Worn brake pads / shoes is so obvious. steel on steel does not sound good 

Linux:

 

Worn brake pads / shoes is so obvious. steel on steel does not sound good 

 

They feel pretty good not the steel on steel or anything. 

SATTV:

 

If I recall the depth of pad is not a warrantable issue, you have to be able to stop from 30km/h in 6 or 7 meters ( I cant remember the specifics )

 

VTNZ use rollers to do this, mechanics will sometime have a box that they put in the car floor that measures. 

 

The mechanic next to us had a distance measured on the driveway for brake testing.

 

Unless things have changes I think they are taking the Micky.

 

John

 

 

 

IF they can see the friction material is below the manufacturers limit with wheels on car they can fail it. It may only be 1 pad out of 4 that has hit the limit but that's reason to do both sets. 

Will give them a call tomorrow and ask what their process is for a second look

I got failed once because they said the spoiler on my old car was only held on by two screws and a bit of duct tape. If they had run their hand over the tape, they would have felt the other 3 screws. But nope, they're not allowed to use common sense or touch anything on the vehicle.

I've also been failed in another vehicle, which had a bit of oil on the engine. Been like that the entire time I owned it and not a single other WOF station had mentioned it until I went to VTNZ....... 

Just find a pic online of a brake pad and show them that. They wont check it matches.

Ahh the classic VTNZ WOF debacle.

Here are a couple of my unfavourable experiences with them in the past at different times.

A few years back, I had a note written in the comments section of the sheet saying that the rear brake hoses were perishing. Not a fail, just something to watch. Got home and had a look and they were totally fine. Car passed many WOFs after that with nothing else said about the hoses. 

Failed on rear brake imbalance. Drove around the block with a few heavy braking sessions and took it straight back. Passed.

Failed on seatbelt fraying and blown park light. Sorted those out and took it for a retest. Parked in the carpark out front since nothing required the pits for inspection underneath. Well that was totally wrong apparently, and I had to waste an hour of my time waiting in the inspection pits line for someone to look at those items which took a combined total of 30 seconds to inspect. Man I was pissed off after that.

Even with a discount, the VTNZ prices are getting silly and it takes way too long to get through the inspection. Full price is $83!

Batman:

 

if you want to find a way to fail a WOF, take it to VTNZ, they will find a way

 

I stopped going to VTNZ because they failed me on brakes, can't quite remember what it was, but I took it to my garage, they said nothing wrong with the brakes, blew out all the dust etc, and cost me money for nothing!

They've never failed my vehicle, but once they left a note stating that it needed an engine oil top up. The level on the dipstick looked perfectly normal to me. 🤨

alasta:

They've never failed my vehicle, but once they left a note stating that it needed an engine oil top up. The level on the dipstick looked perfectly normal to me. 🤨

Good question! 🤣

Linux:

alasta:

 

They've never failed my vehicle, but once they left a note stating that it needed an engine oil top up. The level on the dipstick looked perfectly normal to me. 🤨

 

Why would they need to check the engine oil level ?

Because they now offer other services such as maintenance checks.  It's their equivalent to "would you like fries with that?"  

Batman:

 

if you want to find a way to fail a WOF, take it to VTNZ, they will find a way

 

Yep, took my then 3 year old ute to VTNZ. They failed it becuase they couldnt pull the rear middle seatbelt out of the recepticle (that stops if flapping about). I showed the guy immediately and he passed it.

However if I look on carjam now it shows it failed its warrant which is complete BS because it didnt really fail (problem was the user not the vehicle)

I just get the WOF at the dealer as they know how complex things like seatbelts work.

outdoorsnz:

Batman:

if you want to find a way to fail a WOF, take it to VTNZ, they will find a way

I stopped going to VTNZ because they failed me on brakes, can't quite remember what it was, but I took it to my garage, they said nothing wrong with the brakes, blew out all the dust etc, and cost me money for nothing!