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I took my car for WOF recently and was informed that both front and rear brake pads needed replacing. I was a bit surprised at this because I am very easy on my brakes and they were not 'soft'.

However, I got them replaced and paid accordingly. I drove the car and could feel no discernable difference in the now 'new' pads when I braked (both normally and deliberately hard in testing mode). They feel exactly the same as they did prior to the work done earlier that day.

Question: So how do I know that the work has been done? I don't want to offend my mechanic so I am asking you - shouldn't I be able to tell that the brake pads have been replaced? ...particularly as both front and back were done.

Previous work at this garage has been fine but on thinking about it, the repairs have all been where you can easily see the before and after result.

You will not be able to tell any difference. On old cars which had drum and shoe brakes, they generally needed adjusting, so when they wore down, the pedal had longer travel. These days, cars have disc brakes with pads. They constantly self-adjust, so the pedal will always feel fine right up until the pads completely wear out, when you will have metal on metal.
It's a fairly safe bet that your mechanic has replaced the brake pads as he says he has.

Thanks for the feedback on my query. It was very helpful - especially now understanding that the newer brake systems self-adjust. I have also had an AA technical person call me before I saw your forum post.

I now feel reassured and my mechanic will remain my mechanic.

Hi! I have been an AA member since 1976, but this is the first time I have used this forum...I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta LX automatic which squeals each time we reverse down the slight slope of our driveway. Would this be caused by glazing of the brake discs(the car has only done 36,000 k's) or perhaps the rotors? Do I need to look at replacing either the discs/rotors? The car is still under it's original warranty from Ford. looking forward to your reply.

It's not uncommon to hear of brake squeal on vehicles. It is normally caused by the metallic material used in the pad, dust, glazed rotors, or even vibration of the pad on the calliper.

It doesn't necessarily indicate that the pads are worn, as in your case the squeal is only evident in reverse, and the fact that they work almost all of the time with the vehicle moving forward it is possible to resolve the problem by chamfering the edges of the pads as well as giving the pads a good clean.

Thanks for that!