2nd Service Expensive and New Brake Discs needed? Really?

ChrisT

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So just had 2nd service and it cost £220. Seems very expensive? They charged £1.25 for topping up the screen wash? £30 for a pollen filter.

The car is leased which is a disadvantage when it comes to servicing.

They then advised after a visual inspection the brake discs needed replacing. The mileage is 30k. Definitely getting a second opinion on that. Estimated charge for work £330.

Even my wife, who took it in, said 'we hardly use the brakes' due to regen.



We had a Leaf for 3 years and no maintenance work was needed.


 
Lipped and coroded. To be fair they are, rear wheels only. I will start using the breaks more.
Corroded - I get that due to the lack of friction use, because of the assisted braking coming from the Regen.
Lipped - I don’t get that at all ?.
This is usually caused by very hard braking and then a lip can then be produced on the disc rotor.
Disc surface rust and disc pitting / corrosion is always going to be a target, at the time of service and MOT’s on EV’s.
 
Lipping at 30K miles would be entirely normal but there will be wear limits (normally around 2mm in total thickness).
 
I owned a VW Golf PHEV for four years and covered about 27,000 miles, before going full BEV in 2019.
Over that time it received regular 12 month services at a main VW dealer.
I built up a really good relationship with the EV master tech there.
We would have a good chat about my car after each and every time it was worked on.
He would send me a health check video of what was reported on the health of the car.
It would report on tyre condition and tread depth etc.
Brake pad wear level and disc rotor condition and suspension condition.
When I sold the car, the brake pad condition was still at 95% SOH and the disc’s ( rotors ) displaying very little loss in thickness.
The rear disc’s had some slight pitting due to their lack of use, due to the lack caused by Regen braking.
Unless the brake disc’s ( rotors ) are made of extremely soft material or the car has been subjected to a LOT of heavy braking and the pads are low, then replacing them that early is hard to understand ?.
Brake services are going to be an easy target for work on EV’s because of their general lack of use of the foot brake.
I can predict they will be a target for work at MOT time also !.
Getting replaced far too early in there actual life span.
Pads being discarded when they are hardly touched !.
They have to make up for the money they are not making for changing all that engine oil / oil and air filters I guess 🤣.
 
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I will leave them until I absolutely have to change them ie mot. This is the dealership conundrum, how are they going to make money and it seems that they are going to charge silly money for a set of routine checks Gripe over!
 
If you can be bothered, it's possible to measure the thickness of a disc yourself.
Likewise, and with the assistance of places like this, you can also independently assess the overall condition of the disc so you can more confidently make a keep/replace decision in real time.
Waiting for the MOT test (which the car isn't even liable for till it's 3 years old) is not a substitute for good maintenance.
 
If you can be bothered, it's possible to measure the thickness of a disc yourself.
Likewise, and with the assistance of places like this, you can also independently assess the overall condition of the disc so you can more confidently make a keep/replace decision in real time.
Waiting for the MOT test (which the car isn't even liable for till it's 3 years old) is not a substitute for good maintenance.
I agree @Alb.
The problem here with MOT testing is this, if the cars fails due to what the TESTER considers is a failure issue ( rust / pitting on brake disc's etc ) then we either agree to replace them, or we are not receiving a pass ticket !.
What we consider is a pass matters not unfortunately, we are not testing the car.
This can be very frustrating for somebody who held a MOT licence, but is over ruled by somebody else.
Some issues can end up being what I describe as a "Opinion" snag.
One tester will pass it, while the next one will fail it !.
I NEVER use a main dealer for MOT testing, ever.
Some main dealers offer then for "Free" - But I have come to learn that nothing comes for free in this world.
 
I agree @Alb.
The problem here with MOT testing is this, if the cars fails due to what the TESTER considers is a failure issue ( rust / pitting on brake disc's etc ) then we either agree to replace them, or we are not receiving a pass ticket !.
What we consider is a pass matters not unfortunately, we are not testing the car.
This can be very frustrating for somebody who held a MOT licence, but is over ruled by somebody else.
Some issues can end up being what I describe as a "Opinion" snag.
One tester will pass it, while the next one will fail it !.
I NEVER use a main dealer for MOT testing, ever.
Some main dealers offer then for "Free" - But I have come to learn that nothing comes for free in this world.
On Martin Lewis's website, he advises using gargaes which MOT public service vehicles. They have no hidden agendas for making excess money from their customers.
 
