Brother has a Golf IV TDI
He has VW extended warranty, all ok so far, but they told his wife when she was collecting the car after service, that they recommend replacing the front discs, due to corrosion on the outside edge, NOT the braking surface, the edges ! because " it wont dissipate the heat properly and it could be dangerous"
I think its nonsense, they are taking the SNIP as they can't charge for the many other things it needed but were done under the warranty, they also said the pads were 90% worn, but they were in fact replaced last April, and car only done 5000 miles since. but not at VW garage, so their computer suggests they need doing.
Anyone else had similar experiences ?
You've been here long enough to know what trips the swear-filter - As Dave says its easier to delete posts rather than edit them.
Edited by Pugugly on 08/03/2008 at 18:07
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Yes. VAG's attempts to claw back money due to an unviable dealer business model is becoming a farce.
Mine was the "recall" trick (a bit of scaremongering usually works) where a recall which was known about several years ago became suddenly urgent (letter from Milton Keynes) when my car came to the end of its 3 yr warranty. I have no doubt that they would then have "found" something(s) along the lines of your own reported experiences.
You don't have to be a business guru to see that the overheads of their glass palaces cannot viably be supported by honest trading. Use an independent.
659.
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I love the bit about " the computor suggests the pads need doing..." No mechanic qualified to advise?
So many dealers these days are only interested in the quick and easy jobs; oil, filters and brake work, as they have nobody who can find a fault - and there's no profit in diagnostics anyway.
It's becoming clear that in five years time dealer's workshops will be totally de-skilled and indistinguisable from free-fits [they may even have been taken over by them] and all serious repairs will need taking to a central manufacturer's technical centre.
Vehicle transportation looks like a good trade to get into.
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The Honda dealer that we use rang up the other day to see if I wanted to bring the car in to have its brake pads renewed as they noticed they were quite worn at the service 6mths ago, so they really must be trawling through records looking for work. (They'd commented they had about 7500 miles to go and the car does 5K/yr).
I guess though, that for everyone who thinks they're being ripped off, there would be someone else who would think the dealer was marvellous for thinking to call!
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My dad (now 80) has an immaculate 03 plate Passat with only about 16K on the clock. He recently took it in for a service and they said it needed brakes all round. This is clearly a con, as I have had Passats and A4's, which even when driven in a spirited way, did 45K before needing any work done on the brakes. I would say there is no way in the World that a cosseted 16K mile Passat driven gently needs all new brakes. Its just a shame we live 200 miles away otherwise I could have checked for him.
Its right that the business case doesn't stack up for the dealer premises they are expected to run by VaG cannot be paid for by honest trading.
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Irrespective of the milage,it's five years old and they are probably well corroded.
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Audi garage replaced rear disks as "they were corroded" - 18 mths and less than 18K mls on a TT. They replaced rear disk + pads and presented a bill for over £300.
When challenged about old ones in boot - they said they skip all materials for recyclying - to cut a longer story shorter they gave excuses after excuses (Seaside town in NE Scotland + Salt in air + road salt etc etc - my son said his Golf V5 lasted 50K on original disks OK). Eventually settled on price of disks - no pads paid, no labour charge.........No Audi - he drives a BMW but they seem equally good at creative accounting and problem finding/solving.
Last week neighbours car, 95 E-class fails MoT at a well know fast fit garage chain who offer cheap MoTs
2 x disks and pads will fix it £385 inc VAT. Local Indie said he would charge disks at £85-£90 + 1 hour @ £30 typically allowing for the odd rust release problems - i.e. 1/3rd price
Fast Fit Chain with "Fast fit MoTs? more like fast buck repairs.
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All discs start to corrode on the small unswept area on the very outer edge within a few days of fitting. This is normal, and does not affect braking performance or safety in any way.
I've only ever replaced discs for two reasons - either the wear/thickness limits have been reached, or the swept area has scoring or cracks. Corrosion? Never.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 11/03/2008 at 10:57
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