CHokKA
Guest
Hello everyone
I'll give a little background to the situation in the hope that it might make some sense.
At the beginning of January, I went on holiday parked my Leon Cupra at a secure airport carpark (not sheltered). We were away for just over 3 weeks. On returning, when I picked the car up braking would cause the whole car to judder. The juddering wasn't just on the pedal, but the whole car would shake when braking from both high speed and low speed. I had to drive all the way from Birmingham to York with the car like this, so I thought it would get sorted by the time I got home because I thought it was only brake dust on the discs or that maybe the calipers had siezed slightly and they just needed to be worked in again. By the time we arrived home over 2 hours later, the braking was still exactly the same, if not worse.
I booked my car in to be looked at by Wills & Ellis in York, and I had my 40k mile service done at the same time because it was close to being due. They advised me that my rear brakes were ok, but that my front brake discs had warped and would need replacing, as well as the pads. I told them to go ahead with the replacement. After picking the car up, I drove it into town and noticed that there was ever-so-slightly a bit of feedback on the pedal whenever I braked, from both high speed and low again. This feedback wasn't like it was before, with the whole car juddering. It was just a slight upward push which was up and then down, up then down etc, almost like there was something on a part of the surface of the brake disc. This was from the pedal when I applied pressure. So I rang the garage and advised them of what was happening, and stopped in on the way home. However the feedback had "gone away" by the time I got back to the garage so I figured it was just something stuck on the pad or disc and it had worked its way loose. The next day, I noticed it was back again, but not every time I braked. There was no real pattern to it. Sometimes it would happen if I braked hard, and other times not but then it would happen if I braked lightly. So I took it back to the garage again and after they tested the brakes with me (they braked from high speed and low speed, and did an emergency stop to try and "remove" anything that might be on the discs), they advised me that they would need to replace the front discs, free of charge as they had only just been changed. After changing the discs (and pads according to their service team) the problem still existed. They told me that it couldn't be the rear pads or discs as they weren't due for replacement yet. When I spoke to their service manager, he said that they weren't sure what the problem was, but if it was his car he would be ok with it this way. He offered to replace the rear discs and pads for me, but couldn't guarantee that this would resolve the problem, and I would be charged for the replacement which didn't seem fair. They're the ones that should know what's wrong with my car and I don't feel I should pay the cost of the discs because it might fix the problem, especially not after having forked out for the service costs, and replacement of the front discs, only to have further problems with the car and them not knowing what was causing it. They don't know why it's happening and I'm not wasting money on something that isn't an absolute certainty.
I told them that I couldn't afford to pay for new discs and pads for the rear wheels, especially not after they can't say for sure whether this will resolve the problem, and told them that I might contact them at a later date.
Over the last few weeks, the feedback on the pedal has been gradually getting worse and worse. Before, it was only happening sometimes. Like I said, there was no pattern to it, sometimes I would brake and it wouldn't be there, other times I would brake and it would be. Now, however, it is happening whenever I brake, no matter what speed I am doing.
My question is, has anyone else had any experience with this problem, or perhaps point me in the right direction with this? I've considered taking the wheels off the car and examining each disc, but to be honest I wouldn't really know what to look for. Some people have mentioned that it is almost like the ABS is kicking in on the car and causing the brake pedal to jump up and down.
What are your thoughts?
Please let me know if you need any further information to help me out. I'll post it as soon as I can
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Cheers
Dom
I'll give a little background to the situation in the hope that it might make some sense.
At the beginning of January, I went on holiday parked my Leon Cupra at a secure airport carpark (not sheltered). We were away for just over 3 weeks. On returning, when I picked the car up braking would cause the whole car to judder. The juddering wasn't just on the pedal, but the whole car would shake when braking from both high speed and low speed. I had to drive all the way from Birmingham to York with the car like this, so I thought it would get sorted by the time I got home because I thought it was only brake dust on the discs or that maybe the calipers had siezed slightly and they just needed to be worked in again. By the time we arrived home over 2 hours later, the braking was still exactly the same, if not worse.
I booked my car in to be looked at by Wills & Ellis in York, and I had my 40k mile service done at the same time because it was close to being due. They advised me that my rear brakes were ok, but that my front brake discs had warped and would need replacing, as well as the pads. I told them to go ahead with the replacement. After picking the car up, I drove it into town and noticed that there was ever-so-slightly a bit of feedback on the pedal whenever I braked, from both high speed and low again. This feedback wasn't like it was before, with the whole car juddering. It was just a slight upward push which was up and then down, up then down etc, almost like there was something on a part of the surface of the brake disc. This was from the pedal when I applied pressure. So I rang the garage and advised them of what was happening, and stopped in on the way home. However the feedback had "gone away" by the time I got back to the garage so I figured it was just something stuck on the pad or disc and it had worked its way loose. The next day, I noticed it was back again, but not every time I braked. There was no real pattern to it. Sometimes it would happen if I braked hard, and other times not but then it would happen if I braked lightly. So I took it back to the garage again and after they tested the brakes with me (they braked from high speed and low speed, and did an emergency stop to try and "remove" anything that might be on the discs), they advised me that they would need to replace the front discs, free of charge as they had only just been changed. After changing the discs (and pads according to their service team) the problem still existed. They told me that it couldn't be the rear pads or discs as they weren't due for replacement yet. When I spoke to their service manager, he said that they weren't sure what the problem was, but if it was his car he would be ok with it this way. He offered to replace the rear discs and pads for me, but couldn't guarantee that this would resolve the problem, and I would be charged for the replacement which didn't seem fair. They're the ones that should know what's wrong with my car and I don't feel I should pay the cost of the discs because it might fix the problem, especially not after having forked out for the service costs, and replacement of the front discs, only to have further problems with the car and them not knowing what was causing it. They don't know why it's happening and I'm not wasting money on something that isn't an absolute certainty.
I told them that I couldn't afford to pay for new discs and pads for the rear wheels, especially not after they can't say for sure whether this will resolve the problem, and told them that I might contact them at a later date.
Over the last few weeks, the feedback on the pedal has been gradually getting worse and worse. Before, it was only happening sometimes. Like I said, there was no pattern to it, sometimes I would brake and it wouldn't be there, other times I would brake and it would be. Now, however, it is happening whenever I brake, no matter what speed I am doing.
My question is, has anyone else had any experience with this problem, or perhaps point me in the right direction with this? I've considered taking the wheels off the car and examining each disc, but to be honest I wouldn't really know what to look for. Some people have mentioned that it is almost like the ABS is kicking in on the car and causing the brake pedal to jump up and down.
What are your thoughts?
Please let me know if you need any further information to help me out. I'll post it as soon as I can
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Cheers
Dom
