40k roadworthy and not happy

Just sold the car, so i'm getting a roadworthy done. Car has done 39500kms and not hard driving, although it is city driving so brakes do get used a bit. Take it to local holden service center for roadworthy and get a call an hour later saying the front brakes are fine, but rear inner pads need replacing as well as disks as they are apparently scourned (showing oysters is the word he used). So i say, i'm not happy with that can i ask how much is left on the pads exactly? He says 3mm. I reply that's legal, you aren't obliged to replace 3mm pads to approve a roadworthy. He gets shitty and tells me to quieten down whilst he explains the full situation, yeah ok mate bullsh#t bullsh#t lay it on me (i must have woodduck tattooed on my forehead). He says if i take it to a backyard roadworthy joint they might approve it but they are reputable blah blah, i said mate i'm not a dummy you can approve 3mm and you're within the law. He says well you'll have to tell the bloke who's buying your car you only have 3mm on the rear inners, i said mate i dont have to do anything at all, and that's not your problem anyway so please just stick to giving a legal roadworthy and nothing more.

I feel like i'm getting stiffed, the car's a VYII 2004, virtually brand new in every other way. I know brakes are wear and tear but 3mm is fine to leave isn't it? 45k service coming up, i'd have though you'd replace the rear inners then.

Any opinions? Am i in the wrong thinking they just want to jip me out of an additional $275 or is 40k about all you get from rear inner brake pads and discs?

 

I rang them, spoke to the manager who incidently has a real chip on his shoulder and gave me THE CUSTOMER real attitude for questioning the need to replace pads that have 3mm on a roadworthy. He backed off reluctantly, but then harped on about the discs which are apparently 'scolloped' and need machining. Highly unusual i thought.

Oh and when i said i'm not happy about having to pay for this roadworthy he said come get the car i want nothing to do with it and hung up. Manager's name is Glenn, place is BOORAN HOLDEN service center in glenhuntly rd (melbourne), I'd seriously recommend people NOT go to this place, they are in my opinion more than keen to 'create' work for your car wherever they see fit. Real professional from the MANAGER to hang up on a client, given i was polite the whole time and was only posing questions and totally valid one's at that.

 

i think your getting all upset over nothing.

they have done nothing wrong, and by the sounds of it your just being a difficult customer.

 

If 'difficult' means i'm not prepared to pay for legally roadworthy brake pads to be replaced unneccessarily to get a roadworthy, then yeah i guess i'm difficult.

Was real funny when after i told him a 3mm brake pad was roadworthy he said yeah well we're not gonna roadworthy the car till you machine the discs. Car brakes perfectly and major service is due at 45,000km anyway. The bloke's a ripoff merchant tool.

 

*UPDATE*

This is hilarious - I just got the roadworthy done by a reputable business and he reports that the rear brake pads are only half worn...HALF BLOODY WORN!!!!

And the discs are NOT 'scolloped' like the guy at booran said either. They have some rotor grooving, but none more than usual for a car that passes roadworthy condition.

My guy even reckons the brakes should last another 20k or 30k if it is driven like i have driven it till now.

Yet booran holden of glenhuntly rd refused to roadworthy my car because of my rear brake pads and discs. Excuse my french but unfukinbelievable.

Can you believe this? If you were me would you take it further, with written complaints to dealer principle?

 

I suspect this too. Is there an independent body that handles this sort of thing? Consumer affairs? Ombudsmen?

 

It's unlikely i will do much business with them anyway, as i'm buying a chrysler 300c srt8 (ducks the punch). Always a holden man at heart though. I'm more looking to make others aware of their business practises so they dont get ripped like i almost was.

 

this is more or less what i told the guy when he said (after i told him anything above 1mm is legally roadworthy) 'ohh oh, then, err, you'll have to tell the person buying the car your brake pads only have 3mm', i said i dont have to do anything of the sort pal, i've brought the car in to you for a roadworthy if the brakepads are roadworthy then bloody roadworthy them, end of story. I didn't know at the time that the brake pads were in fact a lot healthier than the 3mm he was claiming.

Dodgy bastards.