Brake life question

[boydster76]

I am just about to go ahead and buy a used 997 C2S with 33k on the clock (mainly motorway miles. I am aware that the life of consumable parts (brakes/clutch etc) will vary massively depending on the driving style of previous owners, however are there any rough guidelines that anyone can give me about 'expected' life of these parts?

I am intending to get a 111 point check done before parting with my hard earned, however only want to have to pay out for a check on one car if possible so some advice on when I may need to start thinking about replacement brakes and clutch particularly would be very helpful as part of the process.

Thanks.

 

[fido]

One thing to check on the brakes, corrosion on the inner faces of the discs, they may look fine through the wheels but some owners have had to pay out for new discs because of this. After washing your car go for a drive and give the brakes a few good applications ( on a clear road ! ) This corrosion seems to be the price you pay for having 200mph brakes in a 70 mph speed limit. My guess is you should see 25K on a set of brakes with road use , a lot less if heavily tracked. Rgds David

 

[okellyt]

Any concerns or hesitations, change the brakes - your life depends upon the brakes and tyres, no point shorting their maintenance in such a capable car. Same view for the tyres.

As per Fido's comments check for corrosion but if the brakes are original and have not been changed after 33k, I'd change them anyway.

Clutch is good for 30k miles, how much further depends upon how hard its driven and what % of the mileage has been heavy on the clutch. So at 33k if the clutch has not already been changed you want a good look at it and assume you'll need to budget for a new one within 10k miles.

 

[garyw]

Mine have usually lasted between 25-30K but as you say it depends on how the car is used..

David is correct, check the inside of the disc.. the discs do go rusty if they have sat, so don't panic if its just a light brown surface rust..
There not cheap, I'm looking at just over 2K to replace mine shortly.... however having had them stop me from figures ending in 75 they have worked hard []

garyw

 

[boydster76]

Thanks very much okellyt. I have been given the OPC prices for brake changes, do you know the rough cost of a clutch change?

 

[okellyt]

Varies but IRO £700 - £1k

 

[draxa]

My first 997S had 35000miles on the dial when I traded it in and still had the original discs/pads which (I had been told about two months before) were in good shape.

I reckon you won't get a lot longer than that, though.

 

[Jimbo1271]

I've just bought a 2005 997 C2S with 32K on the clock I don't intend to do many miles in it and the clutch is OK at the moment but I'm budgeting for one in the next 5k miles. On this subject assuming it's quite a big job, is it advisable to get it done at a main dealer or does it not matter? Anyone had any bad experiences with independent specialists doing more complex work?
Thanks

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: Jimbo1271
Anyone had any bad experiences with independent specialists doing more complex work?

Lots of people... look in your regional area as most have suggestions of one to be and not to be trusted.
Also some are not up-to-date on the modern cars preferring to work on the middle year cars..

garyw

 

[Wills]

Are we talking pads and or disks? That last 25k? pads yes but surely disks should last longer than that if your not tracking the car...

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: Wills

Are we talking pads and or disks? That last 25k? pads yes but surely disks should last longer than that if your not tracking the car...

In my instance- Yes discs and Pads, the first time the brakes will have received any work to them.

garyw

 

[okellyt]

ORIGINAL: garyw

ORIGINAL: Wills

Are we talking pads and or disks? That last 25k? pads yes but surely disks should last longer than that if your not tracking the car...  

In my instance- Yes discs and Pads, the first time the brakes will have received any work to them.

garyw

Yes but Gary, you don't use brakes................[]

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: garyw

ORIGINAL: Wills

Are we talking pads and or disks? That last 25k? pads yes but surely disks should last longer than that if your not tracking the car...

In my instance- Yes discs and Pads, the first time the brakes will have received any work to them.

garyw

My brake pad light has just started to come on now and again at just over 14k and although I am light on the brakes I do track the car (gently!) I never changed pads on my C996C4S and they were still going fine at 30k even though the car had the same pattern of use.

Just shows that the Turbo does arrive faster at the bends!

I have been advised that although the discs (steel) are OK I should change them at the same time.or the pads will wear out even quicker.

Does anyone agree or disagree with this as I would expect the discs to last for at least two sets of pads?

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: fireblade
Does anyone agree or disagree with this as I would expect the discs to last for at least two sets of pads?

I was only thinking the same myself last night!! [&:]
I'm sure that someone will suggest having the discs skimmed but looking at mine I'd say they have a fair old lip on the edges indicating a fair amount of wear..

Brake and tyres are the things that I have 100% respect for...

garyw

 

[fireblade]

ORIGINAL: garyw

ORIGINAL: fireblade
Does anyone agree or disagree with this as I would expect the discs to last for at least two sets of pads?

I was only thinking the same myself last night!! [&:]
I'm sure that someone will suggest having the discs skimmed but looking at mine I'd say they have a fair old lip on the edges indicating a fair amount of wear..

Brake and tyres are the things that I have 100% respect for...

garyw

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I think that if the discs needed skimming I would rather buy new but they seem alright and the old "fingernail test" shows no uneven wear and very little lipping.

Absolutely agree about tyres brakes etc which is why I prevaricated so much over choice of tyres. I went for Bridgestones since as you said Conti's are not available for the Turbo rears. Bridgestones do have a nice lip to protect the rims but I see from a friends new C4S that the latest Pirellis now have a similar lip too. I have never touched my rims but I feel slightly better noe that there are a couple of cms of rubber overhang.

 

[garyw]

ORIGINAL: fireblade
I have never touched my rims but I feel slightly better noe that there are a couple of cms of rubber overhang.

[] I love a bit of overhang []
One of the reasons I've enjoyed the Bridgestones, that one time you get the parking a little wrong and instead of a scrape you get a squeak []
I'll have to have a look at the Pirellis, I know the ones I had on my 996 sadly did not have any rim protector..[]

garyw