Rear brake binding

[guest9822]

I have a 2009 Honda Jazz EX I-SHIFT at around 57k miles. The rear left brake is binding slightly. I've been told from <major car service network> that the caliper is a bit sticky and needs replaced. Due to the binding the rear disc and pads need replaced. One thing that they were being really weird about was the bottom line quote for getting it sorted so I was wondering..

What would be a reasonable cost for a garage to replace a pair of rear discs+pads and to fix (replace, presumably?) a brake caliper?

[culzean]

I have a 2009 Honda Jazz EX I-SHIFT at around 57k miles. The rear left brake is binding slightly. I've been told from <major car service network> that the caliper is a bit sticky and needs replaced. Due to the binding the rear disc and pads need replaced. One thing that they were being really weird about was the bottom line quote for getting it sorted so I was wondering..

What would be a reasonable cost for a garage to replace a pair of rear discs+pads and to fix (replace, presumably?) a brake caliper?

It will be the slide pins causing the problem, no need to replace caliper - just free up and lubricate the slide pins and make sure the rubber concertina bellow seals are in good shape and properly fitted.   Any decent mechanic will know that 99% it will be the slide pins, but most places like quikfit, Halfords do not employ decent mechanics,  they employ sales people instead and think nothing of scaring customers and replacing things that do not need replacing,  your re-furbed calipers may well be on ebay within a week,  while you pay for new ones of unknown make...   I don't know what they will charge but it will undoubtedly be too much.   You really should replace brake discs and pads at the same time on both sides of the axle wit same parts,  otherwise you can get uneven braking.

Because the hydraulic piston is only on one side of the caliper the brake pads need to 'equalise' around the disc to apply equal pressure on each side of disc.  that is where the slide pins operate,  they let the pads without piston slide sideways in the main body of caliper.  I have never had to replace a caliper on any car I have had,  just a little bit of maintenance on slide pins and flush the brake fluid every 2 to 3 years and you should not ever have to replace a caliper. 

Rear disc brakes and alloy wheels are a bad combination as the rear brakes get all the water and salt etc kicked up by front wheels - and where steel rims cover the brakes quite well,  alloy wheels with the large gaps between 'spoke' just let everything through.

[guest9822]

Thank you. I had a feeling that Kwik Fit would see £ signs and require unnecessary work. The brake disc/pads make sense to me. They were last done around 30K miles and we're getting close to another 30K. The calipers were the surprising part.

I'll talk to an independent garage tomorrow instead. I mostly used Kwik Fit for their "free brake check" and being so close by.

[sparky Paul]

Welcome to the forum! 

As culzean says, it's a fair bet that the caliper slide pins need stripping and lubricating, and any decent independent should be able to deal with that at minimal cost.

I would avoid the big garage chains such as Halfords, Kwikfit, etc., they try to charge near franchised dealer prices for work, and only fit cheap pattern parts anyway. I bought our first Jazz with a box file full of receipts, mainly for work done at these types of garages. Some of the Halfords invoices for brakes were more expensive than the franchised dealer fixed price offers.

Honda franchised dealers offer fixed price repairs for common work, and the current price list is on the website - for example, rear discs and pads will cost you £317 all in. List price for an OEM rear caliper is an eye-watering £477.45+VAT, and that's without the £100/hr labour 

A decent independent is usually the cheapest option. They will normally use a local motor factor for parts, and you are probably looking no more than £150 for factor parts, including one replacement (pattern) caliper, if needed. Add a few pounds for sundry items, plus a couple of hours labour at around £40/hour, and I would guess my MOT man would charge under £250 for the whole job.

[culzean]

Thank you. I had a feeling that Kwik Fit would see £ signs and require unnecessary work. The brake disc/pads make sense to me. They were last done around 30K miles and we're getting close to another 30K. The calipers were the surprising part.

I'll talk to an independent garage tomorrow instead. I mostly used Kwik Fit for their "free brake check" and being so close by.

