My 500 is less than 2 years old and has done 11400 miles. I heard a scraping noise from the breaks and the dealer is telling me it needs new pads and discs at a cost of £240 due to 'uneven wear and hot-spots'. Under warranty I contacted Fiat who said it was 'normal wear and tear'. How can new discs and pads at 11,400 miles be 'normal' wear and tear?! All I do is drive to work and Sainsburys. Very, very upset about this and don't know what to do other than pay the bill - so any help would be appreciated.
Technical 2019 500 new disks at 11400 miles? Very upset, please help!
- Thread starter AlexDerby
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Technical 2019 500 new disks at 11400 miles? Very upset, please help!
Hi
Many 500's need brake rebuilds by 20k
Its your 'hotspots' that are the issue here..
Either the 'servicing' hasnt kept the brakes free enough.. or you have accelerated wear through driving style
Either way a 'scraping noise' probably means something has failed
HOWEVER.. the parts will be around £80
So see who is cheapest from quickfit and national tyres..
A proper garage could be even cheaper
You dont need to worry about warranty implications.. as this FIAT dealer has shown
If it was BIG money.. it would be worth Bringing Slough into this.. but for the £120 you could be arguing over.. its not really worthwhile
Many 500's need brake rebuilds by 20k
Its your 'hotspots' that are the issue here..
Either the 'servicing' hasnt kept the brakes free enough.. or you have accelerated wear through driving style
Either way a 'scraping noise' probably means something has failed
HOWEVER.. the parts will be around £80
So see who is cheapest from quickfit and national tyres..
A proper garage could be even cheaper
You dont need to worry about warranty implications.. as this FIAT dealer has shown
If it was BIG money.. it would be worth Bringing Slough into this.. but for the £120 you could be arguing over.. its not really worthwhile
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Hi and welcome to the forum.
The brakes don't receive any servicing; just a quick inspection to ensure there's enough meat on the pads and the discs aren't worn to oblivion.
What you've experienced is, sadly, all too common. Given the amount of salt used on UK roads, steel pads fitted into an unlubricated cast iron reaction frame are never going to work well for long.
Read this thread to find out why this happens, and what can be done about it.
ECP will sell you a set of Pagid pads & discs today for about £57 including VAT. I've used these myself and they're good quality; certainly better than the OEM Fiat parts. Find a small independent garage to fit them; the job is straightforward enough that they could do a first class job for £50 and show a decent profit. Providing they clean & lubricate the reaction frames properly, they'll last you somewhere between 40,000 - 60,000 miles.
Take it to Fiat and you'll pay close to £300 (unless that £240 includes VAT) and be back where you started in another 20k. If they've already dismantled your brakes, you may have little choice but to pay up; they're not going let you take the car away without forking out almost as much for diagnostics and reassembly.
Don't even think about trying to make a warranty claim for this; brakes are a fair wear and tear item and you'll get nowhere.
The brakes don't receive any servicing; just a quick inspection to ensure there's enough meat on the pads and the discs aren't worn to oblivion.
What you've experienced is, sadly, all too common. Given the amount of salt used on UK roads, steel pads fitted into an unlubricated cast iron reaction frame are never going to work well for long.
Read this thread to find out why this happens, and what can be done about it.
ECP will sell you a set of Pagid pads & discs today for about £57 including VAT. I've used these myself and they're good quality; certainly better than the OEM Fiat parts. Find a small independent garage to fit them; the job is straightforward enough that they could do a first class job for £50 and show a decent profit. Providing they clean & lubricate the reaction frames properly, they'll last you somewhere between 40,000 - 60,000 miles.
Take it to Fiat and you'll pay close to £300 (unless that £240 includes VAT) and be back where you started in another 20k. If they've already dismantled your brakes, you may have little choice but to pay up; they're not going let you take the car away without forking out almost as much for diagnostics and reassembly.
Don't even think about trying to make a warranty claim for this; brakes are a fair wear and tear item and you'll get nowhere.
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If they're solid discs then discs and pads are only £30, Yes thats just £30 add just over an hours labour so about 150
At only about 100 miles a week then yes I'd expect new discs even at this age
At only about 100 miles a week then yes I'd expect new discs even at this age
When I can’t be bothered Mr Clutch do fixed price discs and pads for about £160 ish.
Scraping noise suggests pads worn to metal, and this will damage the discs. Wear rate will depend on usage. The heavier you brake, the higher the wear. Braking earlier, slowing more gently over a longer distance will bring less wear, despite the brakes being applied for longer.
After a damp night, there is likely to be surface rust on the discs. The first few applications of brake will scrub this off, but this of course brings more pad wear. How much rust each night will depend on local atmospheric conditions. I'm guessing you are in Derby, so at least not sea air, which makes it much worse.
Hot spots could be driving technique.
As you stop, the discs get hot. If when stopped, you keep your foot on the brake pedal until ready to move off again, the part of the disc clamped by the pads will not cool as much as the rest of the disc which is exposed. If a stop is more than a pause, the handbrake should be used, and the pedal released. I've seen discs with horrendous hotspots after about 5 months, just due to this poor driving technique. And of course, that is not a defect with the parts.
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I suspect the discs are rusty, it's not uncommon, particulalry if the car is not doing much, just short local trips.
With a bit of surface rust you normally clear it off when you first brake, but once the disc surfaces are pitted, the rust really takes hold and soon ruins them.
As JR writes, a set of Pagid Discs and Pads from Eurocarparts is a good bet. The Discs are coated (Geomet, whatever than is) and they tend to resist rust a lot better.
With a bit of surface rust you normally clear it off when you first brake, but once the disc surfaces are pitted, the rust really takes hold and soon ruins them.
As JR writes, a set of Pagid Discs and Pads from Eurocarparts is a good bet. The Discs are coated (Geomet, whatever than is) and they tend to resist rust a lot better.
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When the car sits in damp weather for a few days, the discs will put on rust. Everywhere except where the pads are. This results in a "bumpy" feeling of the brake pedal when used and goes away after a few brake uses. Had this just recently, car sitting in rain for over a week, it took actually a few rides to fully go away.
This rust is superficial and harmless. Every brake has it because it is naked steel exposed to salt and rain. Check pad thickness, when it is ok, no reason to get nervous. A few rusty spots on the disc are no problem either. Disc brakes are quite robust and tolerate this kind of wear, unless you have big lumps of rust or holes in the discs. Then they need maintenance
That being said and based on experience from various cars, I cannot comment on specific quality issues of the 500 brakes. Mine look nearly new after 2 years and 20k miles.
On the other hand, with the material being cheap and easy to change, worth doing that if you don't feel comfortable with them. Just make sure they use a decent brand for parts. So not necessarily Fiat OEM.
This rust is superficial and harmless. Every brake has it because it is naked steel exposed to salt and rain. Check pad thickness, when it is ok, no reason to get nervous. A few rusty spots on the disc are no problem either. Disc brakes are quite robust and tolerate this kind of wear, unless you have big lumps of rust or holes in the discs. Then they need maintenance
That being said and based on experience from various cars, I cannot comment on specific quality issues of the 500 brakes. Mine look nearly new after 2 years and 20k miles.
On the other hand, with the material being cheap and easy to change, worth doing that if you don't feel comfortable with them. Just make sure they use a decent brand for parts. So not necessarily Fiat OEM.
