Puzz1

Well, at just under 37,000 miles it's time to bite the bullet on new brakes. The shuddering when stopping from high speed is increasingly irritating and actually embarrassing when I have a passenger. I find the the car doesn't ride as smooth as it used to either which could be related.

Any tips to share as I embark getting this priced out? I may go with an Indy for this job.

raj99

Brakes on any car are pretty straight-forward. However, I'm surprised that yours are gone at under 40K miles. Has brake sensor light gone on? Also, if you're getting shuddering, check the slides and they might be stuck, which means you're getting uneven wear between the outside vs inside pads.

MP4.2+6.0

Stepping back, are you really sure you have the correct diagnosis here?

1. On brakes, what is the pad wear, and what is the rotor wear? Both are straight forward to measure, and there are specs. As mentioned, there is a wear sensor too that triggers when approaching pad end of life. Even for all the exact spec stuff BTW, I usually just look in there with a flashlight and focus on the side of the pad. At some angle through the wheel spokes I can usually see them, at least on one side or the other. If down to the last 1/8" of pad before the metal backplate, they are done. If ¼"+, still good life.

2. When you say shuddering, do you mean a noise, a vibration through body, or both? And/or vibration in steering?

When you say car doesn't ride as smooth, I was reading it that you mean something other than braking. Do you mean just braking, or more generally? It's that sentence that made me wonder if you don't have some other issue, likely in suspension. As in, general ride and brakes are not usually related. What about sway bar links? What about upper control arm bushings? Any creaky noises? Any vibration under moderate braking? Any unusual wear on inside edges of front tires?

Puzz1

All good questions! By shuddering, what I mean is that there is a vibration in the brake pedal to the point where you can feel it throughout the car. Even my kids feel it in the back seat! It's most noticeable on the highway when slowing from high speed. Not so much around town. On the ride comment, I've noticed just in general a lack of smoothness especially over rough roads. The car doesn't seem to absorb rough roads the way it used to. I keep my suspension setting in dynamic which accounts for some of it. As for the wear sensors, nothing has lit up yet.

Puzz1

I've also had the sway bar links replaced previously about a year ago.

TinyElviss

My brakes started shuddering around 29k, but it was light and not obtrusive. By the 35k service they were annoying and ready to go. Full replacement was $1900 at one dealer, with a second dealer quoting $2500. It certainly pays to shop around!

MP4.2+6.0

1. Take a look at the inside edge of your front tires and report back. I'm wondering if your front upper control arm bushings are worn.
2. Recheck tire pressures. Don't use door sicker pressures. Use what the owners manual says for your motor, wheel size, etc, plus your typical load. As in, the door sticker always goes to high side now since they have to show the pressure for max load.
3. On brakes, first look at pads for sense of general wear. Unless way down especially since no light), at least try a re bedding of existing pads. Search for how to if not familiar, but basically a series of stops from speed with moderate + force.

If you do brakes, at 37K you should not need rotors. If you want OE pads, easy to get. If you want aftermarket--particularly lower dust which basically means ceramic compound pads--also available but then non-dealer channels. Nothing magic on Audi brakes besides opening back parking brake when those come due, so an indy can do for a lot less than #'s here.

Puzz1

Dealer quoted me $1500 for fronts and $1150 for rears. Ouch!!

aeggroup

Parts are $970 : https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-For-Aud...t/352309044821
My Indy shop charged $250 for labor when I did my wife's Range Rover ( for 4 corners). I don't see why Audi should be priced differently.

1stGOAT

Yes dealer prices are always very high because they replace all parts, many not needed at this mileage.

Many things mentioned in other posts, all good.

1. First have a look at your rotors (front especially). Sometimes brake pad material can stick on to rotor creating an uneven braking surface on your rotor. This can create some pretty severe shuddering when you brake from higher speeds and be pretty unnerving. It will present itself as sort of a smear of dark stuff on the face of the rotor. It can easily be removed with some wet/dry 200 grit paper, a sanding block and wet sanding. You will need to remove wheel to do it but you can do it with rotor in place.

2. The other but less likely possibility is a warped rotor.

3. Since you don't have pad wear notices on dash probably not a low pad issue but take a flashlight and have a look at at them.

Low mileage car shouldn't need rotors so just pads all around (if worn), total cost about 300 dollars. I did my rears a few weeks ago total cost 75 dollars. Dealer would have been 1000+. Had 2 oil leaks on my D3, dealer quoted me 3500, it cost me 48.00 in parts and fixed it all in 4 hrs. Saved 3452.00 by diy.