snagitseven

I was driving my wife's low mileage '02 allroad and noticed that after stopping at a light, the brake pedal was slowly dropping, apparently losing pressure. (How she didn't notice this is beyond me). The brakes were flushed last November with less than 3K miles driven since so I didn't think that was the issue - I felt it might be the master cylinder or a loose or damaged brake line. Nope.

Dropped it off at my dealer, they ran a full brake pressure test and quickly found the ABS control unit/pump leaking like a sieve. After some cost negotiation, it will run just under $1800 for the part and labor (dealer list price would have been $2300 - the ABS control unit alone lists for $1650). The car has under 55K miles, is pristine and my wife does not want to part with it for her under 3K miles a year to run her errands. Obviously it's not just miles but also age that takes it's toll. It's rarely ever a simple fix when it comes to this car.

At least we have a brand spanking new Q5 loaner to use this weekend while they are waiting for the part to come in next week.

One bit of good news. Upon inspection, the brakes still have well over half life remaining - 8/8 mm pads/rotors and the tires have 6/10ths of tread left. Considering both the brakes and tires were replaced 8 years ago, it shows how little mileage my wife puts on the car each year. Yet the allroad is still sloooowly falling apart with age, piece by piece, dollar by dollar. Sigh...

transman

Yea, Sometimes they wear and tear more by not getting driven much.

snagitseven

Well, just picked up the allroad and the brakes work fine now. One new ABS Control Module and $1750 lighter. Over the out of warranty years the car has needed front and rear prop seals, CV boots, battery, brake pads and rotors, 2 sets of tires, oil pan reseal, Arnott rear air springs, valve cover seals, timing belt/water pump/tensioners, secondary air pump, coolant temp sensor and a new gas tank (Audi paid out of warranty). Standing by for more shoes to drop.