Worn breaks

[Nerdling]

Hi Guys,

I have a 2010 Mondeo wagon. I've just had the 40k service and have been advised that both front and rear brake's need to be replaced, pads and rotors.

Seems a bit excessive to me.

I've got a G6E that's done 80k and only needed a set of pads and a 200SX that's done a bunch of track days and 170k on a bunch of pads and one set of rotors.

What's others experience? Are the rotors on the Mondeo particularly soft?

Mark

[Superoo]

Generally yes, the Mondeo chews through brakes. Having said that, 40k for rotors is a fair effort. Lots of city driving? Can always get another opinion. I've now gone after market for the brakes and hopefully get a bit more out of them.

[b2428]

I got 37000 out of my rear pads and rotors and at least 50000 out of fronts. Go figure haha but yes as a rule they are heavy on both pads and rotors.

[Top_Ghia]

European cars chew through brakes. It's not uncommon to need pads and rotors at 45k on Mondeo and Focus. It's the price you pay for good brakes.
It's not that the discs are at all soft, it's just the aggressive style of pads used in euro cars.

[Batman105E]

I just replaced all the pads on our MB Mondeo, 96,000 ks and they would have lasted another 10 or 15,000. I really don't know how you could wear out a set of pads and discs in 40,000ks. The rotors had hardly worn as well.

[Superoo]

Depends on the type of driving you are doing. Highway vs city driving.

[Nerdling]

Thanks guys.

We bought the car with 38k on it as a work car, so I can't speak to how it was driven before.

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[Yellow_Festiva]

Who exactly advised you that they are due?

If the Mondeo is the same as the Focus in terms of brake bias your rears will need doing first.

I had a 2010 Focus. At 45k I was told by the Ford service dept that my front pads were good for another 7k km, and my rears were due NOW. Nothing was mentioned about the rotors. Quote for rear pads was circa $300 if memory serves.

Took it to my local mechanic that I use for my other 'out of warranty' cars and he told me the fronts were fine, the rears were a little more worn but still had around 1/3rd friction material to go.

Ended up getting my rear pads done at 60k, the fronts were still fine and he charged me less than half of what Ford wanted.

I didn them after the 60k service. Got the same speil on the phone - this time the 'km left' was more than at the 45k service. They didn't even bother to check the notes from my last service...

[xxx000]

can I see some pics of the 'worn' that's broken as I haven't seen one before.

also how did the worn actually break?

[allanv6gt]

At 51K kms a dealer said an rear inner was in imminent danger of metal on metal (maybe 2K kms if lucky). I checked them, and yes, they were part way down on the the taper indicator of the pad.
That was 15K kms ago, and my usual mechanic at 60K kms service said "at next service" i.e. 75K kms.

Even allowing for different driving styles, this difference in expected life seems "odd".

[fiestaz]

Our 2007 focus had the lot of them replaced at about 30K. This was done at the ford dealer. I wonder if they say they are worn too early to make more money out of poor customers. Sounds to me like a bit of a trend..

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by fiestaz

Our 2007 focus had the lot of them replaced at about 30K. This was done at the ford dealer. I wonder if they say they are worn too early to make more money out of poor customers. Sounds to me like a bit of a trend..

I always dropped my car off at Ford then waited for the calls. If it wasn't the wipers it was the tyres. If it wasn't either of those it was the brakes or a balance and rotation. My answer was always the same, please note it on the receipt but don't you dare do anything other than what I asked you to do when I dropped it off.

I always got 30-40% more out of whatever they told me needed doing and I was able to do it at a place of my choice or did it myself for much less than they wanted.

Always get a second opinion. You drove it in, driving it home and following it up for a second opinion after a day or 2 won't make a difference.

30k for brakes and rotors sounds very premature unless you were a door to door salesperson.

[fiestaz]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

I always dropped my car off at Ford then waited for the calls. If it wasn't the wipers it was the tyres. If it wasn't either of those it was the brakes or a balance and rotation. My answer was always the same, please note it on the receipt but don't you dare do anything other than what I asked you to do when I dropped it off.

