word of warning

[fourbanks]

My son's 2019 corolla with 21'000 miles on the clock went for his MOT today and failed on the front discs, which is wear and tear and not under warranty. His pads are OK, so a bit odd as you normally get pads to wear first. As for the disc wear, i myself have never come across disc wear over the past 50 years of driving, so can't comment. Sounds to me the discs are of bad manufacture, but as normal with dealers it's all wear and tear and never anything under warranty 

[FROSTYBALLS]

My neighbour's son had the discs on their 11 month old Polo blue'd and warped. Dealer replaced them under warranty begrudgingly as warranty coverage on discs was only six months. Six months later, it happened again - replaced at owner's cost. 

Never had the same problem occur before - let alone twice.

 

[sportse]

On hybrids the issue can be wear from lack of use - discs can get rusty as they aren't used much due to the electric motor providing most of the braking.

On my Auris, the original brake pads and discs lasted over 60k miles. I did de-rust them occasionally by braking firmly while in neutral so that all braking was through the actual brakes.

For my 23 Corolla, the discs get rusty soon after washing as with most cars now but just normal braking over the first mile or so cleans them up quite well so I haven't had to use the Neutral trick yet.

[Bper]

Has the car been standing around for long periods,or subject to prolonged exposure to moisture this could cause it.?

[Swanthecat]

Many years ago me and the wife both had Honda Jazzs. Both went through discs and pads like crazy -< 15K miles. Coming from cars where I typically never replaced discs even >60K miles I questioned this with the dealer. Consensus was the factory fitted pads were like tofu but I always had the nagging suspicion that the dealer saw a money earning opportunity. The comments about hybrids may be spot on as my non hybrid has now had 2 MOTs (although only done 17K miles) but still plenty of life in both pads and discs. 
 

if your worried about rust on the discs after washing Bilt Hamber do a product called Atom Mac which can be added to rinse water to stop rust on the wet disc

[Cyker]

Or do what I do and go for a hoon after washing the car - This also reduces the chance of any standing water in the sills or engine bay getting a chance to rust something   

These cars do tend to get rusty discs from low use though; One of the downsides of regen braking and something that affects most EVs and hybrids; Even Tesla haven't found a good solution with many of the better third-party EV service mechanics like Cleevely routinely giving the whole brake system a good brushing to stop the pads from sticking or the discs from getting too rusty.

 

[fourbanks]

Thanks for your replies. The discs have just worn down to a failed level for the MOT spec. I mean wear and tear could be applied i would have thought to the whole car meaning like most warranties wortless. I have a friend who's a lawyer, and he's never had a problem all his faults have always been covered under warranty on his Audi 

just goes to show something is not right with the way warranties work 

[Big_D]

9 hours ago, fourbanks said:

I have a friend who's a lawyer, and he's never had a problem all his faults have always been covered under warranty on his Audi 

It may be as a result of that newly discovered martial art - Sosumi (Pronounced So sue me). Being in the legal profession, he may be suitably trained and have a black belt in the said martial art 😁

[Parts-King]

"He who shouts loudest does not always get what he wants" is a famous motor trade proverb. Your dealer will have a framework to work to, if something is faulty, they will be expected to carry out the work, with minimum disruption to the customer and it will be free of charge. On the other hand, the dealer will also be expected to operate the terms and conditions of the warranty on behalf of the manufacturer. Wear and tear is not a get out clause, but if something is "worn out" and is replaced free of charge, then the dealer opens themselves up to large fines from the manufacturer. Nobody wants the conversation where air is drawn through gritted teeth, and somebody says sorry mate, that's not covered. The dealer is paid to do genuine warranty work and will happily do it, if covered 

[flash22]

it's cost cutting, also disks are made from pot metal, pads have got harder now being made of organic compounds

I have noticed over the years, disks don't get as hardened as they use too, 1-2mm in, and you're into a softer material what wears faster and is more likely to degrade

My Nissan eat a set of front disks in under 14k miles and the pads constantly dusted the rims, better discs and softer pads sorted that issue

 

The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease......................... It gets replaced

[TonyHSD]

