they clean they will say to you the parts need replacing at additional work and charge, if you are lucky that will be whilst the rear brakes are apart and not when you turn up to pay for the work done and collect the car.

I have a low opinion of the English motor trade from decades of experience of using them and knowing people in the trade and I've not found the VWSkoda Dealership(s) my wife has used to be much better than most particularly as my wife as a woman that has very little interest in cars has dealt with them (until something goes wrong then I have to sort it with them as not a woman to be taken advantage of).

From checking stored faults before and after main dealership servicing, Audi, SEAT and Volkswagen, I've considered that "diagnostics check included" means if no MIL on then that box gets ticked.

"Check for updates" - carried out by service reception person - no customer complaints noted = no point in checking.

Admittedly a very down beat take on things, but main dealerships do tend to grind you down quite quickly, which is probably why anyone that can do their own car work does it, and those that can't suck it up - or move to proper garages for getting work done.

None of the VWŠkoda Dealerships (plural) paperwork including the bills (invoices), liesheets ticksheets, (complementary) Visual Health Checks mention anything about diagnostics or diagnostic checks or checking for updates.

I'm sure the "carry out 8yr/80,000 mile service to manufacturers specification" they would say covered this - but - none of the other service or other works done at the Dealerships (plural) had this "to manufacturers specification" qualification, I expect they have this written on a display somewhere in the Dealership (possibly the Service manger's desk drawer(?).

Even if they are different independent (that's a laugh) garages they could surely print invoices liesheets ticksheets, and (complementary) Visual Health to a standard VWŠkoda UK templates to include what should have been done or is in the possibility work scope (I don't expect spark plugs for a diesel).

Edited 19 September, 202519 Sep by nta16

It's been donkeys years since I had a car with hub brakes but from what you describe, I'd be thinking the following in order of likelyhood:

1. The brake shoe actuating lever within the hub having a siezed pivot, so when you take the handbrake off, the lever remains stubbonly in place and holding a shoe against the hub until the return springs of the shoes overcome the sticking and the brake shoe snaps back.

2. Corrosion on the raised areas of the hub back plate that the shoes slide against as they operate. The shoes are held against these raised areas by springs and the raised areas should be smooth and have brake grease applied. But if they haven't been greased and have corroded, it can cause the shoes to bind on. Again, when the force of the return springs is greater than the fiction, the shoe will snap back.

3. Handbrake cable siezed. This would have the same effect as the first scenario - but I suspect you might have noticed the handbrake was a little harder to apply if this was the cause.

This doesn't sound like a brake cylinder fault which would be the most expensive thing, but even those are actually pretty cheap to replace if it was.

This is unlikely to be covered by any warranty I'm afraid so make sure you read your T&Cs. It is often the case that a dealer will charge a standard diagnostic fee to establish if it is covered by the warranty - so you can end up paying more than you would if you took your car to a trusted and cheaper independent.

The good news is if it is either 1 or 2 above, it would take a good mechanic half an hour a side to get them working as they should.

Edited 26 September, 202526 Sep by Yorkshiremidge