That 'free' brake check can, and often does turn out to be very expensive....  My wife went to one of the Kwikfit, Chemix or ATS ( it was a long time ago so forget which ) to get a slow puncture checked / fixed,  the bloke told her 'your brake pads are very worn, do you want us to replace them?' she phoned me and I told her they were only six months old,  I had fitted them, when she got home I checked the pads and they were less than 25% worn.  The national chains rely on most people not having much car knowledge and women are their main target for shonky sales tactics.

[Jocko]

I had a faulty battery and I took car to Kwik Fit for a free check. Guy said it needed replaced so I pulled out the receipt with 2 months warranty left and told him to replace it!

[TnTkr]

I had a faulty battery and I took car to Kwik Fit for a free check. Guy said it needed replaced so I pulled out the receipt with 2 months warranty left and told him to replace it!

Well done! 

[guest9822]

Great, thanks all. There's a Farmers autocare nearby that will probably offer more "sane" pricing.

[Jocko]

I have used Farmers a few times. Got my alignment checked and they told me it was fine but I had a worn drop link. I said I had one in the boot so they fitted it at no charge.

[JimSh]

What would be a reasonable cost for a garage to replace a pair of rear discs+pads and to fix (replace, presumably?) a brake caliper?

I had two discs fitted to rear (rust) and pads replaced at the same time for £160 at independent garage. (One Stop).
Don't know about caliper.

I had a faulty battery and I took car to Kwik Fit for a free check. Guy said it needed replaced so I pulled out the receipt with 2 months warranty left and told him to replace it!

I like it.

[culzean]

I had a faulty battery and I took car to Kwik Fit for a free check. Guy said it needed replaced so I pulled out the receipt with 2 months warranty left and told him to replace it!

Well done! 

I wish I had kept the receipt for Halfrauds own brand '5 year guarantee' LED sidelight bulbs at £20 a pair I got for my wifes Jazz,  they were extra  bright and looked good for a couple of years - bright enough to be DRL almost,  then one started flickering and flashing.  I took them back to store I got them from in the original Halfrauds packaging ( i had kept the original W5W filament bulbs in the packaging, so still had it ),  and was told 'no receipt - no warranty'.  Who keeps receipts for 5 years for a pair of lightbulbs ?

I emailed head office with a photo of the bulbs, in their Halfrauds packaging, the packaging had a picture of the bulbs on it - and an ID number on the bulbs so no mistaking they were the same bubs.  It cut no ice with Halfrauds that they had only been selling the bulbs since about the time I bought them ( about 2 years ) and I still had the original packing, and since they were Halfrauds own brand I could not have bought them anywhere else. So I have hardly been back to Halfrauds again to buy anything.   Sad really that logic is not their strong point.

[culzean]

This is a good video showing how single piston 'sliding caliper' disc brakes work,

The free movement of the slide pins is crucial, and they are often neglected.
If slide pins get hard to move you can end up with uneven pad wear ( normally
the pad on the piston side wears more than the other pad ) and / or dragging
brakes because the non-piston brake pad cannot move away from the disc.

[Westy36]

I had a faulty battery and I took car to Kwik Fit for a free check. Guy said it needed replaced so I pulled out the receipt with 2 months warranty left and told him to replace it!

  Good work Sir!

Honda franchised dealers offer fixed price repairs for common work, and the current price list is on the website - for example, rear discs and pads will cost you £317 all in. List price for an OEM rear caliper is an eye-watering £477.45+VAT, and that's without the £100/hr labour 

  £570 for a caliper! That must be for the NSX ?? If it is new caliper time, there are rebuilt ones off the shelf <£80

As said already, slider pins. And make sure you use the correct grease for them. Give the brake a decent squirt of brake cleaner for good measure.

[springswood]

I had just had a similar problem on my 2008 Mk1 my local independent charged £70 for one caliper (new) + £60 for fitting and freeing up the other side. Presumably the slide pins Culzean sparkyPaul (sorry) mentioned. Come the MOT a couple of months later they had to replace the other caliper, £100 Inc labour. Which I think is very fair. Doubtless maintaining the pins extends the working life, but for those of us who don't do our own work 12 years or so may be the life of the part.

[culzean]

Doubtless maintaining the pins extends the working life, but for those of us who don't do our own work 12 years or so may be the life of the part.

It is just one of the long list of things that most dealers and garages never look at    They probably see it as 'future work'