Rusted Rear Discs

[plasma99]

My Superb is three years old and has 28K miles on the clock.  I have just had the first MOT completed and they advised "Rear Brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (1.1.14 (a) (ii)).  The garage said that something might need to be done about it at the next service.  I'm just wondering if I do need to do anything about it and what can be done about it less a change of discs and pads?  Maybe I am not braking hard enough but it looks like the rear brakes are not doing a lot of braking work.  On my older cars, I would have got around this problem by employing the handbrake to clear the surface rust.

[xman]

13 minutes ago, plasma99 said:

On my older cars, I would have got around this problem by employing the handbrake to clear the surface rust.

 

Exactly!

 

The EPB can be activated whilst movimg and it will do an emergency brake, which at low speed is extremely aggressive and frightening.

Although this was discussed some time ago, nobody has yet volunteered to do one at a higher speed and report back what it was like.

 

If/when mine get like that, I would simply take the wheels off and get the aluminium oxide 80 grit paper out and clean the surfaces by hand. 

Edited 26 February, 2019 by xman

[Breezy_Pete]

Seems like one of those relatively rare occasions where replacing with genuine parts is a bad idea, as the genuine parts seem unfit for purpose.

There are some alarming photographs of 'delaminating' rear discs on recent cars. Significant chunks flaking right off the disc contact surface. Keep a fairly close eye on yours for such developments if you aren't replacing straight away.

 

[xman]

3 minutes ago, Wino said:

Seems like one of those relatively rare occasions where replacing with genuine parts is a bad idea, as the genuine parts seem unfit for purpose.

There are some alarming photographs of 'delaminating' rear discs on recent cars

I'm pretty sure most aftermarket discs/pads would be far superior to Skoda parts. On all ours cars the skoda discs (front and back) are poor, some delaminating as you say. And thats with a strip down and clean every 2/3 years.

[Mickey43]

My back ones are not quite as bad as that but are similar.

 

Was in for a service at a Skoda dealer a few weeks ago and they said that the pads were fine and so were the discs,  apart from the aesthetics.  They tested them as well and  dvised to keep an eye on them.  Car brakes well, no squeals or scrapes so I am happy to leave them for now.

 

In for an MOT in June so will probably get picked up then.  Can you fail an MOT for this I wonder?

[BriskodaJeff]

I suspect this is a usage issue. My work pattern changed pretty dramatically in October last year and the car went from doing 600+ miles a week to maybe 20. By Christmas the rear discs were looking a lot like the photos in the OP. Now I'm back to the hundreds of miles a week (though only 400 or so at the moment) the discs have lost all of the rust they accumulated. I'd recommend some spirited acceleration and braking to get rid of it.

[Steviedakota]

Funny, my previous car, F10 BMW is notorious for needing expensive OE brake discs, anything else is a gamble.  

On the Superb you use anything BUT OE disks they really seem very poor for rust and wear.  When I replace the rears it will be Brembo/Pagid.

[plasma99]

33 minutes ago, Steviedakota said:

Funny, my previous car, F10 BMW is notorious for needing expensive OE brake discs, anything else is a gamble.  

On the Superb you use anything BUT OE disks they really seem very poor for rust and wear.  When I replace the rears it will be Brembo/Pagid.

so is it caused by irregular wearing pad material?  I cannot understand the physics of how only part of the pad can make contact with the disc for an extended period of time.  I would have thought that the whole thing should be self correcting.

[Whenwillilearn]

A very common topic arises again. 

 

My superb suffers exactly the same and that's with only 12k miles from new. I have raised the issue with a dealer as in my opinion they are unfit for purpose but in 2 dealer visits for services they prepare the rear disc condition script and remind me every time I ask. 

 

So clearly the discs on the superb having nothing to do with so named VW AUDI quality as there is clearly no quality aspect to these items. More like they were sourced at lowest cost. 

 

Skoda UK are aware of this issue as my dealer mentioned the only way forward is bite the bullet and pay for new rear discs through skoda and then complain to SUK and maybe get a refund or goodwill. 

I declined the offer to have a new pair and avoid another dispute with SUK. 

 

Dissapointing situation, fit a car with 19" wheels only to view brake discs rusting and rotting behind. Skoda need to raise their game.  Great car for transporting people and large items. Certainly no where near its so called luxury/flagship status. 

 

 

[Gizmo]

Take a look at the following thread to see how common this is

 

 

[xman]

Keeps dealers in business.

[nicknorman]

Just to agree with everyone. Mine (rear pads and discs) were knackered at 30k miles. I replaced them with Delphi pads and discs, about 1/2 the price of Skoda OEM replacements and much better. Front discs seem OK for the time being.

[Marklar]

Another +1 here. My 1 year old Superb with ca. 7k miles rusts up very similarly. I only drive it at the weekends so it has 5+ days to sit between outings but I have never seen any metal rust so fast in my life.

 

I wouldn't mind too much but it does sound like running a spanner through gravel when braking until it's cleaned the rust off the front rotors, and can "tick" for a while under braking until its really worn smooth. The rears look very similar to yours even after a decent motorway trip. 

