Advice On Brake Disc Wear

[Bob.]

well my car went in for it's first service the other day

I was a bit put out when i got home home to read the inspection report about the brakes

F brake discs 50% worn out

F pads 30% worn out

the car has only done 10.000 miles and the front DISCS (not a typo) are 50% worn out

Prior to this i have owned two skoda superbs and never had the discs needing replacing even at 90,000 and 99,000 before getting rid

I am by no means one of the last of the late breakers and tend to use my engine to slow me down rather than hitting the brakes all the time

even if they have got it the wrong way round and that it is the pads at 50% and the discs at 30%

that would still mean the discs are only going to last for around 30k ish.

Like i said I am not heavy on the brakes Hell my two skoda's had there pads replaced at 30'000

or are the dealers looking to tell me it is raining out side but actually peeing up my back

[Danny K]

I've only owned my Avensis for less than a month, but was relieved to see invoices amongst the service documentation for the following, (car is a 2002 model and 80k miles):

1) One set of new Front discs fitted SEPTEMBER 2006 ( 'Corroded' @ 34K miles).

&

2) One set of new Rear discs fitted MARCH 2008 (@ 56K miles).

So, all set and no need to worry over the brake 'discgate' scandals I thought. . .

Then about a week ago I took my car in for a main dealer Toyota service and was aghast, when the counter staff in going over the wear percentage rates of the brake pads (which were okay), said they were advising me to have new brake DISCS fitted ALL-ROUND when it comes time to replace the brake pads. They remained impassive-looking when I argued that both front and rear Discs had already been replaced in recent years, and the idea with discs and pads is that: when the pads wear out - THEY get replaced, not the other way round!!!!!

They wouldn't budge in their advice - discs to be changed at next opportunity.

WTF?!?

My brother who lives at the other end of the country and also drives a (in his case, newish) Toyota, says he treats his discs as consumables and replaces them as a matter of course, and accepts that they no longer last, like they did in yesteryear.

I say, pooheee to that!

Toyota has just got to be specifying inferior grades of metal in the make-up of the discs. The Counter staff also said:

"It's because we can no longer fit brake pads made from asbestos - modern brake pads are more abrasive".

Poohee again!

- My previous pre-2000 Toyota's never suffered from this phenomenon - neither does my mate's Mondeo, (the closest like-for-like competitor to the Avensis). It's not as if asbestos lined brake pads have been discontinued like yesterday - the pad materials in my old cars (kept running until this year) has to be the same stuff as pads used on post 2000 cars.

What's with Toyota brake discs? Why can't Toyota make a decent pair anymore?

- No wonder Honda has regularily stolen Toyota's crown in recent years, in the annual JD national survey, for most reliabe car manufacturer!

[joe59]

I've only owned my Avensis for less than a month, but was relieved to see invoices amongst the service documentation for the following, (car is a 2002 model and 80k miles):

1) One set of new Front discs fitted SEPTEMBER 2006 ( 'Corroded' @ 34K miles).

&

2) One set of new Rear discs fitted MARCH 2008 (@ 56K miles).

So, all set and no need to worry over the brake 'discgate' scandals I thought. . .

Then about a week ago I took my car in for a main dealer Toyota service and was aghast, when the counter staff in going over the wear percentage rates of the brake pads (which were okay), said they were advising me to have new brake DISCS fitted ALL-ROUND when it comes time to replace the brake pads. They remained impassive-looking when I argued that both front and rear Discs had already been replaced in recent years, and the idea with discs and pads is that: when the pads wear out - THEY get replaced, not the other way round!!!!!

They wouldn't budge in their advice - discs to be changed at next opportunity.

WTF?!?

My brother who lives at the other end of the country and also drives a (in his case, newish) Toyota, says he treats his discs as consumables and replaces them as a matter of course, and accepts that they no longer last, like they did in yesteryear.

I say, pooheee to that!

Toyota has just got to be specifying inferior grades of metal in the make-up of the discs. The Counter staff also said:

"It's because we can no longer fit brake pads made from asbestos - modern brake pads are more abrasive".

Poohee again!

- My previous pre-2000 Toyota's never suffered from this phenomenon - neither does my mate's Mondeo, (the closest like-for-like competitor to the Avensis). It's not as if asbestos lined brake pads have been discontinued like yesterday - the pad materials in my old cars (kept running until this year) has to be the same stuff as pads used on post 2000 cars.

What's with Toyota brake discs? Why can't Toyota make a decent pair anymore?

- No wonder Honda has regularily stolen Toyota's crown in recent years, in the annual JD national survey, for most reliabe car manufacturer!

I'm relieved to read all this because I bought a 56 plate Avensis with 14000 on the clock and when a mate saw the wear on the front discs, he said the car had been clocked.

I wouldn't have this because I bought it from a Toyota dealer and it was an ex fleet car - can't believe a main dealer would risk reputation by clocking a car - maybe I'm naive.

