Any recommendations? I see Amazon sells car parts now

I’m assuming it’s cheaper to buy the pads myself and then pay someone to fit them rather than let the mechanic source them?

eurocarparts are pretty good.

“I’m assuming it’s cheaper to buy the pads myself and then pay someone to fit them rather than let the mechanic source them?”

provided you find someone willing to take on work with you sourcing the parts.

to many people bringing the wrong parts clogging up their workshops often leads to garages adopting a we supply it and we fit it policy.

also means they can get profit from the sale of pads too.

brake pads aint rocket science – we did rusty macs rear brake disks/pads and a new caliper + bleed on saturday morning.

Yeah, my friendly local garage doesn’t like it when people bring them parts (I brought them a wheel bearing to do after I got defeated by a seized bolt, grumpy faces all round). It’s just part of the price of doing business with a garage I think, and fair enough- a small price to pay for keeping a good garage.

I suppose it gets more complicated if you’ve got a particular part you really want to use.

Just fit them yourself, its really not hard.

Just look in youtube for changing the pads on your model of car. There will probably be a video showing exactly how its done.

Rear pads might need a caliper wind back tool but other than that its normally just a couple of spanners.

Hardest part of changing pads on my car is taking the wheels off

And what if the discs are worn and need replacing also? I’d just let the garage supply and fit them, can’t see how buying them yourself is going to be significantly cheaper.

http://www.carparts4less.co.uk

same company as ECP but cheaper. They always have a ‘code’ offer on as well

And what if the discs are worn and need replacing also?

Easy enough to inspect before you order the parts (or take an educated guess based on age/mileage of vehicle)

Fitting yourself isn’t hard but you still need jacks, tools etc especially if you’re doing rears and you need a rewind tool. In terms of cash saving it’s not massive. I do it for convenience and because I quite like it but I’d not do it just to save money I think.

(also I noticed my current car’s manuals have lots of dire warnings about pushing back pads- I’m supposed to crack the bleed nipple instead of just backbleeding it, adds a bit of complexity which doesn’t really bother me, but is another thing to think about)

Easy enough to inspect before you order the parts (or take an educated guess based on age/mileage of vehicle)

Exactly, but if he’s getting a garage to do the work then let them do the inspecting and the ordering. Don’t see the point in checking it and ordering the parts yourself and then taking it to a garage. If you’re got the wheels off to check the pad and disc wear you may as well do the job while you’re at it.

Let’s put it this way, you wouldn’t take tins of beer to the pub, and expect them to loan/rent you a beer glass.

We have the policy at my current place we supply and fit, as above too many wrong parts brought in, and often cheap poor quality yes they were cheap but in the main you are only looking at a few quid, is it that essential to save that much money on something that is crucially a pretty vital function of a vehicle.

Fitting yourself isn’t hard but you still need jacks, tools etc especially if you’re doing rears and you need a rewind tool. In terms of cash saving it’s not massive. I do it for convenience and because I quite like it but I’d not do it just to save money I think.”

plus the old adege – want it doing right do it your self. – that way you can shout at the idiot who **** it up without feeling guilty 😀

how ever i do like that the book of lies (haynes) have even stopped being idiot proof – russell caliper on saturday – i had a quick squizz at his manual just incase there was anything untoward – for the caliper it simply said – “lift car” – “remove caliper” “undo flexy”

good analogy benji.

The only time i think its acceptable is when its a very specific part for a very specific car. ie you want to use a particular brand of part to keep it concourse or you want to achieve something specific that wont be achievable by parts from the trade desk – ie your fitting big brakes to your race car or something – but you dont generally pop down your local grease monkey for that.

Top-tip – don’t assume car brake pads are sold in the same way as bike brake pads (i.e. in packs of 2 pads / 1 caliper’s worth) and therefore end up buying double the number you actually need.

That would be terribly foolish. 😳

On the plus side, it turns out that changing the brake pads on a Landy is actually easier (jacking aside) than changing pads on a bike!