2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:10
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - Rod Baxter

My wife and I are retired and live in Pembrokeshire. In October 2015 we purchased a new Nissan Qashqai. We had the first annual service in October 2016, the vehicle mileage was 7030. The second annual service has just been completed (06.10.2017) with the mileage now at 13970.

The local Nissan dealer has informed us that the vehicle requires new rear brake discs and pads. The dealer has said the vehicle is not safe to use, the brake pads are completely worn away, and the discs heavily scored. We are therefore left with no option but to leave the car at the dealership.

Nissan UK have confirmed that this is consistent with normal wear and tear and therefore not covered under warranty. The cost of repair is £245.00 + VAT = £294.00.

In 47 years of motoring I have never encountered such problems.

I do not feel the cost of repair should be placed on us and that 14000 miles does not represent a reasonable life expectancy for safety critical brake parts.

What is your opinion?

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:18
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - RobJP

Unfortunately, lack of use is the major cause of brake discs getting corroded and worn out - especially rear discs.

On modern cars, brake bias is heavily to the front, as this provides far more predictable and stable braking in most normal circumstances. In addition, if a car is parked up for a few days, you'll see orange rust formed on the discs.

When the car is then driven, the front discs get that corrosion 'scrubbed away'. But the rears don't, unless a decent mileage and/or some heavy braking is used. So that corrosion doesn't get 'scrubbed off', and thus eats in deeper, and eventually leads to the pads getting worn out too.

It's one of those cases where more 'spirited' driving and use of the brakes actually leads to the brake pads and discs lasting longer.

So no, I don't think you've got a case.

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:22
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - daveyjp

RobJP is right - low mileage is actually bad for brakes. They get wet and stay wet and this causes corrosion. This then leads to high and low spots on the disks and the grooves start forming.

Our Aygo went through front disks after 12,000 miles due to corrosion.

I have similar on the rears on my car, but it has done almost 30,000 miles. I am expecting rear brake work to be required when it is serviced some time this month.

However don't use the dealer - a local garage will do the job for half the price, if it is needed at all.

Edited by daveyjp on 11/10/2017 at 17:24

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:19
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - RichardW

Can you see the pads / discs through the wheels - do they look worn? Dealers are well known for trying on brake repairs, especially with the 'it's dangerous' tag. Is it making noises, does it feel like the brakes are not working? I'd be very suspicious, and want to have a look myself - if I did commit to replacement, I would certainly want to see the parts (and probably want to be there whilst they did it, to make sure they didn't recycle something out of the bin!). If they have worn away in 2 years / 15k then I would be making strong representations that there was a fault - rear brakes should last at least 40-50k; and if the fronts are not worn out, why are the rears???

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:33
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - RobJP

Can you see the pads / discs through the wheels - do they look worn? Dealers are well known for trying on brake repairs, especially with the 'it's dangerous' tag. Is it making noises, does it feel like the brakes are not working? I'd be very suspicious, and want to have a look myself - if I did commit to replacement, I would certainly want to see the parts (and probably want to be there whilst they did it, to make sure they didn't recycle something out of the bin!). If they have worn away in 2 years / 15k then I would be making strong representations that there was a fault - rear brakes should last at least 40-50k; and if the fronts are not worn out, why are the rears???

I explain exactly why the rears wear out faster than the fronts in my post. It's entirely feasible, and doesn't indicate any sort of 'fault' at all.

If you bought a new car and parked it up outside - especially in a coastal area - for 2 years, then you'd quite feasibly have to replace the discs and pads all round with 0 miles on the clock. Doesn't mean the originals were faulty in any way, shape or form.

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 17:42
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - tourantass
My sons VW golf was in for a service the other day at a VW main agent in Sheffield, he recieved a call off the service manager heighlighting a few issues with worn pads and disc, he then sent my son a detailed walk through video of the issues outlined by the technician who talked through his findings on the Video... My son was able to see for himself the work required.... Oh and yes they did start the video showing the cars reg before going under the vehicle.. so it was his car.
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Wed 11 Oct 2017 18:24
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - gordonbennet

I'll wager the pads are about half worn and the discs scored as rears often do.

If it were mine i'd at the most slip another set of pads in and worry about changing the discs next time, invariably you get 2 sets of pads worn out before needing a set of discs.

Would be very interesting if you could take pics of the offending discs and post them to a photo hosting site such as Flickr, then make a tinyurl link here.

There is another reason for fast wear on rear discs and thats the stability control doing its thing applying brakes individually to keep it all nice and straight, the rear pads on SWMBO Subaru wore out quite quickly, which was hardly a surprise cos i know what she drives like, corrosion was not an issue.

One other thing, has anyone serviced the brakes, they don't service brakes during what passes for servicing these days, the car having seen two winters the brakes may need cleaning up and lubing properly, what most main dealers do these days is peer at them and squirt some brake cleaner in the general direction.

Edited by gordonbennet on 11/10/2017 at 18:27

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 19:31
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - elekie&a/c doctor

I would be inclined to submit the car for an Mot test and see what transpires.

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Wed 11 Oct 2017 23:22
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - Halmerend
I’ve driven for 40 years and my Qashqai was the only car I’ve had that’s had to have discs replaced in the first three years of its life.
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Wed 11 Oct 2017 23:51
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - bathtub tom
I’ve driven for 40 years and my Qashqai was the only car I’ve had that’s had to have discs replaced in the first three years of its life.

Had to have, or advised to have?

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Thu 12 Oct 2017 07:51
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - madf

If you wash your car regualrly and then leave it without driving, you are exacerbating the issue as teh disks corrode. I always apply brakes several times after washing..Jazz rear disks are now 5 years old and perfect apart from a very small rust ring ..about 2mm wide.

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Thu 12 Oct 2017 20:32
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - Halmerend
Advised to have by Nissan MD.
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Thu 12 Oct 2017 13:25
2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T - Safety Issue - Rear Disc Brakes - Cyd

Dealers of all flavours are well known for "trying it on" over brakes (inparticular) and using "scary language".

You ARE at perfect liberty to drive your car away from the dealer. I would obviously inspect myself, but in your case I'd suggest the next stop should be a local indy with good rep for a second opinion.

If the second opinion concurs with the first, then you'll just have to suck it up and get it sorted. At least at the Indy, the bill is likely to drop below £200. Insist on discs and pads from a mainstream brand though.

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