Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
View Threaded
Thu 4 Jul 2013 11:03
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Meatballs

I took my 58 reg Mondeo to a Kwik Fit for a brake check last week.

I was told that the rear discs and pads were totally worn, and that the front were near the limit.

I had the rear discs and pads replaced for a total of £215 (inc VAT). The didn't include changing the brake fluid in the quote, but that was done too.

I didn't get the fronts replaced, because they still have a bit of life in them, and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't paying too far over the odds, but I thought that I should get the rears done, because I had noticed a lot of wear on the rear discs myself, so believed that the were completely gone.

I've got a couple of questions that I'm hoping you folks could maybe help me with.

1) Have I paid over the odds for the rears brakes? (in London)

2) Is that amount of wear unusual for a car that has only done 30,000 miles? I do tend to coast down hills (of which there are a few), and so rely on the brakes rather than engine braking. If the wear is excessive, could that explain it?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Edited by Meatballs on 04/07/2013 at 11:06

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 13:01
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - craig-pd130

Why did you have a brake check done, was there a problem?

When you last had the car MOT tested, was there an advisory from the tester about the brake discs or pads?

I did 38,000 miles from new in a Mondeo IV TDCI and it was still on the original discs and pads all round when I sold it.

Fast-fit companies and dealers will often 'encourage' people to change discs and pads as it's a nice earner for them, whether they need changing or not. An independent MOT tester will let you know when they REALLY need changing.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 13:15
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - oldtoffee

Surprised that your rears have worn the same or more than the fronts. My Santa Fe has done 40,000 from new and the fronts are 60% worn and the rears 40%, all discs are good. I don't think the price you've been charged is excessive for a Fast fit in theSouth East but I do suspect they probably made it sound worse than it was.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 13:24
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Meatballs

My Santa Fe has done 40,000 from new and the fronts are 60% worn and the rears 40%, all discs are good.

I have a feeling that I ignored the grinding for a bit too long, and probably did damage to the discs because of that.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 13:22
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Meatballs

Why did you have a brake check done, was there a problem?

When you last had the car MOT tested, was there an advisory from the tester about the brake discs or pads?

I had it done because I was getting a grinding sound from the rear brakes and when I looked at the rear discs there seemed to be a lot of wear compared to the fronts. When I ran my finger of the contact area on the discs there were noticeable "valleys" (not just grooves), so I'm fairly happy that they were significantly worn.

The front discs, in comparison, look OK (to my untrained eye).

I had it MOTed recently at the same garage, but there was no mention of brake wear.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 14:00
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Collos25

Probably just needed new pads these guys are on commission so its in there interest to sell as much as possible.A good way to quickly check your discs is to run your fingur over them there should be no uneveness or a big ridge at the at the outer edge.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 20:17
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - gordonbennet

Though the mileage seems low, the car has seen around 5 winters worth of salt, so i expect low mileage has actually increased the wear rate due to rust forming on the discs, hence the wear ''valleys'' you describe.

Price doesn't seem too bad to me, you might have got it done £40 cheaper but then they also bled your brakes out apparently without charge, so you haven't been turned over.

To put it in perspective i had to renew discs and pads on our C2 VTS at 4 years old circa 30k miles, front discs well worn but evenly, rears like yours groovy man.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 20:55
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Meatballs

Price doesn't seem too bad to me, you might have got it done £40 cheaper but then they also bled your brakes out apparently without charge, so you haven't been turned over.

To put it in perspective i had to renew discs and pads on our C2 VTS at 4 years old circa 30k miles, front discs well worn but evenly, rears like yours groovy man.

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better.

I will probably get Kwik Fit to do the front brakes too. I thought I had misunderstood the brake guarantee, but it do seem that they will replace them free of charge if they wear out again - so I suppose that is worth paying a bit extra.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 4 Jul 2013 22:37
Ford Mondeo - Wear on rear brakes - Galaxy

I will probably get Kwik Fit to do the front brakes too. I thought I had misunderstood the brake guarantee, but it do seem that they will replace them free of charge if they wear out again - so I suppose that is worth paying a bit extra.

They'll replace them for free should they wear out again, providing you agree to have any necessary work connected with the brakes, that they deem necessary at the time, carried out as well!

Don't you know a small, local, independent garage you could use instead, OP?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

10 warranty myths exposed

Here’s how to sort the fact from the fiction when it comes to car warranties.

Cheap Car Warranties

Choosing a child seat can be a quite baffling experience – there are so many sizes, types, brands and price points available that you might not know where to start.

How to choose the right child seat