Long story short my sister took her 2001.5 VW passat into russel vw on rt 40 for the 40,000 service (she insists on taking it to the dealer for services for warrenty purposes).

1.They said the drive belt was cracked and needed to be replaced, they wanted $185.00 for that. I picked up the belt on my own and am taking it to my mechanic. No problem.

2.A headlight is out, they wanted $72 to replace it...complete ripoff. I got an H7 bulb at auto store for 15$ and replaced it.

3.They said the REAR brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced. How is this possible?? I know that cars generally rely on the front brake system more than they do on the rear. Her front pads have NOT been replaced before. Could something be wrong causing her rears to wear so quickly?

Either way i picked up a set of pads and am taking it to my mechanic to toss on, I have a feeling the rotors are fine, and they're trying to make a quick buck. BTW they want $625 to do the rear brakes...


So is it possible that the rears go before the fronts on a car with original pads up front???


TIA, these guys in the service dept have pissed me off before. I do not reccomend going there.

625 to do the rear brakes is rediculous...it is very rare for the rear pads to wear out faster than the fronts...however I've seen it happen on race cars but not on street cars...ussually when the rear pad compound is more aggressive and/or a situation where the brake bias in the car is set differently

We did pads on my wife's Jetta at 30k. I don't recall if we did front or rears.

If anyone wants info on honest and very good mechanic in Westminster, lemme know. He is THE only person to work on my GS-R for 7years/180k that I had it for and is also helping me with the E30 project. Great guy!

i love working at a dealership, i have acess to a lift and do all my own work here for just that reason

i work at an auto repair facility, and i have seen the rear go before the front. and that is a lot of money for rear pads & rotors. did they say that there was any problem with the calipers?

If it is a 1.8T, the drivebelt is a real bitch to get to, and that probably explains the high cost of labor for that one.

it is the 1.8t motor. the belt price isn't TOO outragous imo, it is a 45$ part. A lot better priced then the 72$ they want to change a light bulb. I don't beleive that there was a problem with the calipers. I'm going to inspect everything tommorow when my mechanic takes off the wheels. They indicated that there WAS still like 1mm left on the pads so I don't see how the rotors got screwed up. The car has NEVER been driven hard...

My honest opinion, rotors on cars can act a little funny sometimes. The previous owner of the 330ci brakes I upgraded to warped the brakes. The car was an automatic convertable and only driven lightly for 10,000 miles before the brakes were sold to me. The guy was not into tracking or autocross at all. If 13" rotors can warp in 10,000 miles, maybe it's a freak occurance that something happened and her rotors warped or were worn unevenly. I imagine maybe the rotors are warped... I cannot imagine they would get worn out in only 30,000 miles. Dealerships will NOT turn or resurface rotors anymore. Not to stand up for a dealer but I'd just look into it before jumping to conclusions. Ask your sister if she felt and vibrations while braking.

it is the 1.8t motor. the belt price isn't TOO outragous imo, it is a 45$ part. A lot better priced then the 72$ they want to change a light bulb. I don't beleive that there was a problem with the calipers. I'm going to inspect everything tommorow when my mechanic takes off the wheels. They indicated that there WAS still like 1mm left on the pads so I don't see how the rotors got screwed up. The car has NEVER been driven hard...

I think when I was talking to my friend the other day he mentioned that VW always replaces the rotors.

YES. Russel on rt 40 is a CRAPPY dealership. More on this in a second.

And NO it is not uncommon for the rear brakes on a VW to wear out first - because they seize. The parking brake mechanism has a nasty habit of getting dirt and grime trapped in it and seizing in the locked position. Are your rear wheels very dusty? ;)

Russel tried to diagnose a squeak in the front end of Marisa's Jetta 1.8T. They had the car for a week, said it was fixed, we picked it up... not fixed. As it turns out they didn't even bother to do ANYthing to it. I suspected it was the front swaybar bushings, but hell, the car has a warranty, I'm not touching it. It took them almost a month to get the car right, and that was after trying to pawn off the "it's normal" and "we fixed it" scenarios. We finally got it fixed by them - they ordered new bushings and greased them - but it took a lot of yelling and screaming for them to do something.

Best part is VW of America will call you and ask for feedback about the service you received - we were nnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaasty to them. :D

I did rear brakes on Meredith's Jetta wagon before the fronts. What was really funny was my dealer cost for rear pads and rotors was more than BMW parts at list price!!!!!!

For VW service, see Monica at Valley. She used to work with me here, moved to VW parts and now writes service. She's getting good CSI scores up there now.

thanks for the responces everyone...it comforts me that it is possible that the rear brakes go before the fronts.

I won't touch the car either because if I #$% something up I'll never hear the end of it from her (and it's too cold for me to be doing her brakes)...

JV-of course the rear wheels are dusty, thats prob what happened.

thanks for the responces everyone...it comforts me that it is possible that the rear brakes go before the fronts.

I won't touch the car either because if I #$% something up I'll never hear the end of it from her (and it's too cold for me to be doing her brakes)...

JV-of course the rear wheels are dusty, thats prob what happened.
Very common on VWs, and they love to deny your warranty claim for that. "Brakes are only covered for the first 12 months and 12,000 miles" even though it's a design defect causing the problem.

We love the car, but it's the little things that piss us off.

Charge your sister half of the going rate at Russell.

Very common on VWs, and they love to deny your warranty claim for that. "Brakes are only covered for the first 12 months and 12,000 miles" even though it's a design defect causing the problem.

We love the car, but it's the little things that piss us off.
yeah we've gotten in a bout or two with the service people at russel....they're a pita.

Truth is I really don't like VW's...I don't think they are reliable cars. They do put out some cool turbo cars out there that are quick but I would never drive one past the warrenty.

I think she would of been much better off buying an altima or maxima.

I think she would of been much better off buying an altima or maxima.

:rolleyes Rice.

-True Car Enthusiast

:rolleyes Rice.

-True Car Enthusiast
:mad: :mad: :mad: never speak negative of NISSAN again!!!

:mad: :mad: :mad: never speak negative of NISSAN again!!!

Mmmmmm... I love Nissan Ramen Noodle Cup O' Soup. Beef flavor is the best.

Mmmmmm... I love Nissan Ramen Noodle Cup O' Soup. Beef flavor is the best.

Chicken. :rolleyes

Chicken. :rolleyes

Oysters. :naughty

thanks for the responces everyone...it comforts me that it is possible that the rear brakes go before the fronts.

I won't touch the car either because if I #$% something up I'll never hear the end of it from her (and it's too cold for me to be doing her brakes)...

JV-of course the rear wheels are dusty, thats prob what happened.


Rear go before fronmts whne you do a lot of city driving and press the pedal softly to stop. They are designed to do so.
I had the pads done on my girls passat a year ago hence how I know.

I think she would of been much better off buying an altima or maxima.

+1 I replaced my front pads and rotors at 120k on the altima, and it's still on the original rears at 170k :eek: Part of that is the Manual tranny factor, but still. it's had zero pad wear since Nov. 1, also :P

and, another hidden cause of premature rear brake wear is driving with the e-brake on, overheating the pads and causing them to wear much faster.

not that anyone would do that...

Rear go before fronmts whne you do a lot of city driving and press the pedal softly to stop. They are designed to do so.
I had the pads done on my girls passat a year ago hence how I know.

To confirm what has already been said, my previous car, '02 GTi had the same thing happen... rears wore down much faster than the fronts