7 Year Old Car - Flog or Keep?

[S-Man]

When did changing discs at the same tme as pads become a thing?

I was told that they are making pads harder and discs softer. My wife had a Mini… new pads and discs at 25k miles. Pile of ****!

I’m not sure that I actually need discs. I have a pal who’s into cars and good at keeping old ones running. Hopefully he will have time to advise me on the disc situation.

 

[MVV]

Good prices!
I will take a look.

Toyota prices are fair. Sometimes actually cheaper than some local garages.

German car dealers seem to like plenty of margin!!

Yes they offer a discount on older cars.

 

[Martin hifi]

keep and buy parts else were and get a garage to fit them not a stealership , i have an octavia vrs i got pagid coated disks and pads all round for £320 cost me £120 for them fitting , Skoda wanted £900 and were vastly inferior oem parts generaly VW parts are good but disks and pads are normaly standard mitek or bosch.

 

[KrisW]

Minis are known for eating discs - I know a few people who've been bitten by high service bills the car's third birthday. Oddly, the mechanically related BMW 1 isn't as bad on discs, so it's probably down to overly-aggressive eDiff programming on Minis.

Second the advice to use independents. Once you're out of your warranty, there's no need to use a franchised dealer... ask around locally and you might find the same mechanic doing weekend work at a lower price than their employer.. wages are so shit for garage mechanics that may dealerships turn a blind eye to this kind of moonlighting as an alternative to actually paying their most skilled staff a fair share of the exorbitant hourly rates you get charged.

 

[James]

I was told that they are making pads harder and discs softer. My wife had a Mini… new pads and discs at 25k miles. Pile of ****!

I’m not sure that I actually need discs. I have a pal who’s into cars and good at keeping old ones running. Hopefully he will have time to advise me on the disc situation.

Brake discs are specified with a minimum thickness. Once it wears down to that level, it should be replaced. My BMW 335i still has the original pads and discs at just a touch over 170,000kms. However, at the last service check, one of the rotor pairs is about 1.5mm away from minimum thickness, even if the pads are just half worn.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

1.5mm of disc thickness is a lot.

 

[paulbysea]

My smart car is 9 and I will likely keep it for a good few years unless something prevents this. Keeping your car and maintaining it is a lot cheaper than replacing it, I think you are unlikely to spend 25K on repairs and maintenance in the medium term, personally I would ditch the main dealer and go to a small independent, in my experience they are very good and good value, I use a small smart specialist for my smart car. My plan is to keep my car for a good few more years and then replace it with an electric car when battery tech will be a lot cheaper and better.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Just be very careful with indie specialists. Quite a few reported on forums as upping prices and lowering standards, including a previously excellent Merc specialist near me. Not a nice experience for me for the last two visits years ago. I think someone was feathering their pension nest.

 

[Rodrat]

20 year old merc E500 and a10 year old Jaguar Sportsbrake. Both still going strong . I had a 2022 BMW 530e for a week recently when the Jag went in for a small ding repair. TBH apart from the electronic gismo’s it didn't feel any better.

 

[Rcook]

Yes, do the brakes - half a day with the spanners (unless it has one of those infernal electronic parking brakes), and maybe £100-£150 in parts. Suspension could also be done yourself if you are handy - mostly it's just swapping out the suspension arms as they already have bushes pressed in, so basically just undoing a few bolts. An independent garage would maybe charge £500 for the suspension work, and probable £250-£300 to do the brakes.
Whether to keep it or not - do you want and can you afford a new car? Do you like the one you have? Even spending £1000 is better than spending £25k

 

[stuwils]

If you are going to do the discs and pads yourself splash out and fit mintex or ferodo parts and they will last forever.

Rgds
Stuart

 

[stevec67]

Brakes and suspension bushes are service parts. As to acceptable wear, it's a moveable feast. I was advised that the front discs were at the wear limit 18 months ago, just had them done 20k miles and 2 MoT passes later. Bushes likewise, MoT advisory 2022 front suspension strut top bushes advised showing wear. I ignored it. 2023 MoT no mention. No knocks or wobbly handling, so I'll see how that goes. IME most cars these days drive like new to 90-100k miles. Then you get them feeling sloppy and there will be the odd bill to restore the precise handling.
Those dealer prices are OK for a dealer. An indy would be a bit cheaper especially if you had it all done at once. He will also advise on whether the work really needs doing or will wait a year or two.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

The sickening thing is that using main dealers would be fine ‘if’ they did the work, and did it properly. I’ve experienced first hand being charged for work that hasn’t been done, and when I contacted VW and BMW headquarters… nothing. No reply.

A good friend never buys new cars (has five cars, all his own maintenance) but currently has three motorbikes and all bought new. They NEVER go to dealers unless it’s for recall. The bike dealers are bloody terrible, and that is downright dangerous for those on two wheeled transport.

When the owner of an indie specialist is no longer turning spanners himself, that is often the time to find a new indie.

 

[dweezil]

1.5mm of disc thickness is a lot.

The difference between new and wear limit on mine is 2mm so they're only 1\4 worn.

I always check mine before letting anyone change them, there's a little gap in the backing plate just below the caliper for this.

A minute with a micrometer can save a fortune.

 

[S-Man]

The Toyota garage - Vantage, Leeds, has been really good. Until they (maybe) broke my parking brake.

My experience:
VW and Vauxhall dealers - very, very, very bad
Audi and BMW dealers - very bad
Ford - almost OK
Mazda and Jaguar - good
Toyota and Lexus - very good

 

[S-Man]

The difference between new and wear limit on mine is 2mm so they're only 1\4 worn.

I always check mine before letting anyone change them, there's a little gap in the backing plate just below the caliper for this.

A minute with a micrometer can save a fortune.

I can't find a spec for the RAV4 brake discs. Where on the disc can I find this marker gap, on the inside or the outside face?

My rear discs are a bit corroded on the outer edge. The front has a distinct lip of about 1mm on the outer edge.

 

[dweezil]

I can't find a spec for the RAV4 brake discs. Where on the disc can I find this marker gap, on the inside or the outside face?

My rear discs are a bit corroded on the outer edge. The front has a distinct lip of about 1mm on the outer edge.

You're looking for something like this, just enter your car details in the website.

You might not have backing plates to hinder measurement on the RAV.

 

[Ponty]

Autodoc generally come up trumps.

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/

 

[S-Man]

Well, the plot thickens on the handbrake issue…

I replaced the pins for the brake shoes on the nearside, and that one is now very similar to the offside I.e. Too much slack in the handbrake cable. Oddly, the front cable was on its maximum adjustment already.

I can only assume that using a fair bit of force to get the disc/drum off, has elongated something or bent something.

 

[S-Man]

Just to finish off this tale...

The car needed new handbrake cables, they had apparently seized where they enter the body (in the middle of the car). I don't think I knackered them but I tipped them over the edge, so to speak.

Cables are dealer-only so £250
So new discs and pads on the bill was not far off £800.
The mechanic told me how to get the drums off (back the adjuster right off then dislodge it and wiggle the shoes as far inboard as poss), however I don't intend to get my hands dirty on cars again!

Can't be arsed to test a newer car - all that salesman nonsense - so I'll be keeping the RAV for another year or 2.