Cool and groovy

I purchased a new Citroen C4 Cool edition in July 2007. It was due its first service in July for 2 year's use or 20,000 miles. I had only done 10,000 miles but the service went ahead at a Citroen garage. Prior to the service I noticed that my back discs were rutted with deep gouges in them. I asked the garage to look at them and questioned why this could have happened when the car has done so few miles. They thought underuse may be a reason. They advised replacement but said it would not be covered by the warranty because this was classed as wear and tear. Can you help?

Asked on 12 December 2009 by

Answered by Honest John

Brake discs are bare metal iron alloy, relatively soft, and subject to
continuous corrosion when not being used. When being used regularly the brake pads wipe surface corrosion from them. But 95% of a car's braking is on the front. The rears only come into play
during very hard braking. So on a car used gently the rear discs will corrode, corrosion will not be cleaned off by the pads, and eventually it will get so bad that damage occurs to both the discs and the pads.

Tags: technical issues brakes owning

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