I have just had my first MOT and 24000 mile service on my low-mileage Laguna: £240.
The dealer claimed the car needed new front brake discs and pads, even thought it's never had any pads and I don't think it's been driven heavily: £200.
They also claimed it need a new suspension coil spring: £200 as well.
Total bill for the service, MOT and repairs £640.
Are they taking the p*** or what? How in the world can a car need new discs at 24k?
It gets worse.
On Sunday, precisely 12 days after the new discs and pads were fitted, I'm driving along and on come all the brake warning lights together with "STOP".
Took the car to the garage today.
"ABS wire chafed and worn": £90.
I questioned whether there could, just possibly, be any relationship between the replacement of the discs and pads 12 days and 100 miles ago, and the sudden chafing of this wire which has sat there happily for three years. "Oh no, of course not. We tested the car before giving it back to you, and the fault would have shown straight away".
What do you think???
Haven't got anywhere on the latest fault but complained to Renault Customer Services the first time and they paid the £200 for the coil spring as a non "wear and tear" item. I am still disgruntled about the discs though, and this latest thing is just the final straw.
If I hadn't complained to Renault, I'd be down £730 on a 3 yr old, 24000 mile car.
Almost as much as it cost to buy my wife's car! And that's cost far less to run over the same period.
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In future, always ask for the old discs and pads back, if nothing else it will put them on their guard. Usually on the edge of the disc is some numbering which states the minimum disc thickness before replacement is required. Failing that if Haynes do a manual the braking section will state the minimum pad friction material thickness and the minimum disc thickness:- all you need is a ruler for the pads and a micrometer for the discs to check for yourself.
Out of interest last weekend I was checking my girlfriends 37000 mile Peugeot 206 1.4iLX petrol prior to its service and found that the front discs were 0.5mm below the minimum thickness, even though the pads were only about half worn. When I rang a local dealer to check for parts availability they thought that 37K was about normal for a set of front discs on a 206!! However 24000 miles does seem way low by any manufacturers (even French ones) standards.
Ian
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Mark,
Sad to say one of the most troublesome cars I look after is a 6yr old Laguna diesel with a genuine 45K and full service history, retired driver and well looked after.
David W
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Sadly, it's the price of the demise of asbestos in brake pads. I also think that as pads are classed as a consumable, their cost will show up as running costs to fleet users, but discs aren't. Therefore, by making pads last longer published running costs can be stated lower, but the knock-on effect is poor disc life.
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