I had been working on Toyota hybrids brake systems, cleaning, lubrication, replacement parts, system flush etc and I use non original parts like blueprint and febi, ATE, Bosch, APEC, EBC and never had any issues or any premature wear.
My front brakes are well over 132000 miles and have more than a half life remaining. The rear ones had been replaced last year at around 100k miles since last replacement back in January 2020. 
Only problems that these cars gets are caused by corrosion as mentioned above and lack of maintenance. 
I had my car since October 2015 when turned just 5 years old with 42000 miles on the clock and guess what, the car needed a set of new brakes on all corners due to corrosion. I did that and then in 2020 I needed to do again before of the rust. Since then the car been used slightly more and brake service once or twice a year and I have healthy brake system with minimal wear on the parts. This is what is most important, not the parts themselves. 
Do your brake service ( clean and lube) every year , use the car regularly and do some more progressive slow downs and you will never need to change brake parts on your Toyota hybrid, unless you go high high miles. 👍

 

 

 

[taxidriver50005]

Sounds like your mot place is looking for work, unless there is a massive lip around the edge of the disc (at that mileage I doubt it). 

I think you need a second opinion,  I taxi in mine and normally expect 100,000 miles plus out of pads and a lot more out of discs

[Obsidian Estate]

Mine are still perfectly fine at 3 years and 20k miles.

[Cyker]

I think what people forget is what a warranty is - It basically covers manufacturing faults, not every single thing that goes wrong during the warranty period.

Basically if something fails on its own well before it's supposed to, esp. things that shouldn't need replacing over the life time of the car, never mind the 3-5 years, then that should be covered.

However, if something that is expected to fail - i.e. a wear part - or failed because of unreasonable use, e.g. a seatbelt failed because it'd been used to hold secure a bundle of rusty saw blades on regular basis, or a wheel hub failed because it was being used for stunt driving on 2 wheels, that probably wouldn't be covered!  

 

Edit: I just reread the original post - Why did the discs fail? Was it because it was too thin, or just excessively rusty? If the latter, that is a common little 'thing' with some MOT places on low-use hybrids - Just take the car on a quiet fast road and do some hard stops; It will magically pass the MOT  

[AndrueC]

I got an advisory on my previous MoT concerning vibration under braking but this time around I did a bit of heavy braking before the MoT and there was no comment. Nothing was said at the service either.

I've never been a heavy user of the brakes (my driving instructor told me they were for stopping and correcting my mistakes) and have never had to replace discs or pads on any vehicle.

[Big_D]

My discs are clear of rust at the moment due to some heavy braking when an Idiot pulled out in front of me, from a side road, today. I had to slam on the brakes and do an emergency stop to avoid hitting her. I also know my horn works!

[Cyker]

Ahh you use the same technique I do!  

[AndrueC]

1 hour ago, Big_D said:

I also know my horn works!

As I mentioned once before: It works, but it sounds like a donkey 😁

[Rhymes with Paris]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

a wheel hub failed because it was being used for stunt driving on 2 wheels, that probably wouldn't be covered!  

I do this every Sunday night in the Yaris,no problems so far.

I reckon they must have been better quality in the old days.

[forkingabout]

A Toyota dealer isn't going to replace brake discs under warranty unless its 100% sure that Toyota UK will then honour the warranty claim. 

Bake discs our classed as wear & tear items so the warranty stipulations will be even stricter on them. 

FWIW - The part of Toyota I work for will either request the warranty part sent back to process the warranty claim OR if its a large item stored for up to six months for a possible warranty process compliance inspection. 

[Cyker]

Don't the dealers have to ask Toyota to authorize the warranty claim first?

[taxidriver50005]

It's quite normal for mot to have an advisory on discs... Usually pitted and scored but not affecting braking... That's because rusty brake discs have far more friction than none rusty brake discs and I don't think they can actually fail for this... Being worn out yes a fail... But not at 20,000 miles. 🤔🤔🤔

[50p]

You don't say where the MOT was carried out, I assume a main dealer?

I used to take my wifes Yaris to our local council run MOT test station, as they do no repairs they have no financial reason in failing a vehicle.