Lozza54
I have a V40 T5 R-Design where I have just had to get the brake discs & pads changed at 38,000km...is this normal timing??? My previous car needed them changed at around 100,000km so I am concerned to say the least that there might be something faulty going on. Thanks in advance for advice & thoughts!
Vee_Que
What was your last car for reference? Most European cars brake well, and as they do, they need soft pads to wear. Japanese cars run harder pads and don't brake anywhere as well if they last a long time. It is normal. I would go with stock pads myself.
lasercowboy
But the discs? At 38,000km? Unless you ran the pads out and wrecked the discs, that doesn't sound right...
Lozza54
Last car was a Honda so maybe that explains it re harder pads. Thanks!
I had the last service at 30k and they said all was ok so I don't understand why so bad now. But noise was awful
Vee_Que
Nope. Its quite common, astras from the early 2000s destroy rotors too. Its quite common, the rotors are designed thinner so they don't machine down.
Philia_Bear
Driving style has more to do with it than anything else
With my bmw 5 series
Previous owner was doing pads and rotors every 50k
I've put another 100k on the car and not even half way through my first set
Dauntless
What kind of driving do you do? Manual or auto?
A mate of mine goes through 2 sets of pads and a set of rotors every year or so in his Falcon. My Forester made it to 300k on the original front rotors and has now done 140k on one set of front pads. The rear rotors are still original at 448k.
If you drive aggressively, or drive in traffic a lot with an automatic and use OEM pads, it's quite possible they only lasted 38k.
AshDVS
The need to replace pads that early in the vehicles life is not uncommon across many european makes - remembering that many of the braking systems on these vehicles are engineering to have very good bite from (very) cold.
The type of driving you find yourself doing is also very much a factor.
The C30/S40/V50 models are very heavy on front brakes if you do a lot of stop-start city driving - pad squeal is also not uncommon in this scenario.
We'd typically supply a Brembo pad as a longer wearing option for city driving and to resolve the squealing issue.
Bosch also have a suitable option that we can offer.
As a standard replacement rotor, the Brembo is very good too and cheaper than original.
Of course, if your short pad life is a result of more 'spirited' driving, there are options to increase braking performance and component life as well.
An option in this space (that we would suggest) might be EBC rotors and Project Mu NS400 pads.
It's really a case of understanding how you're using your vehicles and choosing a suitable option to address the shortcomings.
