Recommendations for new pads, discs and tyres on Audi A4

ferg01

Audi South Dublin are quoting about €700 for new pads and discs on my A4...similar to someone with an A3 recently posted here. Can anyone recommend an independent garage / mechanic who can do this for me?

Thanks in advance

George Dalton

The first thing you should do is get a second opinion because as far as I can see Audi dealers tell everyone that brings a car anywhere near their workshops that they need discs and pads. Very often they aren't needed at all in our experience.

What year is your car?

ferg01

Thanks for the quick response.

It's an '08 (I know, I know, shouldn't have taken it to the main dealer - lesson learned!).

Yeah a second opinion is a good call, thanks. Do you know anyone in Dublin?

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Discount tyres in Dublin 15. Most of the lads are Polish (I think) and I find them a pleasure to deal with.

ferg01

Thanks all,

Audi sent me the report today:

Front:
Pads, 36% worn....discs 100% worn and corroded

Rear:
Pads, 85% worn....discs 85% corroded

So seems it's genuine. Got a much better price from Fast Fit in Donnybrook so heading there at the weekend (slowly, in case I need to brake suddenly).

colm_mcm

I wonder what brand discs they're pricing you on

Manure

Genuine you would think.

ferg01

I didn't ask either of the places I've been talking to. Apologies for the ignorance but is there a big difference? It's €780 versus €500.

Also going to call discount tyres tomorrow, no harm in shopping around.

colm_mcm

get the brand of discs and pads before committing.

9935452

ferg01 wrote: »

I didn't ask either of the places I've been talking to. Apologies for the ignorance but is there a big difference? It's €780 versus €500.

Also going to call discount tyres tomorrow, no harm in shopping around.

Its worth noting what brand/quality discs and pads you are being quoted for.
The cheapest i could get for a mk4 golf were 175 for front and rear discs and pads. Genuine were around 350. The cheap ones didnt last pissing time.

George Dalton

Ask Fast Fit what brand of parts they are using and report back here and people will tell you if they are decent quality or not.

Audi wil be using genuine parts obviously.

Indpendent garages can be using anything from the cheapest crap they can get hold of all the way up to genuine parts so it is important to know which brand they are using in order to make sure you are comparing like with like.

Just to give you some perspective, on these we use good quality OEM parts, generally either Jurid or Brembo. Our prices on the discs and pads are €280 for the fronts and €240 for the rears. So Fast Fit's price is very good if they are using equivalent quality parts.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

You could also buy the OE parts direct from an Audi garage parts desk and have them fitted elsewhere, if it was cheaper to do so (obviously )

ferg01

Ok, thanks. Will update tomorrow

ferg01

Just by way of an update, the €500 quote I got was for Delphi pads and discs. Any thoughts on that?

Odyssey 2005

Ferg1 To be honest with you I would be heading to George to get the work done. It removes any doubt about quality of either parts or workmanship. It may be a bit further than you want to travel but the car is still mobile......:)

5W30

Odyssey 2005 wrote: »

Ferg1 To be honest with you I would be heading to George to get the work done. It removes any doubt about quality of either parts or workmanship. It may be a bit further than you want to travel but the car is still mobile......:)

I'd have to agree but having said that Delphi parts are not bad. They are a decent brand to be fair, obviously OEM parts would be the business but Delphi are good too.

R.O.R

We don't let Fast Fit or Advance (or any Tyre centre) replace any parts of the brakes on any of our cars. If a car is in for tyres and they identify it needs pads/disc then we send it to either the main dealer or one of our approved independents.

We used to let Advance / Fast Fit do brakes in the past, but had issues, so don't anymore even though there's a cost implication.

Fast Fit / Advance are fine for tyres and oil top ups, but we don't let them loose on anything more complicated than that.

George Dalton

Delphi pads aren't bad but their discs are quite poor quality IMO. They never seem to last very long. I certainly wouldn't fit them to any of my own cars.