Anyway - it had new pads on when I bought it and I just assumed it had been driven by someone who was hard on the brakes.

I put it in for service at 24000 at local Toyota dealer and was told it needed a new set of front pads - although I think this was the mechanic earning his bonus - I've never scrubbed a set of front pads in less than 20000 miles - even with a Discovery.

Learnt my lesson - no more dealer servicing and preparing for expense of new front discs.

[Rumbly]

Its not just Toyota .. I had a 1996 Peugeot which I bought new, had to replace the front discs 3 times in 90,000 miles. Pads always lasted loger than the discs.

[cmia]

i replaced orginal discs after 100k of miles

and mines a taxi

[Danny K]

Well I don't care what the advice is - I'm not changing any more discs until I hit 100K miles - people will just have to jump out of the way or get run over! :P

[stubb]

there must be some other discs available for this car instead of going with the main dealers, i realise this car has dropped of the tuning worlds map unless you are a hardcore japanese owner, but im sure you can replace them with something else, i will admit ive not yet looked into it and have only seen the full on race spec kits fitted on cars on avensis_style web site

[corollakidda]

ive had 2 rollas mate the one i own now is a t sport,ive found they seem to go through em quicker than other cars ive owned,puts a good dint in your wallet like :ffs:

[Parts-King]

When asbestos was removed from brake pads they had to change to new types of materials and resins. Some of these materials are very hard and will wear out the discs first rather than the pad material. It is VERY common to be replacing discs at much lower mileages than we used to do

Kingo

[Paul Byham]

Kingo's point true - and accepted. But.....

In my experience many places are just trying to get work out of you. In particular - my local Toyota dealer are skanking ba$t&rds and will never be having my motor in again.

After my last service/mot (Dec-08, approx 52k) the report was 'your front pads and discs have had it - need replacing immediately'. With a quote for £370-odd if I remember right (actually I threw it away in disgust....)

Well I went home and whipped the fronts off cos I couldn't quite believe it - and found 7 to 8mm remaining on all pads. And absolutely no detectable lipping/scoring/grooving etc to the discs. Wear detectors start squealing at about 1-1.5mm by the looks of it.

And here we are now 6000 miles later. I just had a minor tyre repair done - most tyre/exhaust/brake places are only too happy to give you a measure/condition on your pads/discs if you ask; they reckoned at least another 1000 miles in the pads, and the discs both measure 25mm thickness with no damage. Minimum thickness is 21mm AFAIK. So what are MrT trying to pull?

Bought EBC pads for £20, will fit myself if it ever stops raining........

I wonder how many people would have just gone 'ooooo sounds serious PLEASE take my money'.......

[just miko]

I have been driving from 78, even back then dealers tried to treat the customer as cash cows. Oh this has gone, that has weared out, etc,etc. So no change there then. They must think we are all still stupid. They learn nothing. How can a pad and disc change cost so much. I recently did mine, the parts total came to £146 for everything on the 4 wheels. The answer is greed, big style, they think they are gods because they are dealers, and any sheep who come in can be shawn. I gave up on dealers along time ago. I only use them for parts that i cannot get from elsewhere.

[Zimmy]

I have an 07 only problems have been new discs and pads at 10,000, new discs and pads on front at 20,000 and new discs all round again at 30,000. Bit worried about the discs after next July when warranty runs out. Agents at Queensferry reckon its the pads that are at fault.

[carinfront]

I have an 07 only problems have been new discs and pads at 10,000, new discs and pads on front at 20,000 and new discs all round again at 30,000. Bit worried about the discs after next July when warranty runs out. Agents at Queensferry reckon its the pads that are at fault.

well about 2 months ago, i replaced the front discs and pads with ones from EBC. saved a packet for sure. however my brakes now screech like crazy unless i am pressing lightly (which means the car slows gradually) or really push hard on the brakes (not ideal always!!) anything in between they are screeching. VERY loudly. pedestrians stop, and star kind of loud. taken em back to my local garage, they've had them all off, scrubbed them, cleaned , done all sorts to them, still screeching. my mechanic mate did say that if they're not genuine arts these days for things like the brakes, you're more likely to encounter "you get what you pay for" scenarios like mine! i might have a re think on the genuine article, but they are so so !Removed! expensive it makes car ownership even harder!!

by the way, anyone got any ideas on what i can try with this screeching business?!?!

cheers

mike

[Adyone]

Did the original Toyota pads and discs screech? NO

I had new pads and discs on my T180 at 40,000 service - seems fair enough to me.

Paid the money at the main dealer and got brilliant brakes that don't screech.

You get what you pay for and brakes are not to be messed with.

OK if the car fails to make 150 mph but beggered if I want to find out that I can't stop the bugg*r at that speed.

My brakes are excellent.

[Gooli]

I changed both front discs and front pads.

Bought all the goods at Mr. T, and paid without a moan.

Still they screech.

I guess I got more than what I paid for, ey? ;)