Are these car brakes worn?

They *do* have to check at the MOT.

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f on that page.

Reply to
Alex Heney
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The MOT manual requires him to do so.

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Reply to
Alex Heney

In message , Alex Heney writes

How can this be so?

Dennis stated only a few days ago that he did 30,000 miles last year

Surely the rest of the world must be wrong

Reply to
geoff

Alex Heney gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Not quite so simple...

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"A visual and physical check must be carried out on all mechanical components _that are visible and accessible_"

Reply to
Adrian

How much does the lack of hassle cost in at?

Try phoning around to find a chap to come out, recover you and do the repair late on a Sunday night when you are 200 miles from home and don't know the area or it's garages. Or if the car will take a day or two to repair getting you home or to a hotel and a hire car delivered... Both paid for.

A wage slave can just phone up and say "the cars bust, I won't be in", it doesn't matter to them they'll still get paid(*). A freelancer doesn't get paid unless they do the work.

(*) Even if they have to use a couple of days paid holiday or pull a sickie.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

That's when you join the AA and pay your 200 quid. :-)

If I was using a car for that kind of work - and I have - I would in fact buy new(ish), because you will find that most cars not only come with a warranty, but also come with a free breakdown recovery service.

Paid for by the manufacturer.

But even if it costs you say 500 quid to join the AA and hire a car because the thing is irremediably borked, that's only the cost of 3 years of AA membership. If such breakdowns are more than once very three years, you aren't treating your car to decent maintenance anyway.

I've only been stranded twice in the last 25 years, both ones oddly enough in vauxhalls - and both times it was a bust cam belt, on cars bought second hand where one would reasonably have expected the damned things to have had them replaced under proper service schedules. Oh and another time in a hired van, but that had its own breakdown service,. Accelerator cable snapped. Fixed after 2 hours wait, at the roadside.

I COULD have used a bit of string..but it wasn't MY van..;-)

I am not saying that a breakdown recovery service is in all cases crap, just that in most cases its not cost effective.If the car is new enough, its in the warranty, if its old enough, the costs incurred in doing it yourself are less than the costs of paying to join..

What transpires is that people join the AA as a way of NOT doing car maintenance at all.

which is why its expensive.

Bit like the old company car thing, where a rep gets a shiny new ford Mondeo, does 80,000 miles in it without a single service, and then it gets traded in ..and sold as is to a punter.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I believe that you are only allowed so many call outs a year before they stop your membership.

I actually do have breakdown cover due to the long distances I sometimes travel and often with a disabled passenger. Over the years that I have had cover I would have been better off banking my money and paying for a tow truck for the two occasions that I have used them. Both recoveries were less than 30miles and were not due to a lack of maintainance.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadsworth

TBH replacing pads and disks is such a simple job that it's aggravating to see what garages charge. Charging 1.5 hours to replace pads is a rip-off. That's too long even if the job was to replace both front and rear pads. It takes about 30 - 45 minutes to change every single pad on the cars that I own, and I'm fussy anout cleaning everything in sight while I do it. It is the sort of job that anyone with reasonable DIY knowledge could do. With 90 minutes to spare I actually changed all four calipers and pads on one of my cars. After all, all it needs is to undo/redo a total of eight to 12 bolts (depending on the vehicle) and a willingness to get one's hands slightly mucky. I've changed everything in that area of the vehicle (bearings, disks, pads, change of brake fluid) in an afternoon taking lots of time off for tea and pondering. After all I'm not in a hurry and not getting paid.

On accasions when the job has needed doing and I have been too busy to do it mself I've been charged up to £600 + VAT by a main dealer for replacement of two disks and pads. If I buy all four disks, calipers and pads from a motor factors, using original parts, I can expect to pay £260 for the parts. The price of the calipers includes the brake pads. The main dealer marks these prices up to three times the parts cost and then charges almost as much again to fit them.

Reply to
Steve Firth

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

I routinely get 60K+ from front pads, but then, I don't drive on the brakes, touching them for every corner when it's quite unnecessary.

Reply to
Grimly Curmudgeon

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

In the situation you describe it certainly makes sense to continue with the cover. If you're away from your local area it can be difficult to find a recovery vehicle at short notice and reasonable cost. I bought a car a few days ago and paid £50-00 for a pre-booked collection from just

9 miles. I consider the cost worth it for the convenience but longer distances for emergency recovery can be very expensive and stressful.

My Green Flag cover (who wouldn't do the collection I wanted) costs about £80-00 p.a. but it's still worth it for peace of mind.

Cic.

Reply to
Cicero

I agree.