Odyssey 2005

Fast Fit Exhausts...
Advance Pitstop tyres....
The clue is in the name.

mickdw

ferg01 wrote: »

Thanks all,

Audi sent me the report today:

Front:
Pads, 36% worn....discs 100% worn and corroded

Rear:
Pads, 85% worn....discs 85% corroded

So seems it's genuine. Got a much better price from Fast Fit in Donnybrook so heading there at the weekend (slowly, in case I need to brake suddenly).

Did you get the second opinion.
On my car for example, audi regard the disc 100 worn at 1 mm wear whereas the manufacturer of the disc supplied to audi at the factory specify a wear limit on that very disc at 2 mm.
Now obviously the disc is fitted to numerous cars so I could understand audi have slightly different limits but they appear to be taking the piss somewhat.
So what you could have on your car is front pads that are only a third worn and discs that will easily last that set of pads.

George Dalton

mickdw wrote: »

So what you could have on your car is front pads that are only a third worn and discs that will easily last that set of pads.

This is exactly the situation I would say.

I reckon the car needs rear discs and pads at most. The fronts are most likely fine.

Odyssey 2005

George Dalton wrote: »

This is exactly the situation I would say.

I reckon the car needs rear discs and pads at most. The fronts are most likely fine.

Don't know if you remember George but a couple of months ago I asked for advice on rear discs and pads for a Skoda Superb. You offered advice and I went to a local independent garage who would fit the brand you suggested.
Main dealer advised that the discs were bollixed and needed changing IMMEDIATELY.. Garage looked at me as if I was nuts, discs and pads were perfect, been to the south of France towing a caravan since and still perfect.
Just goes to show what SOME main dealers are up to.

stimpson

I bought Ultimax (EBCs OEM line) pads from here - http://www.ebcbrakeshop.co.uk

Discount tyres charged me €25 to fit while they were doing tyres at the same time. Pads have more bite than standard and produce almost no brake dust.

9935452

ferg01 wrote: »

Just by way of an update, the €500 quote I got was for Delphi pads and discs. Any thoughts on that?

Im dont know the year of your A4 but as an example to how cheap delphi parts are.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-B5-1-9-TDi-1997-2001-FRONT-REAR-DELPHI-BRAKE-DISCS-PADS-288mm-/281670098983?hash=item4194d8a027

i reckon at worst they will cost 200 euros incl vat then you are paying the garage 250 plus vat to fit them which is a bit expensive for fitting IMO

George Dalton

9935452 wrote: »

Im dont know the year of your A4 but as an example to how cheap delphi parts are.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A4-B5-1-9-TDi-1997-2001-FRONT-REAR-DELPHI-BRAKE-DISCS-PADS-288mm-/281670098983?hash=item4194d8a027

i reckon at worst they will cost 200 euros incl vat then you are paying the garage 250 plus vat to fit them which is a bit expensive for fitting IMO

The OP has said that it's a 2008 A4 so those prices are not going to be accurate.

9935452

George Dalton wrote: »

The OP has said that it's a 2008 A4 so those prices are not going to be accurate.

Might be more accurate than you think.
B7 or B8 is the next question i have .
Limerick brakes stock delphi .
According to their website from 95 to 08 a lot of A4s had the same brake discs and pads
https://www.brakeandclutch.ie/front-discs-for-audi-volkswagen.php
https://www.brakeandclutch.ie/front-discs-for-audi-seat-skoda-volkswagen-3.php
https://www.brakeandclutch.ie/rear-discs-for-audi.php
https://www.brakeandclutch.ie/rear-pads-for-audi-citroen-fiat-ford-nissan-peugeot-renault-seat-skoda-volkswagen.php
https://www.brakeandclutch.ie/front-pads-for-audi-ford-seat-volkswagen.php

the above prices seem to include vat with free delivery so a set of front/rear brake discs/pads come to 130 or 140.
I would assume that fastfit or advance have a trade discount too so would buy them cheaper than that.
Limerick brakes dont seem to show ones for a B8 so if the ops car is a B8 i cant show prices for them unless they are also the same size?

