Motoring Question

medicnick83

medicnick83

Paramedic
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
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Hi all,

I have a question.

I think I'm a very good driver in all senses, I don't drive to fast, and especially since I have 'company vehicle' I treat the vehicle with lots of love and such.

Now...

Yesterday I took my vehicle for it's 45,000km service.
It came back with a rather large bill, R4,000±

Anyways, the big thing was my front brakes and discs had to be replaced and such.
Anyways, my boss gave me a bit of a grief regarding it and said I "brake too much" which I do admit I do but you can blame me on being a cautious driver and it's my "style of driving"

He says when I slow down I must "gear down"

But... now, my question is, if I don't brake and mess the brakes up, then when I gear down (instead of braking) I'm going to mess the clutch/gearbox up at some point.

Thoughts, comments on this?

At the end of the day, I really don't want to drive 'badly' and cost my boss money but I also think that he is being somewhat unfair being upset with me (I could tell) for the 45,000km service bill coming to close to R4,000 - I think it's normal that all those stuff needed to be replaced etc etc.
 
Well if they had to replace the disks it means you drove with finished brake pads. I always down gear, but together with the brakes not instead of.
 
45K on the clock is not unusual to change pads... on average a set of pads are about R600 per set. so R1200 + labour to change, probably better part of an hour, the breaks alone probably cost R1600 at least.
 
I don't think that is an unreasonable service, your boss is being a bit harsh. Gearing down without breaking is a good thing to practice, obviously it can't be used in all situations but where you have the space you should. Gearing down and braking at the same time puts more strain on the brakes but getting the balance right is key. I still think your boss is overreacting a little, it's not like you are replacing the brakes at every service.
 
There's a lot of drivers like you on the road.
The cautious brake riders. I don't know you or how you drive so ill throw you in the box with those drivers.

There are too many drivers riding their brakes and what's worst are those behind that follow suit. If there is no need to brake why brake?

I don't consider myself a safe driver but I do have a good way of predicting driving conditions and other drivers.

If you see a robot in the distance that's been green for a while and you doing the average speed chances are that robot will stop you, there you stop accelerating and allow your car to slow itself down. No need to brake at the last moment or 20m away from the robot.

Even in traffic situations keep and decent pace and watch the driver ahead of the driver infront of you, most braking causes a pendulum effect but if you don't brake unless necessary you can calmly glide through traffic with no strain on your brakes.

Another thing I see quite often are people braking on bumpy roads, that's one of the worst things to do, its put a lot of strain on brakes discs and shocks. But there's also another problem, a lot of these bumps are in braking areas like robots and stop streets, blame the fibre layers.
Admittedly sometimes you can't help it but if you drive a particular road everyday judge your speed accordingly and brake on a flat surface before or after the bumps.

That being said most car service's would recommend skimming discs at 45000km and replacing pads.
 
Simple, as Quattro says, start driving with a bigger distance between you and the next car...start reading the traffic at least 30 seconds ahead of you, and you will find that you seldom have to touch your brakes.

In advanced driving courses that is one of the first things you will be taught. As a result you will find an improvement in fuel consumption as well, and the ability to make disc pads last a great deal longer. On my cars pads usually last well over 100 000 k's.
 
ya 45000km sounds a bit low to me, I just sold my car that had 60k km on the clock and at its last service(58k) the original breaks and pads were fine.
 
Last edited:
I use a combination of both most of the time - I'd also rather replace brake pads and have the discs skimmed more frequently, than have to change the clutch...
 
howardb said:
I use a combination of both most of the time - I'd also rather replace brake pads and have the discs skimmed more frequently, than have to change the clutch...
Click to expand...

You are missing the point. There is no need to do either! :rolleyes:
 
Or.. check the pads & discs yourself. 90% of them lie just to get a few extra rand. My car's only due for a disc change now, at 230k km.
 
gdiza your boss has given you bad advice. It is far more expensive to replace a clutch than it is to replace brake pads, and gearing down increases fuel consumption (depending on how you do it of course). As a few have said, learn to read the traffic ahead, leave bigger following distances and get into the habit of slowing down (release accelerator) / braking earlier on approach to a stop/robot/whatever. The earlier you brake the less pressure is required, resulting in less wear.

Space and time is the key, learn how to use it to your advantage, i.e. start to actively think about it and the rest will follow.
 
MFour said:
gdiza your boss has given you bad advice. It is far more expensive to replace a clutch than it is to replace brake pads, and gearing down increases fuel consumption (depending on how you do it of course). As a few have said, learn to read the traffic ahead, leave bigger following distances and get into the habit of slowing down (release accelerator) / braking earlier on approach to a stop/robot/whatever. The earlier you brake the less pressure is required, resulting in less wear.

Space and time is the key, learn how to use it to your advantage, i.e. start to actively think about it and the rest will follow.
Click to expand...

This is what I do already. :)
 
gdiza said:
This is what I do already. :)
Click to expand...

hmm well then all that remains is to try and improve on what you are doing already. Your boss is being unreasonable, but him being a boss, well bosses are never unreasonable now are they ;)

You can only do as much as you can. If he insists on the gearing down thing, then by all means allow him to pay for the replacement clutch, worn joints, gearbox and higher fuel bill, at least he'll save on brakes :D
 
Fazda said:
Simple, as Quattro says, start driving with a bigger distance between you and the next car...start reading the traffic at least 30 seconds ahead of you, and you will find that you seldom have to touch your brakes.
Click to expand...

Doesn't work in Gauteng (or SA for that matter) . If you open a 20 meter following distance about five taxis and three 4x4's will try push into the gap every 30 seconds.
Then the dude behind gets very annoyed because you're causing everyone behind to continually fall behind in the queue.
 
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