A garage lied about worn brake pads and charged me an extra £750 - what can I do?
I took my Mazda MX-5 in for a service recently. When paying for the service, I was told that the pads were 90 per cent worn and the discs had a lip, so they required changing at the same time. Being surprised at this information because I keep a check on such items myself, I took the car to two independent garages for their opinions. I was told, and shown, that the pads were barely 50 per cent worn and the wear of the discs was negligible. Neither required any attention for perhaps another 20,000 miles. What should my response be to the main dealer for such dishonesty? The extra work cost me £750.
A dealer takes the view that to save unnecessary return visits, items such as brakes should have enough meat on them to last until the next service. This dealer appears to have exaggerated the need for new discs and pads, but there's not much you can do.
Answered by Honest John on