Brake advice please

[Billggski]

My concern is that it may say mintex, brembo etc. on the box, but there is no guarantee that is what is inside. At least with a main dealer you can presume genuine parts.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-vehicle-parts

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Billggski

My concern is that it may say mintex, brembo etc. on the box, but there is no guarantee that is what is inside. At least with a main dealer you can presume genuine parts.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-vehicle-parts

Blimey that's horrific :https://vimeo.com/142522011

It's true though, many modern brands don't actually manufacture some if any of the products that bear their name. Some brands have been resurrected but are almost fake in that it's just other people's products being boosted by brand history - like the Polaroid TV's on sale in supermarkets and Elonex PC's.

[green van man]

Counterfeit parts, well what's a Counterfeit? Anything not supplied by the main dealer whom don't make it themselves but "trust" 3rd parties to manufacture for them.

I buy from a trusted independant factor who purchases within the trade from known suppliers, if it says mintex on the box I am confident it's mintex disks, pads etc within when I buy from them, why would they try to pass off counterfeits to their regular customers when there will be repercussions for them when it goes wrong. In fact they have stopped supplying some bits because they felt the quality was no longer up to scratch from reports from customers.

Again I have baught off the Internet from sellers I trust to supply quality factor parts. This I'd down to experiance, if the initial small part is of serviceable quality and is as described then I will buy again.

As for quality, if it's good enough it's good enough. Caravan sits for 10 months of the year and I do not have the time or room to turn the wheels while it's in storage. This sitting pits the bearings. Alko bearings are £56 each Chinese bearings £16. The van does prehaps 3000 miles a year. I fit Chinese bearings and change them every second year. Have never had a failier and after 2 years they are still servicable but get changed as insurance. That's 4 bearings for the price of 1 which I would not run for 8 years anyway. Now are they countrfiet bearings or an alternate supplier of prehaps lesser quality but good enough for the job and service expected of them?

Anyone with an interest in motors and engineering will make a judgement on what they will and will not fit. I have fitted mintex brakes, pads and disks, to the daughters car and she is carrying the grandkids. Why, because they did the job same as the VW ones did and were a quarter of the price.

Those that are happy to pay dealer prices, Thankyou, you ensure the dealer is still open when I need them for software updates.

Paul.

[Tannaton]

My second to last company car was a VW Passat 177 Sport Estate (13 plate). When it had done around 90k it went into Kwik-Fit for it's winter tyres to be fitted (had to use Kwik Fit as it was a lease car). I knew all the brakes were quite worn, but it was booked in for it's service at the dealer 2 days later.

I went to pick it up from Kwik Fit at lunctime, the chap behind the counter was beaming ear to ear... "We've replaced all your discs and pads.... good job we checked them as they were shocking..."

Oh f***.... went to look at the car.... Mintex discs and pads probably from Andrew Page as they are about the only motor factor in town.

Yes they stopped the car.... but compared to the VW originals in terms of pedal hardness, feel, progressiveness and resistance to fade - they were quite disappointing - any by a country mile. You get used to them after while though.

To be fair they were more than "good enough". But I would have much preferred manufacturer parts - even if I was paying for it myself.

To be very fair, if you were doing mostly town driving, you would likely not notice the difference. But at the time 70%+ of my mileage was north of 50mph and that's where the difference started to show.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

My second to last company car was a VW Passat 177 Sport Estate (13 plate). When it had done around 90k it went into Kwik-Fit for it's winter tyres to be fitted (had to use Kwik Fit as it was a lease car). I knew all the brakes were quite worn, but it was booked in for it's service at the dealer 2 days later.

I went to pick it up from Kwik Fit at lunctime, the chap behind the counter was beaming ear to ear... "We've replaced all your discs and pads.... good job we checked them as they were shocking..."

Oh f***.... went to look at the car.... Mintex discs and pads probably from Andrew Page as they are about the only motor factor in town.

Yes they stopped the car.... but compared to the VW originals in terms of pedal hardness, feel, progressiveness and resistance to fade - they were quite disappointing. You get used to them after while though.

VW don't manufacture brake parts - You think you have VW brakes on your vehicle, but in reality, you haven't. They (VW) will sell you brake parts made by a brand like Mintex or Pagid as an example, put the VW stamp on the parts/packagking & charge you a top end price when you go to purchase them when the need arises.

As another example, look at a genuine Volvo oil filter that you buy new from the main dealer. It has a Volvo stamp on it and another stamp with a Volvo part number, so yes, its a genuine/original part as people say. However, if you look closely, there's also a Mann stamp on the same filter with a Mann part number. So, really you aren't buying a Volvo filter, you're buying a Mann filter with a Volvo stamp. Volvo like many manufacturer's don't make oil filters, they outsourced this to a company to produce parts that meet their (The car brand's) specifications.

[Tatsfield]

I suspect the point is that the car manufacturer specifies components made by subcontractors and ensures that they meet his specifications. It is possible that you can by the exact same item from the sub contractor and pay less but you may also risk buying something which is merely similar, not the same and would not meet the manufacturer's spec. Also the box in which the parts are supplied doesn't necessarily guarantee that the parts meet the spec of the name on the box unless you buy the box from that name. Some specialist component subcontract suppliers have their own well established brand and their products may be comparable or even superior to the car manufacturers branded parts but you have to know what are their objectives. Do they sell reasonable but lower performance parts cheaper than OEM parts or do they supply superior performance parts on which they base their reputation? I'd say Mintex were probably the former while Brembo are surely the latter.

[NAD]

Brembo are fitted as OE equipment on some Ferrari, Lamborghini models and are one of THE premium brake specialists worldwide. They will zealously protect their brand reputation. I find it strange that people believe that they would be inferior to Volvo branded parts. Brembo may not manufacture all the discs and pads themselves, but their quality control will be every bit as tight as Volvo's own. They are likely to suffer from counterfeiting, but if you buy from a reputable distributor then this shouldn't be an issue.

[Zebster]

Originally Posted by green van man

...The only thing not in the mintex box is new caliper mounting bolts, £2.20 each from Volvo. These bolts are recommended as single use...

These bolts are included in my Pagid rear set, which I still haven't fitted. I was wondering what they were for!

[staffy460]

ive just fitted pagid on all four corners and they are fine , its not a race car

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

VW don't manufacture brake parts - You think you have VW brakes on your vehicle, but in reality, you haven't. They (VW) will sell you brake parts made by a brand like Mintex or Pagid as an example, put the VW stamp on the parts/packagking & charge you a top end price when you go to purchase them when the need arises.

You're missing the point - we all know that most car manufacturers don't make every part for their cars - but many parts made for them by other manufacturers are often made to a specific specification that cannot be sold by the factory other then to the manufacturer. Brake pads are a prime example of this - you can only buy Volvo spec brake pads from Volvo, nothing else is the same. Another point is Volvo do manufacture some of their brake discs themselves, including those for Mk1 XC90.

If you go to Tesco and buy their "finest" baked beans - Tesco dont have any factories and dont make anything, but you can't buy that product anywhere else...