I took my two year old Volvo V50 into a nationwide brakes specialist on Tuesday 3rd July because my brake pads appeared worn and would probably need replacing. I was informed that all four brake pads needed replacing and the job was completed in half an hour. When I left the branch I carried onto my work I noticed that the brakes were making an unusual screeching sound that seemed to be relieved once the brakes were applied. I am aware that new brake pads need to bed in so was prepared to suffer some noise, but it became apparent that after one hundred miles (home ? work twice) the noise was not diminishing. I took the car back to the nationwide brakes specialist on the 5th July and all the pads were replaced. I was informed that the pads seemed to be ?pitted and worn as if they were old pads? and would be returned to the manufacturer under warranty.
Another set of pads were fitted on July 11th after travelling 500 miles failed to cure the screeching noise. This new set were ordered specially be the nationwide brakes specialist parts dept who ?had experienced this once before on a V50?. They failed to make a difference and five miles down the road began to scream again. I telephoned the nationwide brakes specialist and was told that they would purchase genuine Volvo brake pads and these were fitted on July 18th. After travelling thirty miles down the M1, I had to leave the motorway because the screeching was causing other drivers alarm.
On 20th July I informed the nationwide brakes specialist that I needed to take the car into a Volvo main dealer to get them to remedy the situation. They agreed with the suggestion and said that they would inform their area manager. Volvo inspected the brake pads and before even removing them, stated that they were non-Volvo brake pads because the edges were square and not bevelled. The pads had also not been greased to enable them to fit properly in the brake shoes. On removing the pads they found that the front pads were manufactured by Fomico and the rear pads were UniPart ? neither were stamped Volvo brake pads.
I agreed to allow Volvo to remove and then bevel the edges of all the fitted brake pads and grease the shoes to allow for a correct fit which would take approximately an hour. The cost of the work was £160 + VAT. Having informed the nationwide brakes specialist, he said that they had definitely fitted genuine Volvo parts because he had the Volvo box in front of him which had been purchased from Volvo in St Albans. I informed him that there was no branch of Volvo in St Albans. He said that the ?Volvo? pads were not bevelled and therefore were the correct pads, having replaced the (third) set which, curiously, were. I told him that the Volvo main dealer considered bevelling the pads a normal procedure for correct fitting, but he said that would now invalidate the warranty - even though he suggested that it was a procedure that should only take about five minutes which is strange; Why wasn?t this procedure attempted by the nationwide brakes specialist on any of the previous sets of square pads then? I refuse to believe that bevelling the edges of the pads should invalidate the warranty.
I have suffered three weeks of brakes screeching and I have been more than patient with four visits to the nationwide brakes specialist. I have spent several hours having brake pads replaced without complaint since it was handled in such a courteous and professional manner. It is apparent that information for the correct specification and fitting of Volvo V50 brake pads has not been communicated to the nationwide brakes specialist fitters and that is a failure on the part of management. The fitters in the nationwide brakes specialist addmitted that mine was the first V50 they had ever fitted brake pads to, but that should not excuse the incorrect fitting.
Am I being unreasonable in asking for the cost of bevelling? - Even if it does sound steep at £188, since the nationwide brakes specialist could not fix the screeching after 4 sets of pads?
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If fitting station has incorrectly done the job and you have given them the chance to correct and they have agreed for you to take it to Volvo to sort then they should pay the bill.
But it would be easier if you had it in writing!
But why do Volvo have to alter their own pads to "cure" this problem? Is it more than just bevelling needed. £ 188 seems very excessive for just this operation.
I suspect there is more to the problem than the bevelling !
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There are vast amounts of "Fake " parts in the system.Mainly from the far East,they appear to be genuine-in boxes with the manufacturer's name-go to a proper dealer for proper parts-even then occasionally concerns..Just remember that these firms also supply airplane parts next time you go on holiday.
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I don't think it's unreasonable of you to expect the nationwide specialist to pay the £188 it eventually cost you to have the brakes fixed. After all they couldn't do the job, even after several attempts so what else are you supposed to do?
However, it does make me wonder why you even considered taking a 2yr old card into a nationwide specialist in the first place? Risking your manufacturer warranty (amongst others things) for some poor quality over priced pads from a nationwide specialist is beyond comprehension.
