brakes on my fiat punto

[someonesgirl]

when i brake theres a horrible sound as if somethings dragging on the floor. It has started to do this sometimes when im driving also but intermittently and its got gradually worse. The actual brakes seem to work fine, its just this noise that sounds very wrong!! I dont know much about cars and ive only had this car a few months, which they mot'ed for me when i bought it, so either they did a dodgy mot or its something that has just happened. Could this be the brake pads or something? and how much does it cost to fix? and as ive bought the car of a car dealer, could i take it to them and complain? or has too much time laspsed? I cant see this being something that wasnt an existing problem as i first noticed it about 3 weeks after i got the car, but as it came and went i didnt think it was anything.

[delrich]

As an ex employee of a fiat dealer ,mot covers the stopping ability at the time of mot ing. Normally if it is pads you normally get a " grating/grinding" noise.Costs=as all will tell you dealer prices are "higher"but fit the correct parts, but go to local independant and save your money.Pads dont last long now and should last appox 12 months on normal driving poss 15/20k miles.If car is new take back to dealer/if second hand normally you get 30 day "warranty" only if the garage gives extra cover..As a matter of common curtsey try and get him to check it over

[someonesgirl]

thanks for that. yeah it is that kind of noise so it sounds like thats what it is. So i should take it to a normal garage then? Roughly how much do you think i should be paying. (As us ladies always get ripped off)!!

Also i think there may be a small hole in the passenger side floor as the carpet keeps getting soddon when it rains. (But they conveniently sealed all the carpet so i cant take it up to look) So possibly might need welding. Any ideas how much that costs?

Im 7 months pregnant and trying to save my money.....its not working as every time i save some i have to spend it on stuff like this!!!!!!

[delrich]

you seem to have bought a bit of a pig: Firstly pads costs about �100.00 in the west midlands if u use dealers...try kwik-fit/ nationwide/halfords service centres.Make sure u get them to check the discs for wear,if pads are not changed quick enough it can mean u will need to change the discs which can make the bill �200/250.I suggest that if discs need to be changed the garage should have been aware as a safety issue and they should pay....

[delrich]

about the welding: it was in a rotten state it should not neccessaily pass the mot......going back to my origin remark go back to the garage and get them to look at it again.....welding is not expensive and little garage can weld up the hole...(but why should u pay) speak to the garage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[david1702198]

the lining on a brake pad needs to be less than 1.5mm thick to fail an mot, and as this is just a visual assessment it is hard to get it 100% all the time but if the tester noticed that the pads were running low he should have issued a vt32 advisory telling you that it would pass the mot but would need attention soon. the hole in the floor isnt necesserally an mot failure unless its within 30cm of a structural load bearing point but the people who sold the car obviously knew it was there by sealing the carpet so take it back to them .

[someonesgirl]

right then men!

ive been on the kwikfit site and im taking the car there after work. It says that pads should be replaced if the friction has worn down to a thickness of 3mm....The car was making a really bad noise today and yesterday and im actually scared to drive it for fear of making it worse!! So as a matter of urgency im going to attempt to get them to do the work for me today. They obviously must have known about this when they sold me the car so im going to write a letter of complaint and send a copy of my bill. If they dont do anything about it (like pay it!) i would like to sue them.......except im a girl and i wouldnt know how so where do i go from there? Do i ring the police? of expose them to a local paper would be good too, as they have done a dodgy MOT and sold a car that the brakes are faulty on to a pregnant woman!! (Who bought the Bl**dy thing in the first place cos they would MOT it so she wouldnt have to spend money on it until she was back in work). They didnt give me the extra paperwork with the MOT to say what work needed to be done, which i thought was dodgy anyway, but then being the trusting person i am, i assumed it didnt need any work.

[someonesgirl]

took it. it cost me �130.50. I had to have front brake pads and discs. Kwik fit were very nice and very helpful. Apparently its now illegal for people doing MOTs to check brake pads as they are not allowed to take the tyres off. They just check the brake speed. (so i cant really get the dealer to pay for it!!) im just the unluckiest girl in the world. But, they must have known about the hole in the floor so they still suck......

[david1702198]

as long as the car meets the minimum required standard at time of test theres not really any comeback im afraid