[green van man]

Originally Posted by AndyV7o

I've had repeated trouble with them wearing badly, distorting, etc. I had rear drums which were oval. The quality is visibly poor. They were genuine.
Im not alone in this either, I have read many reports of the same and spoken with people who have had same/similar experiences. Some could be down to negligent fitting, buy myself and others, as experienced mechanics, both home and professional, have gone to lengths to ensure and verify correct fitment and use yet still had premature issues.
Now, law of averages states some will have no trouble like yourself, some will have mixed results, etc, but the proportion of trouble for mintex is far far too high to be acceptable.
They have been realigned by tmd friction to be a budget brand (they didn't have one prior to acquiring mintex) which was essentially confirmed when I posted about this realignment on mintex facebook page and their reply was 'TMD friction cater for all budgets and requirements, we offer something for everyone, from entry up to premium'.
Mintex pads work well, they are a bit harsh on discs, giving a grainy, blued finish rather than a silver burnished finish, but nonetheless stop well. The discs and drums however are poor.
In this price point area, Apec are much better, their discs are quite nice for the money and were what ended the mintex problem period. The pads, not for sustained high temps but strong braking for general use and not quite as harsh as mintex. Pads between the two, pretty even tbh, discs, Apec every day.
I usually use Textar/TRW/Febi discs and Ferodo/TRW/Textar pads. Im currently (up front) trying Ferodo discs (with Ferodo pads), so far so good, but not a year in yet... My current rears, as it fell when very very skint, are Unipart discs with Apec pads. 13 months in, discs are doing the job but wearing well, pads very strong but just started to squeal this last week. Probably need a clean and refit...

Interesting.
I buy from a local independant motor factor supplying into the trade ( including local volvo dealers) as well as personal customers, have done for the past 17 years. They have very few returns on mintex but it's a couple of years since I bought the discs and things change.
Will be sure to ask before buying next set. All the disks on the volvo have nice even brushed steel look, rears on the discovery are a bit discoloured but that is down to the car, unless heavy towing the rears do not do enough work to keep them clean no matter what disks are fitted so they are normal for the car.

Thanks for the reply.

Paul.