Are these car brakes worn?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its taken me up to 4 hours to free up seized callipers, and seized brake drums ..

The strange assumption is that old rusty cars that cost less to buy, ought to cost less to fix....

[The Natural Philosopher]

Then it is their responsibility to not end or hire it to you, or arrange suitable cover.

[ARWadsworth]

I swap them from time to time for special offers.

Another good example of where breakdown cover is needed is my Mother.

She cannot change a wheel. That is because she is not strong enough to actually undo the nuts and lift a wheel. There is no guarantee that she can call me, my brother or my Dad for help.

And the days of a passing driver giving a helping hand are almost gone.

Adam

[steve robinson]

Some of those diagnostic tools aint cheap , many are vehicle specific and you pay the manufacturers a licence fee every year.

Have you seen the price of a tow truck these days

[ARWadsworth]

Not alway. I sometimes ask them if I can borrow their cars/vans. I am getting them for free.

Adam

[The Natural Philosopher]

The classic case of not knowing one end of a spanner from the other, and buying peace of mind.

[Ian]

Ummmm -- isn't that illegal????? :o)

[Terry]

My Peugeot has just had its OEM pads and disks replaced at 26,000

[Ste]

An hour is normally reasonable for 4 pads if the job is straightforward. However rear shoes (where present) invariably take far longer, and excessive corrosion can also make the job more difficult. I must admit I'd struggle to change four pads in 30 minutes (7.5 minutes per wheel), even if I was going like the clappers.

Lol. You wuz robbed, mate.

[dennis]

It comes with the car. Only used it once when I got the AA to come and change the tyre while I sat the other side of the crash barrier wandering if the next truck was going to hit him.

[dennis]

No its just that you are thick. If you need me to explain it then just ask.

[dennis]

Without a doubt, the main dealer I use doesn't charge any extra on parts and is frequently cheaper than the "genuine" parts sold at the motor factors.

[tony sayer]

In the instance quoted how do you know that something wasn't sized or needed some other work doing that might have taken that bit longer?..

Yes rather pricey..

Never mind, when the OP qualifies and is up to being a consultant then I suppose she'll be grumbling about what main dealers charge;!!.

[Steve Firth]

You'll have to remind me which "diagnostic tools" are required to change a brake pad.

Very few garages have them and those tend to be the ones with a contract to recover vehicles from the motorway. About three contractors per county and at present very few of them do routing vehicle servicing and repairs.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember The Natural Philosopher saying something like:

Exactly. It's hardly the garage's fault the car is a shitheap with seized bolts, calipers, etc.

[Cicero]

==============================================================================

Quite interesting - Bookmarked for future reference.

Cic.

[Alex Heney]

So last year was a little above average for him, but not much if 80K is his normal amount over 3 years.

[Alex Heney]

Yes, but as Harry says, most modern cars do have them at least partly visible.

[F]

I've been with them for a few years, my daughters something like 15 years. We've all made claims and they were answered quickly and professionally with the refunds being paid out without any delays.

[geoff]

No idea - not had it happen in 38 years

The boss of a proper company just phones in and says he'll be late

get a less pikey job