goethe6889

Took my car into Audi of Palo Alto for the 35K service. Was told that the rear breaks need replacement. Questions:

1. Car is 3 yrs. old with 33K miles; shouldn't the brakes have lasted longer?
2. Is it not usual for the front brakes to wear our first?
3. Should I not wait for the change brakes prompt/light to go on (if this exists) before replacing?

Interestingly, my Audi dealer is charging $974 ti change rear brake pads and rotors, whereas a local Audi specialist is charging $527, using genuine Audi parts. The cost difference is insane!

snagitseven

Depending on the type of driving conditions and how you use your brakes, while a bit on the early side, 35K miles is not all that unusual. The rear brakes tend to wear out faster, espoecially if you use ACC which use the rears to slow the car. I rarely drive in traffic and at 45K miles I'm about 3-4K miles away from changing fronts and rears.

Dealer service centers love to sell stuff and unless you are under 3mm on the pads or the rotors are worn and grooved, you can wait for the warning light which will trigger when the front or rear pads have about 3mm remaining. You would then have less than 1000 miles before the pads were done. There are sensor wires on one wheel of each axle. Some feel that if the rotors are still good to change pads only.

I'm going all in with both - I just purchased Zimmermann rotors and Audi OEM pads online for all four wheels for $550 total. A local indy shop will charge about $300 to install them for me. My dealer will also use my parts and charges $500 to install. Either way, I will have saved a chunk of change buying online vs. from the dealer when I have them installed.

goethe6889

Thanks for the very thorough response!