George Dalton

The majority of 08 A4s are B8 models. The brakes are substantially more expensive for the B8.

9935452

George Dalton wrote: »

The majority of 08 A4s are B8 models. The brakes are substantially more expensive for the B8.

Quick check there on mrauto.ie.
B7 is around 200 for delphi front/rear discs and pads
B8 is 250 for same.

Limerick brakes is 130 for B7
Assume limerick brakes are 50 more for B8 as they are substancially cheaper than mrauto then 180 for everything for B8.
Then assume fastfit/advance get a trade discount .
Still under 200 .
Delphi are cheap

George Dalton

Delphi are cheap, I'm not disputing that at all. I agree that Fastfit are a bit on the high side at €500 for Delphi parts.

JohnBoy26

Fitted Delphi discs to my car 3 years ago. Never had a problem with them.

9935452

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Fitted Delphi discs to my car 3 years ago. Never had a problem with them.

at 85 k miles the original brake discs warped on the golf, fitted delphi , 5 k miles later they warped, fitted genuine ones again 45k miles later still going strong.
same driver , same car same conditions.
I wouldnt fit them again

George Dalton

We use Delphi discs quite a bit as a budget option because that's what a lot of customers want. To be fair we never have vibration or warping problems with them. The issue I have with them is that they wear quickly and seem to have poor corrosion resistance. So they very rarely last more than a single set of brake pads. Generally speaking a better quality disc will last for at least 2 sets of pads.

JohnBoy26

9935452 wrote: »

at 85 k miles the original brake discs warped on the golf, fitted delphi , 5 k miles later they warped, fitted genuine ones again 45k miles later still going strong.
same driver , same car same conditions.
I wouldnt fit them again

Have done about 35k since I changed them. Definitely no warping issues with them. Not saying they are the best you can get but for the money I have gotten great value out of them.

ferg01

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm taking it into Cardock in Dublin next week for a look. They've given me a quite for €480 for ATE hardware. How does ATE rate compared to Brembo and Jurid?

Eireplates

ATE are OEM (Original Audi) suppliers.

I fitted them to my own B8 A4.

George Dalton

ATE are very good quality.

166man

9935452 wrote: »

at 85 k miles the original brake discs warped on the golf, fitted delphi , 5 k miles later they warped, fitted genuine ones again 45k miles later still going strong.
same driver , same car same conditions.
I wouldnt fit them again

I agree, had Delphi discs and pads on one of the 156's and never rated them. Wore out quickly but suits the standard Irish mindset of just getting the cheapest thing they can find


I personally prefer not to cheap out on brakes or tyres. I stick to OEM brakes and GoodYear tyres mainly.

fancy pigeon

166man wrote: »

I agree, had Delphi discs and pads on one of the 156's and never rated them. Wore out quickly but suits the standard Irish mindset of just getting the cheapest thing they can find


I personally prefer not to cheap out on brakes or tyres. I stick to OEM brakes and GoodYear tyres mainly.

Ah yes, the Irish mindset. "I got them cheeeeep and I love getting my value out of them because I'm miserable and never drive above 35kmh, the speed of the devil, on my fortnightly stockpile shopping trip to lidl in ballygokissmearse"

Saddos that shouldn't exist, but sadly we have to put up with :rolleyes:

I had Delphi discs at the rear that lasted as expected but I have seen plenty of cases where they warp way too soon after installation.

So either we have liars, people that use the brakes "sparingly" or people that never drive the car at all. All of the aforementioned the type to contradict what was just said!

Kevin McCloud

George Dalton wrote: »

We use Delphi discs quite a bit as a budget option because that's what a lot of customers want. To be fair we never have vibration or warping problems with them. The issue I have with them is that they wear quickly and seem to have poor corrosion resistance. So they very rarely last more than a single set of brake pads. Generally speaking a better quality disc will last for at least 2 sets of pads.

Delphi discs only lasting the lifetime of the pads are you sure?