Hi 

I need some advise see if the cost is reasonable or not, so my car Ford Focus (2016) did a Ford VisualHealth Check and the the report says that the Front disc us currently at 22.8mm, and they said that the minimum should be 23mm so it needs to be replaced, is that true? Is there a legal limits?  If not what's the recommended limits?

Also the brake pads is about 4mm left, does that need to be replaced as well? What's the legal limits? And they charge about £260

In terms of the door rubber seal I could see it's a common issue,  and they also charged £260 to repair it, is it reasonable?

 

Thanks

For the door seal, if it's the classic problem of the seal hanging off the bottom there are fixing kits for a few quid on ebay which I have used to great success in the past.

You can buy aftermarket discs AND pads for less than £100 which take less than an hour to fit if you know someone, and a tube of superglue is about £3 from Asda !!!

3 hours ago, Qiiii said:

Is there a legal limits?  If not what's the recommended limits?

The wear limit is set by the car manufacturer, no doubt in conjunction with the Brake System  manufacturer. I don't know what the limits are for your model, but for the MK4 it is 2mm less than the new thickness for the Discs and when the Pads have only 1.5 mm of friction material left.

If Discs are changed then the Pads must be changed as well, regardless of condition.

I think mot limit on pads is 1.5mm,  when my fiesta had 22k miles on it Ford dealer said it urgently needed new pads and gave the hard sell on me agreeing for them to replace that day. I refused as I knew they were fine because I had a look a few weeks earlier. I changed them at 50k miles and they still had a fair bit on them. On my previous fiesta I got to 75k before changing the pads but I admit they were thin and it still had original discs at 165k. But you can’t trust anyone when it comes to getting money out of you. I would need to see discs with my own eyes to give an opinion. Mot test does not measure discs, it’s visual.

 

As others have said the minimum disc thickness is only a manufacturer limit. Personally I'd see out that remaining 4mm of meat on the pads and replace discs and pads together next time.

£260 is about right for discs and pads at main dealer prices. 

If you go to most independent garages, they don't even measure the discs. The majority of the time it's a visual inspection, and replace them when changing the pads if there's a lip on the outside.

I do think a hell of a lot of discs get replaced unnecessarily. It’s quick easy money for garages particularly when they mention the critical safety aspect of brakes. It’s not very eco friendly to replace parts when they don’t need it. 

A few years ago a mate of mine took his VW Passat to the main dealer for some warranty work doing. Whilst there they told him that his front discs and pads needed changing as a matter of urgency and that it would cost him £350. As I looked after his car back then, he asked me to do the job for him so I got him to bring the car down for me to check. The discs were like new and the pads weren't even 1/4 worn.... 3 years later I finally changed them both for him for less than £100. I have heard numerous similar stories since both about main dealers and certain national High Street garages as well.

I wouldn't trust main dealers as far as I could throw them !!!

To put the figures I quoted into perspective, for the Mk4 the rears are 11mm and the discard thickness is 9mm, which is about 20% loss of thickness. The fronts are 27mm and 25mm but that includes the vented gap so it is probably around 20% of the metal thickness as well.

I have changed plenty of Discs because they have rusted, especially on the inner part and usually more so at the side that you can't see until removing the Pads, but I have never felt the need to measured them.

As a general rule at Pad change time,  if the Discs look like they will not last as long as the pads then it is false economy not to replace them at the same time because you will need new Pads when you have to change the Discs which will be before the end of the Pads life.