I always got 30-40% more out of whatever they told me needed doing and I was able to do it at a place of my choice or did it myself for much less than they wanted.

Always get a second opinion. You drove it in, driving it home and following it up for a second opinion after a day or 2 won't make a difference.

30k for brakes and rotors sounds very premature unless you were a door to door salesperson.

yeh thats exactly what i think now. this was a few years ago now tho. Parents did it, but i remembered they got the brakes changed at their mechanic. Cant remember the outcome exactly. But they were all changed between 30-40Kkms.

I wouldnt doubt ford tried the shifty.

[GK]

Originally Posted by fiestaz

yeh thats exactly what i think now. this was a few years ago now tho. Parents did it, but i remembered they got the brakes changed at their mechanic. Cant remember the outcome exactly. But they were all changed between 30-40Kkms.

I wouldnt doubt ford tried the shifty.

This happened to me years ago with my first car, a KE Laser. It was 1990-91 and a very well known Ford dealer told me the rear drums needed replacing. The car was less than 2 years old, bought new.

I was so annoyed at being ripped off, (only realised a few years later after my automotive knowledge increased), that I've never been to a Ford dealer for a service again.

And, every car that I've bought since then, has also been a Ford.

GK

[Batman105E]

From my own experience it is not all, and not just Ford Dealers that play this game.

I had my Hilux serviced about 12 weeks ago, they told me they needed to replace all brakes, car had done 95,000ks, so I didn't argue about the wear but I told them not to do it, instead decided to do it myself. They quoted $1200 to do front and rear brakes on the Hilux. I did it myself for less than $300 but did not machine discs or drums which they quoted, It would have cost me an extra $150 for machining.

When I did the front pads they were half worn. They had told me the rear shoes (drums at the rear) had less that 0.2mm on them. They were only half worn as well and the rear drums had not been removed. I am not sure how they diagnosed without removing the drums. It was a scam, I fronted the service manager and he was embarrassed and apologetic. He offered me a free service next time as compensation.

The Ford dealer who did the Mondeo told me the brakes would need replacement soon and told me how much material was left on the pads. They were very honest and accurate. But I still did the job myself. They quoted me $800 to do the whole job. I did it for $200 but did not machine the discs, which they had quoted.

[mik]

probably some of the "brakes left" estimations where done by apprentices, having done these estimations myself for a living many years ago they are prone to interpretation(cup half full/cup half empty), but for safety sake i would think most blokes estimate worst case scenario.
one thing to remember, no brakes = bad, if they misjudge the pad/lining left and you wear through the friction material to the rotors,
A. you might end up with uneven braking when you dont need it !
b. if the rotors are not stuffed and you go metal to metal , big the chance the rotor/s will need machining or be turfed in the bin.
c. the thickness of the rotor/brake drum has a safe wear limit stamped on them from memory, this is also is a consideration.

in saying all that, i myself would much rather have my brakes done well before they are down to minimum level.

[Nerdling]

Hi Guys,

thanks for all the answers. I had the breaks checked by a different mechanic, one who has been serving my cars for the past decade or so.

He's indicated that the front pads and rotors will need to be replaced in the next 10k, this tally's with the advise previously given by the guys who performed the original service.

The rears were a bit more interesting. This Mondeo has steel wheels, the rears were rusted on (obviously some water got on the wheel while it was in the 2nd had dealers yard) indicating that when the 40k service was performed the rear breaks were not actually checked, it was pretty clear the wheels had not been removed recently. The advice on the rears was that the pads will need to be replaced but the rotors will only need to be machined.

I'm disappointed in the approach (lazy) that the original mechanic took when servicing the car and checking the breaks.

Break were aside, with now over 40k on its clock I must say I'm pretty happy with the Mondeo, Its comfy, roomy and economical, and accepting that its not particularly fast not a bad drive.

Cheers

Mark