Safety inspection scam suspected on '13 Expedition. Brakes fine goiing in, bad coming out. Help.

[showme]

My adult daughter had her 19-year-old son take her Expedition to a local shop for its yearly safety inspection. When he took it in the brakes were fine. They were quiet, smooth and stopped the vehicle as they should. When the inspection was through, they told my grandson it had failed because of bad brakes. When he left, he immediately noticed a grinding and squealing sound, and the brakes will not hardly stop the truck even at 10 mph. She's bringing it over to me in a little bit so I can check it out and repair it in the morning.
First, has anyone had this happen before? Second, if the shop did indeed sabotage the brakes, is there a way to prove it or is there anything that I should look for as signs of dirty work? She is livid because she knows there was no problem before taking it there. Also, she is a single mom with 3 teenage kids, and the Expedition is her daily driver for work and also a ride for the kids. I told her I'd also go visit the repair shop that did it. Any suggestions on how to handle these crooks? I'm a retired Ironworker and the solution that works on construction jobs isn't allowed at public businesses. Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions and comments. Lee

 

[drankinatty]

Well ..., here are some random thoughts to consider in your investigation. I've been doing brakes for about 45 years, on everything from '57 Chevys to present, and it's really hard to think of a way to sabotage brakes so they make a grinding noise and won't stop. I mean literally absent doing something criminal like bending the wear indicator tab in against a rotor, smearing the rotor surface with grease and throwing BBs or crushed stone in the grease, brakes just don't change at a moments notice. Loosening a bleeder could explain the barely works after -- but then you would have brake fluid dripping down the backing plate and a big puddle somewhere.

At its simplest, the brake system is just a hydraulic system that squeezes the pads against the rotor when pressure is created in the system by applying the brake peddle with assist from the brake booster. Pulling the vacuum hose from the booster will make the peddle much harder to push, but the corresponding vacuum leak should be audible.

Anything is "possible", but if the shop actually did something, it likely wasn't the first time, and that type of issue is something you would expect to find a mountain of complaints about in your daughters local community and in any reviews of the shop. It's just really hard to envision a shop attempting something like that. What's their best upside? They make a couple hundred bucks selling a brake job that wasn't needed. The downside? They kill someone, they are sued, their carrier pays policy limits and dumps any excess liability on whoever/whatever the owners are. That's what makes it hard to imagine something like that taking place.

The alternatives? It is possible the wear-indicator on one wheel started making more noise and was something that was noticed when the brakes didn't feel right. Other possibility, you say 19 year old kid huh? With a semi-offroad capable vehicle for a few hours? Any sandy areas the kids like to visit in the area and maybe 4-wheel a bit? Expedition freshly washed on return? (I say this somewhat jokingly, remembering being 19, and some of the things my friends pulled..., but that is another "possibility")

When you get the car, drive it, give it the 20 MPH hard stop test and see what you think. Take a flashlight and give the brakes a good looking over. See if you can determine if it's all wheels or just one making the noise. Pull the wheel if needed to take a closer look. If there is roughly 25% of the pads left and the wear-indicator is close, then it's likely it was just getting close to time anyway. Otherwise, let us know what you find and we will try and help further.

The part that makes little sense is the "worked fine before, but barely work afterwards". Other than contamination preventing friction between the pads and rotor, that's just not something I can explain. Let us know what your inspection reveals. Good luck with this one.

 

[duneslider]

Its a 2013, my guess is the brakes are bad and probably need to be replaced. I have doubts they would "sabotage" it. I know my wife doesn't tell me the car is making a noise until its way overdue, like metal on metal grinding and then she is like "hey the car has been making a noise" (for like 3 weeks). Anyway, new pads are cheap and easy to do on these so you should be able to knock it out real quick, good opportunity to teach that 19 year old some dude stuff.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Does Missouri test brakes on a "rolling road" where the car is on rollers that are ganged to simulate a road and then make a hard stop? Maybe the brakes were ready to go?

 

[showme]

Just found this post again and I'm sorry I failed to report back. (Doesn't this forum have an email notice?) Anyway, as mad as I was at the shop for trying to cheat my sweet, innocent daughter and my 3 grandkids, when she brought it over for me to check, I was pretty shocked to see that the rear passenger was metal on metal, and the drivers side was nearly gone. The shop was right. I don't know how Britt and the kids didn't notice it. I replaced the rotor and pads on the bad side and the pads on the going bad side. I told her I thought I had already replaced the brakes since she bought it about a year ago? Then I remembered that when I checked them back then the fronts were barely there, so I replaced them, but the rears weren't bad, but I told her to keep an eye on them because they would need changed in the not too distant future. Well, she's not mechanical, works full time and has 3 teenagers to raise, so that's part of it. But I've told all three of my adult kids since they started driving to keep an eye (and ear) out for fluids, brakes, wipers, yada, yada, yada. I told them all that when you start hearing a little whistling or high pitched sound, have the brakes checked. I should have checked them before I posted, but I was too pissed off at the mechanic to wait. Thanks for all the fine replies, fellas. I appreciate them. Lee

 

[showme]

JamaicaJoe- no, Missouri doesn't have those. Not down here in the sticks, anyway. Maybe up in St. Louis or the metro areas. They have to run emissions tests up there, too, but not outside of the STL and KC areas.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

JamaicaJoe- no, Missouri doesn't have those. Not down here in the sticks, anyway. Maybe up in St. Louis or the metro areas. They have to run emissions tests up there, too, but not outside of the STL and KC areas.

You might want to get it up on a lift and make sure none of the calipers are sticking. Those rubber hoses, all of them, are subject to breaking down and becoming a one way valve allowing fluid under pressure to compress the calipers and then failing to release them. I had that fail on my 2001 and am suspicious of my 2013 and need to simply replace all of them. Could be a fuel economy problem as well.

 

[JayB66]

The best way to catch this kind of 'crook' is to have the vehicle checked out by a mechanic you trust before going into said suspect shop. Then again, if you have a mechanic you trust.....