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Hi Jack,

I recently took my Focus in for its 40k service. The dealer notified me that there was a problem with the brakes - the disks needed replacing! I questioned this saying that surely disks should very nearly last the life of the car. The reply was that replacing Focus disks at this service was not unnusual and that at the 80k service they would probably need to be replaced again!

Do you know if this sounds right or have I been misled?

If it right what does it say about the quality of the parts Ford is using!

thanks,

Greg.

It’s a big ask to expect the discs to last the life of the car however, the comments from the Dealer are very flippant and unjustified.

Brake shudder (felt through the brake pedal) is the main reason disc rotors are either machined or replaced. If your car has only travelled 40K then I would question the reason why the rotors need to be replaced, more so if you had not mentioned a problem with the brakes when the car was taken in for service.

In many cases rotors are machined as they have a thickness tolerance which normally allows for at least one machine (refaced to ensure a clean and true surface) in their life time. It is possible a machine is more expensive than new rotors but you need to ask the Dealer that question.

I suggest you ask to speak to the service manager of the Dealer concerned and ask for a much better and clearer explanation.

Love to know their answer.

Actually all European Fords have very soft brake rotors. When I work for a Ford dealer it was not uncommon to replace the early model Focus 1.6 auto front pads rotors at 15 - 20,000km! Mondeo's would go through rear pads and rotors every 40k service.

99% of the time the rotors were not able to be skimmed because the lip on them was so big that you would either -
A) end up breaking the tips on the skimming machine trying to machine it out
or
B) making the rotor go below it minimum thickness.

Hi Snubs05,

Thanks very much for passing on that information. At the very least the doubts I was harboring about the dealer have been put to rest.

This is clearly a questionable design decision on the part of Ford Europe. What I can't understand is why? The brakes on my focus don't seem to be any more effective than the brakes on any other car I've driven. Rhetorical question for Ford - why irritate your customers in this way fitting a braking system that wears out faster but brings no apparent gains in performance?

You will find that the brakes wear out quicker, but are alot quieter - I doubt that you have ever had brake squeal from your Focus!

Next time you pass a euro car in a carpark, have a look at the brake rotors - you will probably find that they will have more of a lip on them then other cars. Thats just how they are designed. In saying that, the euro Fords do tend to wear quickly.

Hope that clears things up.

I replaced the rotors on my Subaru Legacy at 150,000kms with European aftermarket ones ($40 ea) after 30.000kms they were stuffed, I replaced those with the original Subaru ones after machining and at 250,000kms they are still going strong! And I use the brakes a lot as I travel over the Rimutakas every day. Yes, European cast iron seems softer than the Japanese recipie