NO, the bolts can not damage the brakes!
It was a nice gesture, but some people don't deserve it.
After +40 yrs.at trade. I have never heard of different bolts for spare tire. She didn't say "not to help". So you don't owe her any cash. Hold your ground .
For a Mercedes, using the wrong bolt size for the spare CAN damage the breaks. Do some research, it's in the owners manual about the spare tires.
When you replace one side of the breaks, you need to replace the other also. On a Mercedes, an estimate on the breaks of all 4 wheels is a little over $1,000 (on newer Mercedes, I dont know the year on this one). So on the back 2 or the front 2, it would be about half of that. So $600 sounds about right, if she is replacing both sides.
So with that information, here's what I would do in your situation. I would talk to her so your not 100% responsible for the charges. It is her car and she didn't tell you about the different size bolts and she didn't know about the different size bolts. Anyone with no experience with Mercedes would have done the same thing and you where trying to help her out while it was raining! If she would have read it and knew about it, she could have warned you and the whole problem would have been avoided. It is her car, she should know. If you would have left her to do it herself, in the rain, then she would have done the same thing and cause the damage herself. (or some other poor sap)
Offer to pay half if your a nice guy. If its too much have your parents talk. Bring up your side. say the stuff i gave ya. Good luck buddy
Hi,
Okay well, a girl at school got a flat tyre and while everyone was laughing, she was just gonna drive it home on a flat as she didn't know how to change it. Anyway I offered to change it for her. I've done plenty in my time so it didn't seem like much. It was raining so I wanted to get it done, I chucked the other wheels, loosened all bolts, hoisted car up and took the flat wheel off.
I took the spare out of the back, but it on the car and used the SAME bolts to put the spare onto the car.
This is where I went wrong, apparently there was shorter bolts with the spare(I definitely didn't see them), she didn't drive the car at all but accord into a mechanic me putting the wrong bolts in wrecked the brakes and it's gonna cost $600 to fix which she wants me to cover.
I'm just finding it so hard to believe that it would course that much damage. Does anyone know anything about this and the costs? I haven't got much money I'm just devastated. Anyway thankyou, Mitch.