I find it unusual for the rears to be replaced before the fronts I would normally point to the brakes binding which is not uncommon on rear callipers with hand brake built in
Can't find rear data unfortunately but found front
Screenshot_20221008_202722.jpg
 
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You can find rear pads wearing faster than fronts on cars with an electronic stability system. This is the case with my other car.
 
You can find rear pads wearing faster than fronts on cars with an electronic stability system. This is the case with my other car.
Never had this I run my own small workshop only 2 or 3 cars a week but over the last 25 years quite a lot of brakes done normal except to see 2 front to 1 rear on discs there are some exceptions some 4x4 and vans/pickups with heavy loads oh and some Peugeot that have a brake balance valves that stick maybe the extra weight of the battery may have something to do with it but I am not convinced @ChrisT could you be so kind as to take some pictures?
 
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So just had 2nd service and it cost £220. Seems very expensive? They charged £1.25 for topping up the screen wash? £30 for a pollen filter.

The car is leased which is a disadvantage when it comes to servicing.

They then advised after a visual inspection the brake discs needed replacing. The mileage is 30k. Definitely getting a second opinion on that. Estimated charge for work £330.

Even my wife, who took it in, said 'we hardly use the brakes' due to regen.



We had a Leaf for 3 years and no maintenance work was needed.



Are you driving with high regen much?

My Ioniq 38 discs and pads were like new after 20K and 2 years but the brake usage was so low as I drove with regen at the highest level, which is pretty close to one pedal driving.
 
I find it unusual for the rears to be replaced before the fronts I would normally point to the brakes binding which is not uncommon on rear callipers with hand brake built in
I have to agree with that @N2STY.
The rears get even less work to do than the front and they are not over worked either 🤣 .
Rear handbrake callipers / motors etc tend to stick or seize and the disc's are prone to pit with rust.
All mainly due to the lack of any serious work to conduct really.
The braking fiction pad material tends to me much thinner on the rears than the front pads from new as standard and I understand why, less wear !
This is reflective of the fact that about 75% of the braking efficiency is done by the front brakes.
When the callipers are assembled with the pads when new, they never receive any type of anti seize lub, which just makes matter even worse.
Road smuts / salt / water spray and lack of any service travel / use, results in an early target for a brake service or even rear disc and pad replacement prematurely in my opinion.
MOT's are a prime target.
I guess it's a different set of circumstances between ICE and EV vehicles.
Disc's on a ICE tend to get replaced when they either become worn below the min thickness recommend by the manufacture, or more often than not, because the disc's have warped due to excessive heat ( causing disc run out ) and this can be felt through the steering wheel as a vibration when braking.
With EV's it is almost the opposite situation, the disc's will getting replaced due to the lack of use, not over use thats for sure !.
Unless you have a high performance Tesla etc and you drive it like you stole it 🤣.
Regardless, you going to get caught for replacements either way !.
Hoping that they will be third party firms suppling disc's and pads by the time I need any for my car, because if they are OEM parts ONLY, it usually means it's time to remember to put a board down the back of your pants when you visit the dealer !.
 
Are you driving with high regen much?

My Ioniq 38 discs and pads were like new after 20K and 2 years but the brake usage was so low as I drove with regen at the highest level, which is pretty close to one pedal driving.
We hardly use the brakes. Always on regen 3 and anticipate stops.
 
Never had this I run my own small workshop only 2 or 3 cars a week but over the last 25 years quite a lot of brakes done normal except to see 2 front to 1 rear on discs there are some exceptions some 4x4 and vans/pickups with heavy loads oh and some Peugeot that have a brake balance valves that stick maybe the extra weight of the battery may have something to do with it but I am not convinced @ChrisT could you be so kind as to take some pictures?
Sure will do.
 
Never had this I run my own small workshop only 2 or 3 cars a week but over the last 25 years quite a lot of brakes done normal except to see 2 front to 1 rear on discs there are some exceptions some 4x4 and vans/pickups with heavy loads oh and some Peugeot that have a brake balance valves that stick maybe the extra weight of the battery may have something to do with it but I am not convinced @ChrisT could you be so kind as to take some pictures?
 

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The biggest problem is getting the parts I have trade accounts with eurocarparts gsf and allparts and I can't get the rear discs or at least not listed for zsev that's when dealers get you over a barrel and your pockets have to be a bit deeper
The fact its working better on piston side/inside the slide pins are probably a bit seized as well again Common with lack of use
 
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