[liuleichan]

>On my 98' S70, I have just come round to change the back
>brake pads at 70k miles (changed the front at 60k miles).
>
>Now I have never been impressed by the brakes on the car and
>at last I have found out why.
>
>When they came to change the pads, they found that the build
>up of brake dust had set solid and the rear pads were not
>reaching the discs on one side. A quick clean later and away
>you go.
>
>Now the brakes feel amazing (and the car now stays level and
>doesn't dip) and thinking back, I have a nasty feeling that
>they have been in this state for a long time.
>
>So for all those out there who are not eating brake pads
>every 10k miles, who think things are not as good as they
>could be, it might be worth a look

I also own a 98 S70.

Bought the car with 80k miles on. Dunno if it had any pads / disk changes up to that point. I have all the service stuff, and receipts, but haven't really noticed any brake stuff being done.

Presumably the previous owner (given the mileage when I bought it, and it's age) did mostly motorway miles, as do I.

I've recently had new disks and pads all round. At a freebie service at 100k, the main dealers mentioned that they believe they all needed changing. When pressed, they said there was around 4k miles life left.

They wanted around £500 for the whole thing - disks and pads all round. I shopped around, and got a free brake survey at one of the mainstream brake / tyre places. I had the work done at a good Volvo independant garage that I normally use for servicing.

It seems from the survey I had done, that the pads weren't that critical. I got to look at the car, on a ramp, whilst they explained. The rear disks had a fair amount of corrosion - not surface corrosion, but around the edges of the disks, and some scoring.

The front disks were just fairly worn, and lipped. From what I remember, the pads were probably somewhere around 30-40% on average, all round.

So claiming they needed replacement, wasn't totally unreasonable - but it wasn't a particularly urgent thing.

I've found the brakes good, since I've owned the car. And the new disks and pads, are equally as effective - although they were a bit slidey when new.

I think I had somewhere around 105k miles on the clock when they were done. As I said, I don't know whether either disks or pads were changed previously (ie before I owned the car), but I have all the receipts, even for tyre and windscreen stuff, as well as servicing. So on the assumption that they haven't been changed, until I had it done, 105k is pretty good, I think.

Lei Chan