Rear brake pads - mega worn. Did dealer overlook ?

[JGEM]

I bought my 2014 XC60 when it was several hundred km away from its next 15,000km dealer service. This is a car with a full dealer service history.

Due to financial constraints I do all my own service work wherever possible, so it is unlikely to be going back to the dealer again. (My last XC60 had 6 years away from the dealer except for the seatbelt recall)

I decided to check the state of the brake pads and I was horrified by how little brake pad was left on the rear pads – down to less than 1 mm on the rear pads. Rear discs were under minimum thickness too, so I replaced pads and discs. No sign of any binding in the calipers and both sides of the car were equally worn


Refer attached photo. You have to zoom in to see what remains of the pad!
Edit = sorry just reaiised that photo resolution as loaded makes it impossible to see the thin veneer of brake pad still left. It's impressively thin.

Dealers are normally never backward in coming forward as regards recommending work (especially for lucrative easy work like brakes), so I am at a loss to explain why the pads were not changed on the last service. If anything dealers like to err on the conservative side in my experience, and change the pads early if it looks like they might not make it to the next service. My car is a one owner company car and I don't believe any recommended work would have been declined, so I'm assuming that either the worn brake pads got overlooked at the last service or that the previous owner suddenly started abusing the handbrake in the last 15000km !

[pont]

My xc60 has been volvo serviced all its life, I always get information about brake pad and disc wear.
The rears wear a little quicker than the fronts in my experience, they are considerably smaller than the fronts so its to be expected really.
I would check with your volvo dealer before doing the work yourself. My dealer always has a huge discount on parts and labour for brakes.

[Kev0607]

Its surprising that they missed that. Normally they pick up on anything!

Good job you changed them.

[GMcL]

JGEM, you don't say when the car was last serviced.

I don't know how things work in NZ, company cars here in Europe are leased and it is the leasing company who decides what gets done and when. Tyres are black and round, don't need fancy brand names when any old ditch finder will do. Why replace a pair on the same axle if the other tyre is still holding air.

In short, don't assume a 'company' car has had no expense spared on it, it depends who was controlling the lease.

Good catch though, preventative maintenance is always better than cure.

Edit: don't assume the dealer is at fault, the lease company or company, whoever was paying the servicing bill may have decided the car was getting sold, therefore no need for anything more than the basics at the last service.

[TeamG]

Please don’t take this the wrong way, but didn’t you check the pad wear when you went to look at the car? I always take a tread depth gauge and pad gauges with me, as these are an ideal bargaining point on the price.

[JGEM]

Hi, thanks for the feedback and comments.

The seller gave me the last dealer service invoice from 2023 (approx 15000km prior to the odo reading I bought the car with) and aside from the normal service stuff it only recommended 2 things - 4 new tyres (which were done later by a tyre shop) and changing the fuel filter (still to be done, hopefully this weekend)

Interestingly, the service did include a brake fluid change but no mention of worn pads or discs.

I got the car for approx 30% under market value as it had a few cosmetic issues, needed a good clean inside and out and was due a service. I was all set to do the discs and pads on my old XC60 so I already had the parts so I was not too worried about the status of the brakes, but I never expected the pads to be totally worn out like they were...