Jaguar brake pads replacement

Front brake pad replacement

How do front brake pads work?

Brake pads are a key component of any vehicle’s braking system. They’re flat parts made of semi-metallic, organic or ceramic materials, with a metal backing. When you use your brakes, the pads hydraulically squeeze the brake discs, slowing your car down through friction and pressure. The pads absorb some of the biggest forces involved in daily driving.

Most cars have two pads per brake disc, although some high-performance models can have more.

How often should front brake pads need replacing?

As a rough guide, your brake pads should last for 50,000 miles, but there are a number of variables, including driver behaviour, the weight you carry, speed and the type of pads used. Not to mention that nearly 20% of MOT failures are caused by faulty brakes.

The law, vehicle regulations and your MOT

Incorrect brake operation, damaged or excessively worn discs or pads are considered unsafe for your vehicle performance and will cause your car to fail an MOT.

The cost of replacing front brake pads

The typical cost of replacing front brake pads is around £100.

For example, a BMW 116d M Sport would have a dealer price of £133.13, yet Fixter will carry out the same work for only £107.10—a 20% saving!

Changing the rear brake pads on a Fiat 500 C Lounge will cost you £120.59 with your dealer, but only £99.17 with Fixter—a superb saving of 18%!

When you choose Fixter to find you a great deal and a premium mechanic to carry out your rear brake pad replacement, you can expect to save around £20–£25 from an average dealer price. That’s a typical saving in the region of 15–20%.

What happens when we replace your brake pads?

• Our efficient and fully qualified mechanics will inspect the brake system for signs of wear, damage and breakage.
• They will establish which brake pads need to be replaced and fit new ones as necessary.
• You will also be advised of any other parts that may need to be replaced for the best operation and health of your vehicle.
• Once the brake pads have been replaced, our mechanics will test it thoroughly to ensure the correct operation of the new parts and make any adjustments required for premium performance.

What causes your brake pads to stop working correctly?

While your brake pads will keep you safe over thousands of miles, they won’t last forever. Eventually, the abrasive surface on them wears down, and they will need to be replaced, ideally while you still have around 25% capacity of the pads left.

Given that they take most of the load, front brake pads will probably need replacing first. They also have a bigger surface area to increase friction.

To make your brake pads last longer:

• Try avoiding driving at high speeds so that you’re less likely to need to brake quickly and heavily, which puts extra pressure on the pads.
• Anticipate traffic and hazards ahead so you can brake steadily and gradually.
• Heavy loads also put stress on brake pads – don’t carry unnecessary weight.

Symptoms of malfunctioning brakes

Your brake callipers make unusual noises

A loud screeching or grinding noise when you apply the brakes is a clear indicator that new pads are required.

When your car pulls to one side under braking

If only one brake is working correctly, it can cause your car to pull in the direction of the functioning brake.

The car vibrates under braking

Your brake pads could be warped if the pedal vibrates when you press down on it.

The brake pad is worn down

Look through the wheel’s spokes for a visual check—the outside pad is pressed against a metal rotor, and you should be able to see at least 3mm of the pad.

Your brake warning light on the dashboard is illuminated

If any of your dashboard warning lights are illuminated, the sensor that detects problems or worn out parts and components has detected an issue and activated the system.

Jaguar

Jaguar is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover.

Jaguar first appeared as a brand in 1945, when SS Cars Ltd. changed its name at a shareholder meeting; the company went on to have a variety of ownerships and mergers, including those with British Leyland, Ford and Tata Motors. After buying both Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, Tata Motors combined both to create Jaguar Land Rover in 2013.

How popular is Jaguar in the United Kingdom?

This executive British luxury brand currently has 360k vehicles on the road in the UK. Given their matching luxury price tag, it would be acceptable to think that the numbers would remain a steady constant, yet the marque has shown consistently growing numbers since the mid-1990s.

This could be partly due to recent fresh marketing strategies, targeting younger professionals to boost the sale of units, rather than relying on the older, executive drivers the brand previously associated with.

High-end, luxury executive motoring

The RRP of their cheapest model, the Jaguar E-Pace, hits the market at over £29k, and as each model brings something different to the range, their prices peak with the standard level Jaguar XJ starting at £65k. That’s before you begin to choose from the mass of customisations options, available at an added cost when building the finished specification of your car.

Jaguar: high-performance sports cars

There’s a lot more to a Jaguar than luxury upholstery and the famous badge on the grill.

Throughout history, Jaguar has been instrumental in providing high-spec indulgent sports cars; they are a combination of opulent luxury, cutting-edge technology, sporting dynamics and performance. Jaguar makes cars that can take you from 0–60mph in under 4 seconds with top speeds of over 200mph, but without any compromise to comfort and functionality.

Keeping up with today’s trends

An important addition to the Jaguar line-up was made in March 2018; the Jaguar I-Pace was their first electric car, and an SUV to boot. A bold decision to introduce new fuel technologies into a relatively new and growing model type, this was their car to compete against the Porsche Cayenne and long-established Range Rover.

Jaguar’s reliability and reputation

Jaguar ranked a long way down the list at 28th out of the 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Despite being a high-end luxury brand, Jaguar car owners reported more repairs at higher costs than many of their competitors.

Recent Jaguar recalls and reliability issues

Various recalls have been made on Jaguar models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.

10/03/2019 – Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar E-Pace and Jaguar F-Pace, (2015–2018)

Jaguar XF and Jaguar XE (2014–2018) Certain 2.0L diesel engines may emit excessive levels of CO2

02/02/2019 – Jaguar XJ, Jaguar F-Pace and Jaguar F-Type (2018)

The crankshaft pulley retaining bolt may fracture

13/04/2019 – Jaguar E-Pace (2017–2018)

The reversing lamps may fail

30/03/2018 – Jaguar E-Pace (2017)

The front brake flexi-hoses may come into contact with the front tyres

16/03/2018 – Jaguar XF Sportbreak (2017–2018)

There is a defect with the restraints control module

04/03/2018 – Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar F-Pace, Jaguar E-Pace, Jaguar XE and Jaguar XF (2016–2017)

The brazing of the fuel rail end caps may not properly seal the fuel rail ends

30/11/2017 – Jaguar F-Pace, Jaguar XE, Jaguar XJ and Jaguar XF (2016–2017)

The TFT instrument cluster screen can go blank and reset intermittently

17/07/2017 – Jaguar XJ (2009–2010)

Airbags may deploy incorrectly on severe frontal impact

All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.