I remember a friend replacing his brake pads on a circa 1998 Vectra - simple enough job, he thought; done it on other cars in the past. But when he'd done it, he found that the brake pedal went straight to the floor, and he finished up somehow having to get his car to a garage with no brakes.

If I remember, it was something like: pushing back the pistons in the calipers had 'flipped-over' the seal on the piston in the master cylinder??

Anyway, I could do with replacing the rear pads on my 2007 Astra, and I would like to know beforehand if this model is susceptible to the same thing happening?

Is the workaround to clamp the flexi-hose and open the bleed nipple instead, to be able to push the caliper piston(s) back?

Thanks in advance