cheap unipart brakes!

samisnake

samisnake

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just ordered some of these unipart discs for my a3 1.4 tfsi
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322214067727

£23.75 for the pair delivered!

https://unipartautostore.com/ can type your reg in on the site and itll come up with the pads/discs that fit your car, but i found their ebay store to be slightly cheaper to buy from.
to put the price into context, on ECP using a discount code, 2 eicher discs come to £38.99 or 2 pagids for £47.49.

also just bought genuine vw/audi branded front pads for £19 off ebay so total brake cost up front will be £43 quid.


so yeah, worth having a look at their discs at least, dunno if id buy their pads, some very strong pricing
 
No offence, but I wouldn't be putting any discs that cheap on my car.
I'd be concerned that they were very poor quality at that price. Hopefully for your sake I am wrong.
 
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Guys, don't skimp on brakes or tyres, they could save your life (or at least a small fortune in insurance premiums / repairs).

Buy OEM as a minimum (and don't be fooled by OEM equivalents - they're just saying it will fit!).
 
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well i certainly appreciate the concern. if it were pads id agree, but for discs im going to take the chance. theyre a big disc of metal, whats the worse thats gonna happen? if theyre poor quality, theyll warp in no time. poor quality pads can disintegrate, sure, but discs...

ive got national auto discs on the rear with bosch pads, and im still alive :yahoo:
 
samisnake said:
whats the worse thats gonna happen?
Click to expand...

Aside from them not dissipating heat properly and causing brake fade?
Or warping badly and ruining your pads at the same time?
Or just not stopping you at all?

Yeah, not much can go wrong that's worth worrying about.
 
Daveyonthemove said:
Or just not stopping you at all?

Yeah, not much can go wrong that's worth worrying about.
Click to expand...

they are ece r90 approved. the company is not a fly by night, unipart group are huge. what are you basing this all on other than the price?

when they arrive im going to weigh them, and ill take photos. in the longer term ill keep the thread updated with how they fare.
 
They could be perfectly fine, but when things seem 'too good to be true' I question the reasons why.
Weighing them won't prove anything, they could be made with heavy but sub standard metals giving the feel of a heavy duty product but the performance of a toffee.

Like I said, I hope they are fine and you have no issues but I personally always push the higher end of my budget where tyres and brakes are concerned.
Personal preference.
 
fully understand that, i suppose the proof is in the pudding. im not standing by them as if im earning a commision, if they turn out to be rubbish ill say that. at the same time, i dont think that the price alone is a definitive indicator of quality. eg. you could buy ate, vw ag branded pads from a dealer, or buy ate aftermarket for half the price. same thing different branding, yet half the price. now im not saying these are rebranded ate, but they definitely are a rebrand of another make.

truth be told my brakes dont really need changing. just had an mot and was told that i have about 50% pad life left, but the discs are grubby and theres a slight grinding noise under braking, so for the sake of £43 i will happily try out these discs with good pads. if i had needed brakes, i might be inclined to use a different brand, but as my rear discs are holding up fine so far despite being a 'no name', i think its worth finding out if the cheap uniparts hold up.
 
Are unipart still going ?? they used to be the parts supplier for British Leyland...lol
I remember when prince charles was getting married in 1981 they put out an add saying "do you need a coil for your princess" ? (austin princess) :)
 
There are Unipart garages up and down the UK that fit Unipart parts. As said above they have to comply with minimum standards in the UK. However, these days they are a "budget brand" so would compare to the ECP Eicher etc.
 
I remember a few years ago there was an article on TV (Watchdog???) about counterfeit VW/Audi brake pads, supposedly the Genuine item, but the Chinese fakers had made a bit of a mistake and put stickers saying wasserpompe on the boxes ,lol.
They fitted a set of these “Genuine” pads to a Passat and the distance it took to perform an emergency stop was about 30% longer than a set of real “Genuine” pads.
I swore I’d never buy any “Genuine” brake parts off EBay after watching that, unless it was from an impeccable source (like a VAG main dealer) ; though the temptation is reduced when you can buy really good OEM alternatives from the likes of Euro Car Parts for the same, if not less......
My A3 runs Textar pads front and rear (OEM on Mercedes) and they cost something like £13 for a set of rears and about £26 for the front, they’re superb IMHO.
 
audi upgrades
As expected..

64c1b501-b951-41ea-9cd0-1b4764125e71-jpg.63192
 
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Yes but who says whats the best ? Euro car parts ?
 
so they arrived within a day or two, delivery was very fast was impressed.

came boxed in the traditional unipart colour scheme, with the two discs in one box, each in a plastic bag with a light misting of oil on them.

first thing was to clean the oil off with brake cleaner, then a light coating of vht silver paint on the hubs and disc edge.

9Air9zY.jpg


fIWAlgd.jpg





cleaned up the carrier and caliper with a wire brush and spraying of brake cleaner, then fitted the discs and pads. pads that came off were also oem but around 2/3s to 1/2 worn, so plenty of life left but there was a slight grinding noise under braking.

u8K1mBZ.jpg





once all back together, moved onto painting the calipers and dust shields. masked off areas i didnt want painted, and went at it

ftzHfTY.jpg




painted the rears while i was at it. only fitted the rear discs and pads a couple months back but the hubs and disc edge were already turning rusty

Bjm0E9M.jpg





all done

PZ2zsc0.jpg


OCYxusi.jpg




went for a drive to scrub off the paint on the discs and wear the pads in a bit. so far so good tbh. theyve been on 200 odd miles, and the noise that i replaced them for has now gone. braking feels exactly the same, if not a little sharper. for a total of £43 for the discs and pads, im very pleased so far.
 
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Just for comparison, ECP charged me £173 for 4 Brembo disks, and Textar pads all round, with one litre of DOT incl delivery.

No painted disk faces, (which I dont like) but bell hubs, edges and looked to be in the grooves all painted in what looks similar to Hammerite (but probably isnt)

original pads and disk lasted 102810 miles, with about 20% left on them.

K
 
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