Hi all,

This is my first post so please go easy on me if i say something that sounds stupid

Traditionally i have always taken any cars i have had (have mostly always been performance cars) to the main dealer.

I decided to give my Range Rover sport Supercharger and any of my motor business to someone i considered a friend who owns a garage (johnsons motors based in Watford) and have done so for the last year. He always says 'Yes i can do it to absolutely everything'

A few months ago after he MOT'd my car he told me i needed new brakes. I asked him if he could do it as i know Supercharger's take something called Brembo brakes (i dnt know what they are accept that my aston also has them) but im guessing they are performance brakes. I asked him if it was very straightforward for him to do the same thing that a main dealer would do and he replied yes so i gave it to him. Once the car was done he told me he would it for 400 pounds if i paid it in cash. Im not even sure if this is the right price but i know he always acts like he gives me mates rates as he is often asking me for favours as well. Anyways I paid this as i have always trusted him and he seems like a nice guy

Anyway a few weeks later my hand brake got stuck and it broke down in the middle of a really busy road, i couldn't even move the car and in the end a recovery vehicle had to come and take the car away (it has never once failed on me in 9 years). The recovery driver said it might of been something to do with the way the brakes had been fitted and when i questioned the Johnsons who fitted it, the owner became very very defensive and condescending and just made it out like i didn't know what i was talking about. Maybe he is right, im not sure i can prove what caused the hand break problem and i dont want to point the finger without solid proof.

Anyway he quoted me £1200 to fix this problem. I decided i didn't want to take any risks so phoned up landrover to do the job who recommended me to a local landorver specialist which is also owned by them. I was quite shocked that landrover managed to fix this for about £400-500. Clearly this guy who i considered to be a friend takes advantage of my trust and hikes up my prices as he knows i run a successful business and dont always have time to question stuff

Landrover also said that this issue could of been done with the brakes but no one can prove this but what they did confirm was that there was a issue with one of the new brakes and they charged me to replace this before giving me back my car

i didnt take this up with Johnsons motors at the time as i was due to go in for a medical procedure when the car was given back to me. Anyway i questioned Johnsons motors about this yesterday the owner has become very very defensive again. I asked him if they were genuine landrover brakes that he used and he told me that he had informed me in the past they were generic's which is nonsense. Based on the fact that he knows me quite well and the fact i was asking him if he was able to do the same job landrover would i thought he would have installed official parts

Anyway do you have any advice where i go from here before i hand him back the faulty brakes? Once he has them he can make up pretty much any excuse to try and get away with it

Also do you think i should change my current brakes and put in proper official ones. The braking has never felt the same since it went to him. Also if they are not official landrover does that mean they are not Brembo brakes? I know i spoke to him about wanting brembo brakes before the car went into him

Any comments or advice would be helpful. He seems like a really nice guy on the surface but recently he quoted my company Van driver £900 to fix a problem which he got done for £100 from another dealer in the same area. Are dealerships just allowed to get away with this sort of stuff or is there a government body I can speak to which will inspect this place

Any advice would be appreciated and apologies for the long post

I can't answer all your questions, but if you do some searches you will see that there are a number of people who have used non-genuine brake parts with varying results and the consensus seems to be to stick with genuine parts when it comes to the RRS SC brakes. I've used Pagid rotors and pads with ok results. I would definately not use "generic" parts in one of these, but I'm confident using other known brands (e.g. Pagid).

I assume that the SCs are fitted with Brembo-supplied parts from new, and while the calipers are made by Brembo and visibly branded as such, who knows where the rest comes from.

At a high level I would suggest that if this "friend" of yours is quoting way above LR dealers for specific jobs (and LR dealers are not called "stealers" for nothing) then he is potentially taking the wees...

Lastly, the EPB (electronic parking brake) problem you had is quite common and may well be a coincidence. Do a search on here for EPB  Every home should have one!

'06 RRS SC Rimini Red
'04 Audi S4 Avant
Escort Mk II Sport

Hi mate

There should be no problem with generic brake pads, they all do the same job however they may not last as long as LR supplied ones, I wouldn't worry unless you are getting problems when braking

As for the issue with your 'friend' it would seem he is taking the Micky with the pricing, I had my front pads supplied and fitted for £108, and I have the 4.2SC wither brembo brakes. However I believe he can charge what he likes for his services, and you need to vote with your feet


Where abouts are you? Maybe someone on here can recommend a good garage that won't rip you off?

As we have discussed before on the forum - telling customers that their brakes are 'almost worn out so it would be a good idea to have then renewed now' is the automotive equivalent of the old con when the travellers knock on your door and say 'I was just passing and noticed your roof/chimney needs fixing'. Slap in some cheap Chinese knock-off pads in about an hour and charge £400 - 500 plus (kerching - easy money).

If your brakes were working well and the wear indicator wasn't illuminated on the dash and the EPB wasn't making any loud noises - chances are they were fine for a few more miles.

You didn't say if it was pads and discs that were changed or just the pads. However - when the rear pads and or discs are changed a good quality garage would strip, clean, lubricate and adjust the handbrake assembly inside the rear discs as per Land Rover maintenance advice. This is not a difficult job but in has to be done correctly according to the manufacturer's instructions which involves putting the brakes into 'service mode'.

Typically a non-specialist garage would not know exactly how to do the job correctly and would just 'have a go' -(for some reason probably based on fear of loss of face or time pressure or laziness or reluctance to pay the cost of AutoData, most garages never look up the workshop manual procedures). This MAY have had something to do with your EPB malfunction.

It is possible to buy brake parts that are not in a box with Land Rover written on it but are sourced at lower cost directly from the component manufacturer that supplies Land Rover and this is a good way to save money without compromising on quality.

The best way to ensure you don't have this particular problem is to buy the brake parts yourself and look up in the workshop manual how many hours Land Rover allows for the job. Add the cost of the parts and the hours multiplied by the labour rate and you should have a good idea if the quote is fair and reasonable.

Take the car to a specialist recommended by a fellow owner (or have one come to you!) and ask to see the parts that have been replaced so you can see for yourself how worn they were and have some reassurance they have actually been replaced. 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

HarryRange, sounds like you have had a rough ride. Check if the garage is on http://www.goodgaragescheme.com/ - if it is complain to them and they should review. But I would advise your first port of call is trading standards. Ultimately they will listen to the details of the complaint and see whether others have made similar ones. They will also tell you whether you can claim from the garage. Did you save the old brakes (im guessing not as it is not usual practice)? What was the fault with the new brake pad? Did you save this?

'Brembo' are a manufacture of brakes, many car companies use them, Porsche, Nissan etc etc. The after market parts would have been 'pattern' parts where a third party manufacture will copy them and sell cheaper, some to original specification some to a lesser degree. I have always believed the genuine ones are the best, it was Brembo who worked with Land Rover to provide the braking system so who else better to buy the parts from?

One thing is for sure, dont go back to them!