Vauxhall Astra Brakes

[Tricati]

Mate of mines Signam, 18K miles, has squealing brakes when applied at any speed, local dealer said pads required at his cost, got them done to no avail. Dealer now saying it's pads & discs that's required at his cost as not covered under his new car warranty (just over 1 year old).

He found a forum regarding faulty batches of mis-matched discs & pads used by Vauxhall causing this problem & dealers are trying to get the owners to pay for changing them. My 2 year old rarely used VXR Racing has just over 10K on the clock & I'm now experiencing same with my rear o/s brake, anybody able to confirm if this is the case with the pads Vauxhall have been using?

 

[Marc07]

well...you could get the batch number of your breaks (if this is possible and there is one of course, but should be there) and give Main Vauxhall Dealership or Service Center a call and see if your batch number is on the list of all faulty ones.

 

[pgarner]

wouldnt surprise me

my parents astras inlet cam sheared in 2. found plenty of the same issues online for the 1.2 and 1.4 but vaux only admitted to 1 fault

 

[Tricati]

Local Vauxhall dealer. Peter Vardy Kirkcaldy, saying only brake issues are with Insignia!!

 

[Marc07]

If there is some sort of forum which tells you that there is a real issue with Vauxhall pads and discs NOT ONLY on Insignias, then as I said, do not call local dealers, call Main UK Dealer, Main Vauxhall parts distribution center, speak with people on top, tell them the batch/part number if you can read it from you pads or just call them and ask what are numbers of faulty pads, but then you will still have to get the number of your break pads to see if it matches with what they gave you.
Also, I'm sure there should be somewhere online a official list of faulty batch number parts or something like that, don't they have to release this sort of info to the public ???

The best way will be to get the list and then check with what you have m8, don't do other way round with local dealers.

 

[stamford]

Aso threaten them with going public as a recall maybe on the cards. What car manufacturers don't want is bad publicity. I had an issue many years ago with a local Vauxhall dealer and gave the manager a right earful. They tried to fob me off with technical blurb to cover themselves until I informed them I was a qualifed engineer. They couldn't do enough for me!

 

[Marc07]

Yeah, thats a very good option. As soon they pick the phone up (if you call them) ask straight away for full name or name and ID number (depends from company to company), then ask if conversation is recorded in case you may need the recording for the future reference and the then get straight to the point.
But you need to get the batch number of your pads !!!!! As at the minute you or they can not give a clear yes or no.

I hope you will get to the bottom of it, and fingers crossed it is a faulty part, free repair and maybe even free new discs if faulty pads caused any damage to them.

Good luck m8

 

[Tricati]

In agreement with all that has been advised, I won't be taking the word of a clerical assistant who is trying her best not to say the wrong thing & keeps Vauxhall & the dealership clear of blame until I "book in the car for a preliminary investigation, if found to be a warranty issue it's free, if it's a service item I pay".

This weekend is pop along on Sat afternoon to my mates garage & get use of their ramp to go over the brakes front & rear & reach my own conclusion then with info found make my 1st call to Vauxhall UK & let them decide on any course of action.

Will post outcome :sad2:

 

[stamford]

VOSA is another port of call, if you have evidence of poor quality parts then they may be interested in learning more. Only problem is you might lose your car for a while as they would want to inspect it etc.

 

[Tricati]

Stripped & cleaned brakes today, whatever was causing my squealing has now gone, some use of copper slip on the back of the pads may have just done the trick as suggested by my mate who's garage & ramp I was using to carry out the work.

I want one, a 2 post 4 arm ramp with rubber buffers on the lifters which catch the underside of the car nicely without damage to paint etc, makes life so much easier

 

[turbonutter69]

Dust on the disks can cause brake squeal. Copper grease is a good idea and should help out as well.