Please can you tell me percentage of brake left on these pictures

[happyhero]

Hi I am not a mechanic but I have done a fair share of work on cars in my younger years and I always thought it fairly simple to check the wear on brake pads but recently something happened that made me completely doubt myself.

My 82 year old mother took her car to her regular mechanic who does everything for her on her car and he takes it to a local garage he has a relationship with for the MOTs. He took it for its MOT and brought it back with a pass but a very strong recommendation to change the front brakes which he said he would come and collect the car for another day in the week.

I got involved when my mother said shouldnt the back ones be done at the same time. I have a little scope camera that works with my phone and so I checked the brakes.

I have fitted brakes in previous years so I have a fair idea how they look new and warn. The mechanic said they are desperate and the MOT advisory says strongly recommended to change front brakes.

The MOT garage is considered very reputable by locals by the way on the whole. Also my mother only manages just over 2000 miles per year I worked I saw from the MOT's (I was surprised too).

What percentage left can you see?

20200714140728

• happyhero
• 17 Jul 2020

HONDA JAZZ FRONT DRIVERS BRAKE

20200714140854

• happyhero
• 17 Jul 2020

HONDA JAZZ DRIVERS SIDE REAR BRAKE

20200714141022

• happyhero
• 17 Jul 2020

HONDA JAZZ FRONT PASSENGER BRAKE

20200714141133

• happyhero
• 17 Jul 2020

HONDA JAZZ REAR PASSENGER SIDE BRAKE

 

[Lower]

Plenty of life left in the those pads in my opinion. Difficult to say for certain as the photos are quite close up, but i'd say 30-40% of their life left. However, what about the pads on the back of the discs at the rear?

 

[Stivino]

The top picture isn't very clear to me but, if those are pictures of each pad, I can't see a reason to rush out and replace them.

 

[Burnerman]

Brake pad wear in the 50% region I'd say....what we can't see though, is the inner surface of the disc which could be badly scored.
John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The second photo suggest the pads are almost new, the rest around 50% - if the wear is perfectly even, but that last is difficult to tell from the photos. Both pads on a wheel need to be checked and on all four wheels.

If 50% is the worst, then they certainly don't need replacing for a long time yet.

Back wear at a completely different rate to the front ones, so need to be assessed separately for wear.

 

[ETAF]

i had a repair in an audi garage recently and they sent me a vehicle check video after doing the repair - where they put a yellow measuring tool in the front wheel and rear and supposedly accurately measured the wear, that what i was told when paying for the repair , they did not take wheels off and advised a 70% wear and that the pads needed replacing in next few months
I had a service booked the following week, NO miles added , at my independant garage, which I have used for years and mentioned the brakes, there comment was "really" they need to have the wheel off to really tell , but they take the wheels off and check, also they rebalance / trackthe wheels as part of service
anyway at the service , they found over 90% wear on both fronts , one pad was very close to cutting the wire indicator , also the discs were quite badly worn with a lip on both, they showed me the results.
NOT a mechanic , but after that recent experience, i thought i would mention, as i say no expert here

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I had a service booked the following week, NO miles added , at my independant garage, which I have used for years and mentioned the brakes, there comment was "really" they need to have the wheel off to really tell , but they take the wheels off and check, also they rebalance / trackthe wheels as part of service

You can check them from underneath, without removing wheels, with a mirror. Some cars you can see the outer pad thickness, just looking through the wheel spokes.

 

[ETAF]

thanks, my surprise was even with a measure on a ramp , they were well out saying 70% worn and need to look at sometime soon , when really well worn & no mention of the discs wear , which was really quite a large lip at the top

 

[EddieM]

No expert here and some of the photos are a bit hard to make out, but they look like they have a fair bit of meat left on them.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

thanks, my surprise was even with a measure on a ramp , they were well out saying 70% worn and need to look at sometime soon , when really well worn & no mention of the discs wear , which was really quite a large lip at the top

They are an favourite for generating easy profit work for garages. MOT station need to get in their quota for flagging up potential future issues. A lip on a disk doesn't necessarily mean they need a new disk, each manufacturer specifies a minimum disk thickness before replacement is needed. The lip is just where the disc has rusted and swelled up and can be chipped away with a hammer.

 

[Burnerman]

Although the condition of those discs and pads look very good, its only possible to be sure by pulling the pads out and looking at the inside of the disc.
What we can’t see - or a garage either - are blocked vent slots in the pads ( not always applicable) and, on pads that have been in for a while, the possibility of delamination of the friction material from the backing plate.
John