70 Plate Kodiaq - rear discs and pads needed.... do you think this is reasonable? Replacement discs + pads <6k miles

[DivineWind]

Hello all, 

 

I've just had my Kodiaq in for a service and a recall as per the service plan.

 

It's come out and it appears they've kinda done a mini MOT on it as well and they're saying that all wiper blades and the Rear discs and pads need replaced,

The front wipers are fine but the rear sounds like its made or hard plastic lol (75 quid for a set! 🤣 noty)

 

The rear discs/pads are where they've really narked me tho...

 

Car is just ovre a year old, just over 5.6k miles on it... new Discs and pads? I dont think I've needed to replace any this early before.

Skoda report says theyre less than 10% worn but need replaced due to corrosion!

 

While the car was in I took a look outside at a number of their over vehicles 69 plates, 70 plates and even 21 plates.

The discs on the vast majority of them looked utterly knackered.

I raised this with the chap at the service at the Skoda dealer and his defence for me needing to pay £335 for this was...

 

Yeah look at the one over there, a car with no plates on it, they're knackered as well and that ones got like no miles on it!

So he tried to defend the skoda brand and quality by pointing out that a car sat indoors that had negligible miles on it the discs were knackred too!

 

He's not really helped the case here like and I reckon it's worth pushing this with Skoda UK.

 

Anyone else has similar issues?

 

Thanks

 

Cheers

 

[Yogi-Bear]

8 minutes ago, DivineWind said:

the rear sounds like its made or hard plastic lol

 

The rear wiper on the pre-facelift Kodiaq is notorious for being useless. Mine juddered from start to end, but I didn't bother replacing it in 3.5 years and it didn't fail the MoT it had...

 

Touch wood... the one on the new bear seems to be a lot better. Don't know if the rear window has changed (doubt it) or if its a different wiper.

 

As for the subject - there are plenty of other threads with similar complaints, so I'd stick to your guns.

[kodiaqsportline]

The wipers on all VW branded cars are the same, it's pot luck if you get good 'uns.  My advice would be to first clean them with some neat screen washer fluid. If you need to replace them then don't buy more VW rubbish buy something like Bosch aeros. Outlets such as EuroCarParts usually have them on offer - you'll pay half the price of the replacements from your dealer for wipers that are x10 better.

 

I too have just had my '70 reg Kodiaq serviced with just under 4000 miles on the clock - it's fine. VW discs are exactly the same as their wipers, quality is all over the place. What you're likely to be seeing on a car so new tho and defo on the cars in the showroom, is surface rust. If I'd been in your shoes I'd have asked why pay £335 for them to rust within a year?

 

Given what you say, I'd defo contact Skoda and quote verbatim what you were told. I'm pretty sure they'll be now't wrong with your discs but there's enough evidence to suggest they were faulty at the point of manufacture.  Was your car been serviced at the place you bought it? If so then have a word with the dealer principal and explain what you've been told by servce. If the discs on his showroom cars are showing similar signs of rust then you have a stonewall case that they supplied a product that was faulty at the time of sale and it's up to them to sort it out. ( they'll liase with Skoda to avoid paying the bill themselves ).

 

It's usually on cars several years old that the discs need replaced. Same advice as with the wipers - why replace a poor quality product with another? Replace them with a brand name that has a reputation for quality, And have this done at a 3rd party garage - it'll be much cheaper than main dealers.

 

One last comment on VW discs. It's good practice to brake heavy a few times when starting your journey - clears that surface rust.  

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, DivineWind said:

Skoda report says theyre less than 10% worn but need replaced due to corrosion!

That's not impossible; I'd really want to see photos before commenting in a particular case though.

[Avocet]

We have a 2017 (67 plate) 4x4 DSG diesel just coming up to 30,000 miles and it's still on its original discs and pads all round.  It had a service a couple of weeks ago and in the "free health check" the front pads were recorded as still having 7mm left on them and the rears have 5mm left on them - i.e. barely half worn!  All the discs have surface rust on the non-friction surfaces (which is pretty normal) but the friction surfaces themselves are fine.

Frankly, unless you park yours on the beach each night (below the high tide line!), I can't believe that any well-manufactured disc should have experienced serious corrosion by now.  Either your dealer is trying to "play" you, or you have a car with defective discs, probably made from recycled manhole covers...

 

As Kodiaqsportline suggests, it might be worth you speaking to Skoda Customer Services about this...

[BoxerBoy]

My previous Kodiaq got 2 sets of replacement rear discs and pads under warranty inside the 3 years I had it.

 

Made of cheese.

