maudite

Hi Everyone,

The 'BRAKE' light was flashing on quick turns in my car, and as suspected it was low brake fluid. I took it by the dealership for a top off and they informed me that low brake fluid can indicate the pads are nearly worn out. He quickly checked with a flashlight on one side, and told me that my front brake pads are nearly worn out.

I had my pads changed around 45k miles at a different dealership a couple years ago. I have an 05 so I qualified for the free brake pad replacement. Today, I have 63k miles. Is this normal wear for front brake pads? I'm a bit surprised as I'm not driving the car like I stole it. Also on a previous 2004 S4 (when I did drive it like I stole it), I didn't change my pads at all and I had registered 45k+ miles on that car...

The next shocker was the quoted price...800+ dollars...This is in Toronto, Canada and I know things are more expensive but when I see people on the forum getting quotes of 400 dollars....that seems more reasonable. Obviously, I will looking at referred independent Audi service shops.

TIA

beep-beep

maybe they did not change rotors last time and worn out rotors contributed. but also peole say that new hight end cars have pads made out of softer compounds to give better modulation.

so 20K sounds reasonable.

caf

If it was just the low brake fluid light, and the light when out when the fluid was topped off, you could just wait until the front brake pad sensor goes off. The level of brake fluid is only an indirect indicator of pad wear, and your dealer's quick visual inspection without measuring may not be all that accurate. I find most dealers are quick to recommend brake work on cars; obviously they make a lot of money, and it's easy work. Even when the sensor goes off, you still usually have a fair amount of life left in the pads, but unfortunately the A6 has a VERY annoying, nagging audio alert which can't be turned off to my knowledge.

There is no average life for brake pads; type of driving style as well as mileage can make a big difference. 20K is not much mileage, however.

A couple of other tips. Dealers usually recommend new rotors with every pad change. I find rotors are usually fine for two sets of pads, so if you had the rotors done last time you almost certainly don't need rotors again. The dealers usually try to tell you you might get squealing or other issues if you don't change rotors, but that's simply not true. For $800, I would hope that he's quoting pads and rotors, that is still very expensive.

Tim Myatt

Probably sticking calipers. Get them checked.If the caliper sticks this will drag the pads and cut life of pads in half. New fluid recently? Should change fluid every year.

maudite

Thanks for the advice everyone. I took more time and looked at my brakes with a flashlight again, and they are not "paper thin" as the mechanic was telling me during his quick assessment. The outer brake pad that you can see through the rim easily is in my estimation is around a quarter inch at least. Further investigation also yielded a specific light for the front brake sensor which has yet to go off. My thinking is the stealership is looking for a quick buck without much investigation.

gk1

FWIW I was shocked when my dealer told me my front rotors were shot at 25k when it was in for a complaint of a low speed turning & braking noise. Upon closer inspection myself the front inside pads were worn more than the outside pad and there was a significant ridge on the inside edge that "may" have been contributing to the noise as it was only when turning slow and braking. Since I am not averse to replacing my own brakes (and wanted to eliminate the horrid brake dust anyway) I went ahead and replaced them myself. (All four corners pads and rotors for half what the dealer wanted for just the fronts.) The old pads were almost at the brake pad wear sensor so I'd estimate another 5-10k before that went off and I'm sure even longer still before they were truly gone. I can only assume the real problem was the ridge on the rotor that the pads were riding in or could have rubbed against in certain situations and caused a noise.

Overall I guess 20k is not too insane if a very soft pad compound was used, but I'd think 30k+ should be more inline with averages.