[bmaxbill]

Good afternoon,

I was shocked to find out that after only 30000 miles of careful motoring my 3 year old B Max needs front discs and pads, whilst I except the fact that pads are sacrificial surely the discs should out live a number of pad changes. After 40 years plus of car ownership I have never needed new discs and only the occasional pad change.

With this in mind I am curious as to how many miles my fellow B Max drivers are getting from both pads and discs; lets see who can post the highest and lowest.

Also has anyone tried to discuss a problem with Ford Technical as there is no e-mail link and only a premium phone number £1/minute or an address to write to. If you have an e-mail link please post it.

 

[Gremlin]

modern brake disks are 'sacrificial' in the same way as pads. they also tend to be inexpensive, and easy to change.
your other 40 years of motoring would likely be in a car that weighed half what modern cars weigh, and didn't go as fast. or stop as quickly.

 

[Hywel S Wales]

See this previous thread.

https://www.bmaxownersclub.co.uk/forum/14-technical/1799-new-brake-pads-discs.html

 

[bmaxbill]

Gremlin, my last car was a Peugeot 508 and before that the 407 and the 406; before my Peugeot period it was Mercedes and Volvos. All of these vehicles were considerably heavier than the B Max and they also went extremely fast. When I retired 3 years ago we down sized to the B Max chiefly because of the rear sliding doors for our Grandchildren; our last Fords were the Escort and Fiesta back in the early 80's and the only reason we changed to Volvo was safety.


Hywel, thanks for the link but I had already read through it and although helpful I haven't been able to locate any threads on Ford Technical and if anyone has contacted them. By the way our B Max is a Titanium in Tectonic Silver (Gold) 1.0 125ps Eco and we're happy with it but this issue with the brakes makes me question Fords quality control and Quality Assurance abilities. I like value for money and not being hood winked by Ford's fair wear and tare policy nor dealerships trying to make a fast buck.

 

[gadgee]

bmaxbill
Consider yourself lucky. I have an identical Bmax to you ie. tectonic silver and 125PS BHP ecoboost. I had the front discs and pads replaced at 25000 miles after some vibration under braking. The car is a 64 plate. Personally I took it all on the chin!

 

[bmaxbill]

Gadgee, I take it you're from Morpeth like me, born and breed. If you had to change both pads and discs at 25000 miles did you take any action against Ford. I'm trying my best but Ford seem to be filling their sandbags and £1 per minute phone numbers avoids most people from contacting them. Has anyone had any success in complaining about the quality of their brake discs and how did you contact them.

 

[gadgee]

Gadgee, I take it you're from Morpeth like me, born and breed. If you had to change both pads and discs at 25000 miles did you take any action against Ford. I'm trying my best but Ford seem to be filling their sandbags and £1 per minute phone numbers avoids most people from contacting them. Has anyone had any success in complaining about the quality of their brake discs and how did you contact them.

No I just paid up because they are consumable items and personally dont think its worth the time and effort to complain. One interesting point though was that the car had an MOT five months and 4000 miles after the discs and pads were replaced and guess what - there was an advisory - osf brake disc worn, pitted or scored! Naturally I reminded the Ford dealer that they had only recently replaced it. The reply was that the tester was being very strict and it was nothing to worry about! I said that I would be keeping a close eye on any problems over the guarantee period and would expect a free replacement. So far everything is fine with no vibration and I have five months still to go.

 

[Hadrian1]

I'm not heavy on brakes, but I had to put new discs and pads on a Honda Accord, and on my Civic.
They weren't particularly high mileage either.

 

[Briangsf1200]

https://www.saynoto0870.com/companysearch.php

 

[Willow]

Hi bmaxbill

I have just had my discs and pads replaced at my local Ford deal for £175 following an advisory from a recent MOT. I have 42000 miles on the clock

 

[Hadrian1]

As I think has been mentioned before. I don't have to do many miles in my Bmax before the front wheels are black with dust.
Although at the last service they said they were fine. It's only done about 12,500 miles though.

 

[Briangsf1200]

£175 for front pads AND discs supplied and fitted - I’d bite their hand off at that price!
Price the parts up alone on Autosessive (usually one of the cheapest for good quality parts) and it’s nearly £130 before fitting or the couple of hours it would take to do yourself.
As already said, modern pads often need replacing at every other pad change.

 

[Briangsf1200]

Re the brake dust, aftermarket plastic shields are available that go between the back of the wheel and the brake assembly. Never used them myself so I can’t comment on how well they work (or effect the brake temperature).

 

[Britcarfan]

Ford B max 1000cc ecoboost, 13 reg.
Just doing our discs and pads now. Mileage just turned 30,000 mls. On the discs is given the minimum thickness of 21mm, they are about 23mm when new and ours are down to 20.6mm, pads about 2.5mm.
By contrast my old 1980 Triumph Spitfire has been through several pad changes but original discs are still fine, so I would say very much down to the weight of the car.

 

[Tivvyman]

I replaced our front disks and pads last summer at about 30k . Did them myself in 30 minutes. No special tools required. Bought Pagid disks and pads £90 delivered. Was quoted £225 by a local garage.
Whilst I’m ok with pads at that mileage it’s unusual for disks to wear at that rate IMHO.

 

[B-Max-Mike]

We are coming up to 71000 miles soon, Not changed Disc's or pads yet.:surprise:.
One of the benefits of using Engine Braking :smile_big:.


There are some long hills in North Derbyshire were I see cars in front of me with there brakes on all the ways down, some I can think of are 5 Miles or more long I hardly have to touch my brakes, dropping down to 2nd gear is normally good enough to slow you down.
When I have been down some really steep roads I have used 1st gear and no brakes and engine revs at 5000 rpm .:smile:

 

[cianpars]

I agree. Just had my first MOT at 28,500 miles and inspection showed the pads were 20% worn. I can put this down to 2 things - engine braking and anticipation.

I do a lot of motorway driving and always leave a decent gap to the car in front. Every day, as I see brake lights in front of me, I just lift off the throttle and rarely have to touch the brake pedal. Similarly, I descend hills in a low gear.

You may find it to be an interesting exercise to go out and and try not to touch the brake pedal by using anticipation. You will save fuel as well.

 

[B-Max-Mike]

You may find it to be an interesting exercise to go out and and try not to touch the brake pedal by using anticipation. You will save fuel as well.

Yes I read traffic like a book and leave a gap.



My ford dealer tried to find unnecessary work in the last service and MOT by saying the front disc's need replacing and new tyre's that were two weeks old are worn 45% :surprise: pull the other one. Passed MOT with no comments..


Another one they tried a few years ago said the rear springs are rusty, funny how they have passed every year since without doing anything to them.

 

[carl]

Hi, I have to have my rear brakes done and a brake fluid change and I have been quoted two prices from my Ford garage. It,s £615 IF fORD PARTS USED OR £495 if aftermarket parts used. Advised to change all as the handbrake was causing the rear left brake to lock and it was grating . Are these prices ok or not ? Thankyou for any input.

 

[Hywel S Wales]

Sounds way too much ... this is easy work any decent garage could do.