Over time, and especially for cars that have been left standing (even for just a week) and especially in the winter months when its damp, brake components can seize up with rust.

The driver will then hear a grinding noise on take-off or, retardation when slowing down, or smell an acidic burning.  Essentially the brakes (or handbrake mechanism) is/are binding and not releasing or moving as they should.

In most cases new discs and pads (drums and shoes where fitted) is the only sensible option.

But where the components are still OK, a brake service can solve the problem and it entails stripping down all the brake components and grinding off any rust build-up and cleaning the sliders and carrier and putting back together with a special grease designed just for this job.

It is time consuming to do properly and on some cars, part of the suspension has to be removed. Also all the bolts and nuts in this area are subject to rust because of road grime being flicked up, so they are often seized.  So the bill can be a little higher than estimated!