 

Third set performed OK.

 

My current Bear is heading for the same argument over rear disc uneven wear - when I can be arsed to visit the dealer.

Edited 13 November, 2021 by BoxerBoy

[J.R.]

Mild steel brake discs will rust, its not a manufacturing fault or an indication of poor quality, its simply chemistry.

 

A new vehicle at a dealership that has not been driven will have rusty discs and it will be all the more apparent and deeper through not being removed by the normal braking action of being driven, it is not a stonewall case that they supplied a product that was faulty at the time of sale.

 

The less brakes are used heavily the more the chance of the surface rust becoming pitting, rear brakes get very little use, rusting pitting and scoring are the physical manifestations of that, the situation has been aggravated I believe by the modern asbestos free brake pad composition.

[Avocet]

I think discs are usually made of cast iron?

But yeah, they do all rust.  They can't easily be protected from it because they get hot in use.  And yes, I agree they need a certain amount of use to stop the rust forming a skin.  As soon as that happens, the oxide layer is harder than the pad material, so the pads just end up "polishing" the rusty skin that forms on the friction surface.

[Ootohere]

Everything returns to the earth eventually and discs do rust, but wander round a Car Supermarket or Car park and look at different vehicles of different ages and see how many newer cars have crappy looking discs and pay attention to which manufacturers vehicles have ones that look really bad.

You might find that the biggest manufacturer group in the world turns the vehicles out with euro pinching consumables that do need replacing just a little too often.

 

The OP looked at that dealerships vehicles and has seen just what is pretty normal, and these cars might get an Italian Tune up before sale, unlikely a Dealership replaces Discs when they are the way the OP's are though.  Funny how customers get advisories but their sales vehicles / Demonstrators / Management cars just go out as they are.

 

[BoxerBoy]

Got my new rear discs yesterday.  Waited 6 months since I spotted the problem.  No argument.

 

 

[xman]

Interesting read here

 

https://www.pureforge.com/blog/blog/abrasive-friction-vs-adherent-friction-part-1

 

https://www.pureforge.com/blog/abrasive-vs-adherent-part-2

 

I first became aware of this when reseaching (ATE) ceramic pads, these low dust pads acheive this partly by transferring and leaving a thin layer of carbides on the disc surface from the pads, i.e. adherent transfer, which keeps the surfaces nice and shiny.

 

VAG pads have a high metal content, iron and some copper for performance and thermal reasons, however that means they are very absrasive (dusty) and the copper I suspect leads to promoting disc corrosion

https://www.nature.com/articles/173994b0

 

However it is crucial that pads are bedded in correctly to establish the initial protective layer.

 

[SurreyJohn]

Drive the car anywhere near a river estuary when it is windy, get salty spray.

 

Drive it when there is salt on the roads, get salty water splashed on discs.  You will find it rusts quickly (even overnight)

 

Don’t worry about it unless disk has big grooves or is warped, a couple of heavy brake applications normally cleans them up.

 

[Ootohere]

@SurreyJohn @BoxerBoyhappens to be driving in Scotland and where they sometimes in some regions have the gritters / salters out quite a lot November to April. 

[Routemaster1461]

I only have to wash my cars or leave them stationary for a few days in damp conditions for the discs to rust. They can make a few grinding noises for the first few applications, but they are OK after that. The only time I have had a real issue was on discs that had recently been replaced by a (non VAG) main dealer where there were rusted bands on the disc. It turned out to not be a disc problem, but a bent pad not contacting the whole of the disc surface. All re-replaced gratis. 

[RustyC80]

2017 1.4, had new discs at 70k km (about 46k miles) put cheap ones on (by necesity not desire) and wow do I regret it to this day. Within a few thousand miles they warped and now they're tinged black from overheating. Only replace with good quality discs.  

My rear left caliper stuck on until the pads were down to metal, took to dealer under warranty. After a fight still ended up paying for 2 new rear discs and pads. Rip off. 

And don't get me started on tyres.

Every 15k miles have to replace the front tyres, had Riken, had cheaper, had Michelin twice. No difference in longevity.

And now the water pump is leaking.

And yet.

Will still buy another Kodiaq when the time comes. 

Lovely car despite all this.

Thanks for reading.

[Avocet]

On 13/02/2022 at 20:20, RustyC80 said:

2017 1.4, had new discs at 70k km (about 46k miles) put cheap ones on (by necesity not desire) and wow do I regret it to this day. Within a few thousand miles they warped and now they're tinged black from overheating. Only replace with good quality discs.  