Either get the parts yourself from Volvo and fit them at home or get the car into the main dealer. Just use genuine parts! Using cheap pads on what I presume are your original discs is likely to result in their early demise. Cheap pads tend to cut into discs and score them badly.
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>>However, it does make me wonder why you even considered taking a 2yr old card into a
>>nationwide specialist in the first place?
Agreed and it makes me wonder too. These places tend to be cheap and cheerful, but not always so cheap when it comes to the bill. Personally I wouldn't let my car anywhere near a fast-fit style place, especially for safety critical work like brakes. Just because they may have a brake specialist fitter, it doesn't mean that he actually knows what he is doing, it just means he went on a half day course, oh and the 'brake specialist badged' overalls fitted happened to be his size too.
I'm not going to go through the finer details of what they did or didn't do and what they should or shouldn't have done, but suffice to say that by the sound of it they have fobbed you off with set after set of cheap aftermarket pads and probably properly sourced Volvo OE pads have have done the job without any additional tinkering.
One other thing that is botheriing me though and that is that you said: "I took my two year old Volvo V50 into a nationwide brakes specialist on Tuesday 3rd July because my brake pads appeared worn and would probably need replacing". How did you know this? Was there actually any evidence to suggest that the pads did indeed need replacing?
And then you went on to say: "I was informed that all four brake pads needed replacing", which I assume means that the brake pads were changed on all four corners of the car. Now if I have intrepreted that correctly it is somewhat remarkable that both the front and rear pads would have worn out at exactly the same time. Okay they both may be worn but did they both need replacing there and then? I think that they have done the old 'find as much wrong as you can' with the car and thought they may be making a few easy extra quid out of you.
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He also stated that they recognised they were not Volvo pads because the edges were not bevelled, and then went on to say Volvo have to bevel their pads to work correctly.
Jumping on the anti genuine parts wagon is 1 thing; but in this case I dont think the pads were the actual cause of the problem.
It sounds more like a fitting error, caliper binding problem, or even different discs fitted to those expected?
Not often I defend the fast fitting places; and I do agree the guy was lucky the overalls fitted after his half day course. But do remember Volvo had to do work to their pads to correct the "fault". More to this than meets the eye I think.
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I agree that the original story doesn't look right.
These Volvos have an ATE (Teves) braking system on them - its all very conventional. Some pads do have bevelled edges on them, as an anti-squeal precaution, however I don't think the ATE pads do. It is certainly not normal for the fitter to start filing the pads to a bevel - that sounds very strange. The normal procedure would be to fit the pads as they come out of the box, with a smear of copper grease on the back to stop squeal. Also put a light coating in the pad carriers to stop siezing. Any re-working of the pads by the fitter is a no-no and not something that a brake pad manfr would endorse. Squealing can be caused by a glazed disc, in which case the disc should be cleaned up.
I think it is highly unlikely that the fast-fit company fitted incorrect pads; Volvo do not make their own pads, they would be made by ATE and probably have both Volvo branding and ATE markings on them. Other companies make pattern pads and they are usually OK - certainly Unipart should be fine - not sure about 'Fomico' - do your mean 'Fomoco' ? (i.e. Ford) which could be OEM since Ford own Volvo.
If the Volve dealer charged £160+VAT to bevel and refit the pads then that's just an outrageous rip-off and I wonder how the service manager sleeps at night. A complete F+R set of ATE pads for this car can be bought from a factors for about £60 inc VAT. I shudder to think what the OP has paid in total for what should be a straightforward job! I imagine the Volvo dealer took great delight in telling you that the pads had been wrongly fitted and charging you this extortionate sum as 'punishment' for straying outside the dealer network!
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Agree totally with Aprilla. Pads should be taken out of the box, a light smear of copper slip on the rear and a bit on the sliders to stop it seizing. They should then be fitted to the vehicle. Under NO circumstances should you need to start filing them. If any form of filing is required I would hand them back and say they are incorrect. Pads are fit and forget - all the thousands of pads I've ever fitted I've NEVER had to resort to using a file!!! I suggest you talk to the service manage of the Volvo dealership and ask him to show you which technical bulletin his mechanic got this advice from. I bet he can't produce the evidence.
I would also write to Volvo customer service to find out if this is common practice.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
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