1TEC Partner Spotlight: Pagid
As part of our 1TEC Partner Spotlight series, we're looking at the companies behind the 1TEC Auto Hub network, the expertise they bring and why those relationships matter to us at Meadowfield Auto Centre.
This time we're looking at one of the most safety-critical systems on any vehicle:
Brakes.
And 1TEC's braking partner is Pagid.
When it comes to brakes, quality matters
There are areas of a vehicle where we simply don't believe buying on price alone makes sense.
Braking is one of them.
A set of brake pads can look relatively simple. There's a backing plate, friction material and, depending on the application, shims, wear indicators and other components.
But what you can't necessarily see is where much of the engineering lies.
The composition of the friction material, how it performs at different temperatures, its relationship with the brake disc, resistance to fade, noise behaviour, wear characteristics and consistency throughout its service life all matter.
That's why two brake pads designed to fit exactly the same vehicle aren't necessarily the same product.
The OE connection
This is one of the main reasons Pagid fits the philosophy behind Meadowfield and 1TEC so well.
Pagid is part of TMD Friction, one of the world's major manufacturers of brake-friction technology.
Crucially, TMD Friction isn't simply manufacturing replacement pads for the aftermarket.
It develops and supplies original-equipment braking products for vehicle manufacturers, with TMD stating that its OE products are individually developed for particular vehicle applications in collaboration with automotive manufacturers.
That distinction matters to us.
OE isn't simply a badge on a box.
When a braking system is developed for a new vehicle, engineers are trying to achieve a particular balance of braking performance, pedal feel, temperature behaviour, noise, comfort, durability and wear.
The friction material forms part of that system.
The people developing OE friction products therefore need to understand considerably more than the physical dimensions of the pad.
They need to understand how that friction material behaves on the vehicle.
And that knowledge doesn't disappear when TMD produces products for the independent aftermarket.
A brake pad is a formulation
This is perhaps the bit customers rarely see.
Brake friction material isn't one universal compound.
TMD explains that friction materials can contain numerous raw materials, with formulations developed to produce the required characteristics for particular applications.
Different vehicles place very different demands on their brakes.
Think about the difference between:
a small city car,
a large SUV,
a performance car,
a heavily loaded diesel estate,
and an electric vehicle using regenerative braking.
They may all use disc brakes, but the demands placed on those braking systems aren't identical.
Vehicle weight, performance, brake-disc design, operating temperature and the characteristics the vehicle manufacturer wants from the braking system all influence the engineering behind the friction material.
That's why at Meadowfield we don't view brake pads simply as:
“Does it fit?”
The better question is:
“Is this the quality of component we want to fit?”
OE experience matters
This is where Pagid's relationship with TMD Friction becomes particularly relevant.
TMD's engineering expertise spans both original equipment and aftermarket friction products, meaning the organisation behind Pagid understands the development process at vehicle-manufacturer level.
For us, that's valuable.
We're an independent garage, but that doesn't mean we want to lower the standard of the components we're installing.
Quite the opposite.
Where appropriate, we want to use products from manufacturers with genuine OE expertise and a clear understanding of the systems we're repairing.
Pagid gives us that connection in braking.
Braking isn't somewhere we want to race to the bottom
The aftermarket offers an enormous choice of replacement components.
And there's nearly always something cheaper.
But being able to buy a cheaper brake pad doesn't automatically make it better value.
When we're choosing braking components, we're interested in things such as:
braking performance
consistency
friction characteristics
temperature performance
noise and vibration
disc compatibility
wear
manufacturing quality
technical support
And ultimately:
Would we be comfortable fitting it to one of our customers' cars?
That's a much more important question to us than simply finding the lowest purchase price.
The pad and disc work together
It's also important not to think about a brake pad in isolation.
The pad and brake disc form a friction pair.
The condition and quality of one can affect the performance and life of the other.
That's why replacing brake pads isn't always simply a matter of removing the old ones and installing new ones.
Our technicians need to consider the condition and thickness of the discs, wear pattern, corrosion, caliper operation and other relevant parts of the braking system.
If something else is wrong, fitting a new set of pads doesn't magically repair the braking system.
This fits closely with the way we already work at Meadowfield.
Inspect first. Recommend what's actually needed.
Every vehicle coming through our workshop receives our Electronic Vehicle Health Check.
Brakes form an important part of that inspection.
We're not interested in replacing components simply because they're no longer new.
We're interested in their condition, measurements, safety and remaining serviceability.
That means identifying what's actually required and explaining it to the customer.
And when replacement is necessary, we want the component going back onto the vehicle to meet the standards we expect.
It's another example of something we say frequently at Meadowfield:
We never want to sell something a car doesn't need. But when it does need something, we want to do the job properly.
Pagid and 1TEC Auto Hub
Pagid is the braking partner of the 1TEC Auto Hub network, bringing the braking expertise of TMD Friction into a network designed around professional independent workshops.
That relationship is exactly the type of thing that attracted us to 1TEC.
We're not joining a network simply for a sign above the door.
We want closer relationships with organisations that actually understand and develop the technologies we're working with.
For engine lubrication, that's companies such as Shell and MPM.
For battery technology, it's VARTA.
And when we're talking about braking friction, having a company with genuine OE development and manufacturing expertise behind the network makes sense.
What this means for Meadowfield customers
Ultimately, customers shouldn't need to become brake engineers to decide whether they're getting a good repair.
That's our job.
When you bring your vehicle to Meadowfield Auto Centre, you're trusting us to make sensible decisions about the parts and products we use.
That's a responsibility we take seriously.
We want to know who is behind the products we're fitting, what expertise they have and whether those products meet the standard we expect.
Pagid's connection to TMD Friction and its OE braking expertise gives us confidence in the brand.
And through 1TEC Auto Hub, we're strengthening our relationship with exactly these kinds of manufacturers.
Because with something as important as your brakes, quality isn't an optional extra.
Still independent. Still Meadowfield. Just stronger.