My rear left caliper stuck on until the pads were down to metal, took to dealer under warranty. After a fight still ended up paying for 2 new rear discs and pads. Rip off. 

And don't get me started on tyres.

Every 15k miles have to replace the front tyres, had Riken, had cheaper, had Michelin twice. No difference in longevity.

And now the water pump is leaking.

And yet.

Will still buy another Kodiaq when the time comes. 

Lovely car despite all this.

Thanks for reading.

Wow!  That's bad!  I see you live on Lanzarote too?  We replaced front tyres (Pirelli Scorpions) at about 24,000 miles.  The rears are still original at 30,000.  Is there something about the conditions n Lanzarote that makes the tyres wear faster, or have you had reasonable life out of the tyres on other cars?  Rear caliper sounds odd too.  When ours are on, they will lock the wheels.

 

[RustyC80]

Lanzarote yes

 

Never had unexpected tyre wear before, so is a Kodiaq thing. 

The caliper, you're right. It wasn't stuck on like I said in the post, it was stuck, and on, but no so much that I could feel it when driving or parking. Couldn't feel anything. Then one day heard the familiar scratching sound of worn out brake pads and found it quick enough. Had to prise them apart and put grips on the pipe so it couldn't put that brake on. 

Didn't affect the electronic brake at all. Don't know why. Maybe someone will say that's rubbish, but I did about 200km with that caliper locked off and the pads never made contact with the pads, but the hold function worked perfectly.  I never use the handbrake as it's a DSG.

[Avocet]

12 hours ago, RustyC80 said:

Lanzarote yes

 

Never had unexpected tyre wear before, so is a Kodiaq thing. 

The caliper, you're right. It wasn't stuck on like I said in the post, it was stuck, and on, but no so much that I could feel it when driving or parking. Couldn't feel anything. Then one day heard the familiar scratching sound of worn out brake pads and found it quick enough. Had to prise them apart and put grips on the pipe so it couldn't put that brake on. 

Didn't affect the electronic brake at all. Don't know why. Maybe someone will say that's rubbish, but I did about 200km with that caliper locked off and the pads never made contact with the pads, but the hold function worked perfectly.  I never use the handbrake as it's a DSG.

Very strange... Although the hill hold function uses all 4 brakes, so if you have one of them blanked-off, it should still work.  Regarding the tyre wear, have you had the wheel alignment checked by someone you trust?

[RustyC80]

Yeah. Every time. Same place. They wear evenly across the whole width too. It's got to just be that I drive too fast for a Kodiaq. Never had this issue before, so it's not my driving in general.  But the Kodiaq is always struggling for grip at the front end, when pulling off up hill, when pulling off on full lock, if it's wet. Any of these will cause the tyres to scrabble a bit. Not enough for the traction light to come on, I'm not a lunatic, but it just can't seem to pull away normally when on a hill, on full lock, or in the wet. Between that and my generally faster than average driving style I'm just chewing through tyres in a way other cars didn't.

[silver1011]

Vast amounts of partially built Skoda's have spent a full winter sat on airfields across Europe and the UK due to component shortages.

 

Two components likely to suffer from being sat out in the elements for extended periods are rubber wiper blades and unprotected bare metal brake discs.

 

I'm not excusing VAG's variable quality on discs, but my 4 year old 30,000 mile Kodiaq is still on the original discs and pads.

 

I'm not excusing VAG's variable quality overall, but I've only recently changed the original wiper blades, and even then they were wiping just fine.

 

I'm also not suggesting you should have to, but some heavy braking (where safe to do so) every few months will periodically scrub and clean the underworked rear discs.

 

Edited 17 February, 2022 by silver1011

[Avocet]

On 16/02/2022 at 09:35, RustyC80 said:

Yeah. Every time. Same place. They wear evenly across the whole width too. It's got to just be that I drive too fast for a Kodiaq. Never had this issue before, so it's not my driving in general.  But the Kodiaq is always struggling for grip at the front end, when pulling off up hill, when pulling off on full lock, if it's wet. Any of these will cause the tyres to scrabble a bit. Not enough for the traction light to come on, I'm not a lunatic, but it just can't seem to pull away normally when on a hill, on full lock, or in the wet. Between that and my generally faster than average driving style I'm just chewing through tyres in a way other cars didn't.

 

They are very heavy cars.  I wonder if that might be part of the problem?  Plus, I guess, if you had a binding rear brake, that won't help when it comes to wheelspin.  Ours is the 4x4 and I have to say, I've never had a problem with traction on tarmac - even in the wet.  Driving them fast will (because they're so heavy) give the front tyres a pretty had time, I imagine.