I think that the AA/RAC is simply only justified if you know sod all about cars, and the thought of being stranded somewhere without a number to call bothers you.

In the snow earlier this year, as I drove carefully down a snowy road, there was a car stick halfway up it. It wasn't a huge slope 1:30 maybe.

I stopped and enquired if she needed assistance 'I can't get up the hill, but i have phoned my husband and he is on his way'

I was, to put it mildly, amazed. Has she thought of reversing back down it, an turning around? or simply revering back a few feet, and trying a different bit of snow? or even using the clutch a bit more sensibly?

Ok I had a 4WD but really, it wasn't THAT bad.

No, it was s pure reflex 'when stupidity exceeds competence, get a man in'

The AA make a fortune out of people like that.

IF you can get through to someone on a mobile, who has an internet connection finding a tow truck and booking it, is not that hard. And for a few quid more they will probably drop you near a train, or car hire company.

And if it is truly life threatening, 999 is your friend

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

when I drove sports cars with gay abandon, I got about 10k out of a set.

When I started doing longer trips, 25k was about the mark

Driving auto's fairly carefully, 25k also seems the mark.

I dont recall changing pads on my defender in 55k miles, or the tyres, either.

Brakes like clutches, wear according to driving style.

One of the joys of semi-retirement is that I am seldom under pressure to get somewhere fast.

Nor am I forced to drive at times when heavy traffic may be expected, or into that sink hole called London.All of which are heavy on braking.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I could replace my car for £600:-)

But even a non mechanic like me can swap a set of front pads in the street in less than 1 hour using a trolley jack and a few basic tools. On a ramp with air tools it is even easier.

I actually got the local garage to change the pads last time as it was in for an MOT and it was minus 3 outside in the daytime. I supplied the pads and they charged me half an hours labour. Well worth the money in those temperatures. It was not much warmer in their garage.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadsworth

Have a look at AutoAid -

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per year for my wife and myself in any car.

No connection other than that of a (very) satisfied customer.

Reply to
F

How much do you think the tools cost to do the job? How much the council taxes for the premises? Staff bill? Public Insurance liability? Electricity? Being blamed for the exhaust pipe falling off after changing the spark plugs?

If being a mechanic is so easy you try having a go at it.

Reply to
Albert

One of the times I broke down was on the motorway. The police pulled up behind me and warned me that I only had 1 hour to get off the hard shoulder or they would arrange recovery for me and I would be billed for it. I am not sure that if I am 200 or more miles away from home on a Mway that I would be able to arrange recovery as easily as calling my breakdown company and saying "help". So yes, the lack of a number bothers me when so far from home.

When my clapped out Sierra (student days) decided to seize it's diff in Tintwhistle I just left it and hitched a lift home. I never saw the car again. I left the keys in the glovebox and called a scrap yard to take it away the next morning and posted off the log book.

It is not always my van or car that I am driving. I am not sure that the owners would like me to leave their car/van if it broke down and let me hitch home.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadsworth

Steve did not question the hourly rate. He questioned the number of hours that the garage charged for.

He did. And he can change his pads on a DIY basis on his car in less than 1 hour as can most people with a brain cell or two. So a garage charging 1.5 hours labour is a ripoff.

Adam

Reply to
ARWadsworth

What in all that list justifies charging for hours that were not worked? I have an hourly rate for my work, does the fact that I have to pay council tax, rent on business premises, staff wages, public liability and professional indemnity, electricity, heating oil, incredibly high charges for "tools of the trade"[1] and cope with customer complaints if they occur justify me charging the customer extra hours for work not done?

Where did I say that being a mechanic was easy? Perhaps you could confine your whining to the realm of reality?

[1] If you think mechanics have to pay a high price for tools, you should try being in my industry where licensing fees on tools can cost as much per year as an "executive" car. And then there are the annual professional membership fees, the routine examinations, audit etc that mechanics don't have to do or pay for. So whine me no whines.
Reply to
Steve Firth

I agree with you, that and the high motorway mileage I do each year is why I have breakdown cover. The most likely faults to occur on the vehicles I own would not be fixable at the side of the road. Good maintenance covers the majority of the rest.

My only quibble with RAC/AA is that they are poor VFM and the other recovery services offer better value and often superior call out times.

Reply to
Steve Firth

This is true and it's not very many, I don't think they cease your membership just make you cough up some or all of the costs.

Probably the same here as far as the money goes but with two recoveries from motorways of the 100+ mile range and then recovery from home to the garage for repairs of 20+ miles. It's probably quite close. Also the car is maintained by a st^H^Hdealers.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

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