 

I love the car in general, but do find this frustrating, especially as I've never had an issue with other cars, flagship or not. 

[KeteCantek]

My used 280 with 16k miles has started to show some signs of scoring on the rear discs. Spotless when I picked it up at 15k miles but I guess the dealer has done something to it prior. 

 

Will see how it goes and worst case, just have to bite the bullet and swap to something other than OEM. Fronts are OK. 

Funnily enough, my previous car, a civic has a rust band on the outside discs and scoring too, both rears. Lived with it for the whole 5 years and it just stayed like that, never getting better or worse. Civic bought at 5 years old and checking service records, it had the rear discs replaced once due to sticky calipers at year 3 IIRC. 

[Bud]

2 hours ago, Marklar said:

The rears look very similar to yours even after a decent motorway trip. 

 

@Marklar How does a decent motorway trip ensure the brakes remain clean?

 

Surely you use the brakes the least on the motorway.

 

 

[JR RS]

maybe this is location based?

 

i'm not aware of Superbs here in Oz suffering from rust problems on the brake discs, front or rear.

i've had mine for 26k kms, 18 months now, and it still looks as new as when i first got it.

[SpeedyB79]

I had the exact same issue at 24k. Rear pads were worn down too so both needed replacing. My car is on 38k now and hit its first MOT last month and I had a verbal advisory saying they will probably need changing by next MOT again. I did complain to SUK and they originally tried to fob me but before dead lock I got the complaint escalated because the dealer was telling them 24k for rears is normal wear and tear and that the rear must be in a different environment than the fronts because they are wearing faster (that is not a lie. Alex Lawrie/ Johnson's Skoda in Liverpool told SUK that). I went to ATS, kwik Fit and a indipendant and all three said front around 40k and rears at 60k. As I didn't buy genuine and fitted them myself SUK would only give me £50 towards the costs. Lucky for me I had a 50% voucher and got brembo rear pads and disks. I ended up paying £140 for them. Front pads need doing soon so waiting for another voucher. My advice is speak with SUK first before you fork out. Tell them exactly what I was told outside of their dealer network from people who deal with breaks, exhausts and servicing day in and day out. Good luck and please post updates.

 

Also note with the ACC it is supposed to break with the rears when catching up to another car as breaking at the rear is comfortable compared to breaking at the front. Unless your doing 30 - 40 mph more then it will use the fronts.

 

Also has anyone noticed some car was places now use chemicals on your wheels that your car breaks seem jammed on a little the following day after the car hasn't been used for 12 plus hours? I'm personally down to 2 in Liverpool were they don't and will probably end up washing it myself soon.

Edited 27 February, 2019 by SpeedyB79
Added car wash question

[Marklar]

6 hours ago, Bud said:

 

@Marklar How does a decent motorway trip ensure the brakes remain clean?

 

Surely you use the brakes the least on the motorway.

 

 

I normally brake pretry hard when I'm leaving the motorway... ;-) 

 

I'm all seriousness, I'm London based so I need to get onto a motorway before my speed gets about about 8mph and I actually need to brake at all. Slowing from 70 means I can at least apply the brakes for a fair few rotor revolutions and get some cleaning done. 

[Albourneboy]

Those of you that have bought non-OEM after-market discs for their car - how did you go about getting them fitted?

 

I read somewhere that the rear discs and pads need to be done by a dealer because of the electronic handbrake. I more than capable of doing the job myself if I can and will be doing the fronts when the need arises but can the rears be done without using a VCDS (or similar)?

[busdriver]

I had this problem on my first (2010) Yeti, although not as bad.  With the compression produced in a diesel, brakes - especially the rear ones -  are not used much when slowing down.  I activated 'Coasting' in the settings menu and I then had to use the brakes more - and it helped clean the discs.

[Gizmo]

1 hour ago, Albourneboy said:

Those of you that have bought non-OEM after-market discs for their car - how did you go about getting them fitted?

 

I read somewhere that the rear discs and pads need to be done by a dealer because of the electronic handbrake. I more than capable of doing the job myself if I can and will be doing the fronts when the need arises but can the rears be done without using a VCDS (or similar)?

 

You are going to need VCDS etc to put the EPB into service position  

[Albourneboy]

[Steviedakota]

My local Indy charges €80 per axle to fit pads and disks (parts supplied), it's a very easy job for them.

[xman]

17 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

 

You are going to need VCDS etc to put the EPB into service position  

 

You can also use OBDeleven and Carista. No doubt other OBD diagnostic devices too.

 

Cheapest option I've seen is Carista, £16 gets the adapter and 1 month free trial of the Pro features.

 

I think you can also disconnect the caliper and supply +12v directly to wind the motor out but I think that might cause all sorts of problems with the cars systems.

[KeteCantek]

2 hours ago, busdriver said:

I had this problem on my first (2010) Yeti, although not as bad.  With the compression produced in a diesel, brakes - especially the rear ones -  are not used much when slowing down.  I activated 'Coasting' in the settings menu and I then had to use the brakes more - and it helped clean the discs.

That is a good tip. Even my petrol dsg has significant engine braking in town and I end up using very little brakes.