Niketalk1

Hey guys:
I have started to notice a really loud squeaking noise when I brake.
I have a 2009 3.6 Premium Plus and now around 6K.
Just had my 5K service done last week.
I am no car guru so I wondering if anyone has any idea/possibility as to what might cause it?

Thanks

AutoUnionQ7

Just bring it in. You're still under the 12k/1yr wear and tear warranty, so you might get new brakes out of this

AofC_RR

Change your pedal technique and you can reduce the squeak. Nothing is wrong, it's just part of driving something with a serious braking system. Try driving a track prepped car sometime. When the brakes are cold there is some serious squeal.

skinboy

Maybe they installed a banshee in the braking system at the time of your 5K service?

Seriously, my wife's A4 squeaks more often than not. My S4 doesn't as much, but who knows.

Sherblatz

I have found brake dust to be the culprit. A good cleaning and the squeek goes away for me. Having said that, I too would talk to the dealer since your Q is almost brand new.

Jimbo

Arrie

Any kind of noise is caused by mechanical vibration. It means that either the brake pad or the rotor is vibrating under the braking. As the squeaking noise normally is very high pitch it most probably means that the brake rotor is the one vibrating.

Vibration noise, as it can be very annoying, does not necessarily mean that there is something wrong with the brakes. It just is that high performance brakes easily make this noise.

Now, why is is so different between these cars and some others sold in the U.S.

One thing to remember (or to know) with German cars is that they are designed for very fast driving speeds. If you have not driven a car on a German highway, the Autobahn, in an unlimited speed section it is very difficult to understand this. Q7 can go up to 140 mph speed and the brakes in the vehicle are designed to be able to stop the car from that speed very quickly. The car is also equipped with tires that can do the same, i.e. they also wear fast.

Here in the U.S. our max driving speed is only about half of what is possible for this great vehicle in Germany (except in some very exceptional spots in a couple of states). The thing to know here is that doubling the speed means 4 times the kinetic energy, i.e. stopping the car from 130 mph takes 4 times the stopping power in brakes compared to stopping from 65 mph!

For the very high demand of stopping power that these vehicles can experience on German Autobahn the brakes are designed with very soft components, which means they wear out very fast compared to usual U.S. made car. And you can really feel this as the Q7 brakes at least in mine feel way stronger than needed. If I step on the brake it makes me feel I will be thrown out the windshield.

What this all means is that if you do mind paying up to $2000 every about 25 000 miles for a brake job you would be better of having rotors and pads replaced by our "normal U.S. brand" third party parts. You can easily make your brake life 2 or even 3 times longer by doing that.

I have owned my Q7 for 3 weeks now and I already know the brakes will not last very long (actually knew before I bought it). I traded my '04 Tahoe with 118 500 miles in it for this Q7. It still had factory original brake pads and they looked they had more than half left. Rotors looked like brand new. Q7 brakes will not come close to that but as they are not covered by the warranty the second set of brakes, rotors and pads, will as I will replace them with "Good Old American Parts".

Arrie