Is the front rotor supposed to be loose?
 

Got a strange problem with the brakes. When the car is coming to a full stop, for the last 2 or 3 miles until it completely stops it makes a weird noise (my daughter says it's farting) and you can feel a vibration in the pedal.

I took off the front tire and was surprised to find the rotor flapping around. I can see the lug nuts go through and will hold the tire and the rotor but this seems a little weird. Is it normal for the rotor to just flop like that?

Any help on the brake anomaly would also be appreciated.

TIA,
Steve

it floats, but you should have a screw in there stopping it from moving...
 

either way, it's not going to move while driving, the lugs hold it in place.

It flops around like a dead fish
 

My daughter didn't manage to see this big curb and hit the tire and rim on the side a while ago. (Slightly marred the rim and took a small chunk out of a Michelin PS2 with less than 200 miles on it.)

Since then the car is noisy once I reach around 40 miles an hour with a weird whining sound. The brake thing just started yesterday in the rain. It would do it 7 times out of 10.

sounds like something got bent in the impact

You really need to stop living up(down) to your Forum name and get things checked out.
 

Don't mean to call you an idiot but if this curb incident happened "a while ago" and there has been this weird sound after 40mph since then, there's a chance I may risk my own life driving it but there's no way in the world I'd trust my daughter's life to it. If something did that kind of damage to the wheel and tire plus started a recurring symptom then obviously something is wrong and needs to be checked. A pothole, another curb, a speedbump or just normal driving could finish the job the original curb started.

At the very least it sounds like the screw holding the rotor in broke. That's no big deal, I run without the screw on my aftermarket brakes anyways. Like has been said, as long as the wheel is bolted down to the correct specs and everything mates up flush the wheel holds the rotor in place.

Maybe the impact took out the bearing on that side. It's something I would take it to a pro for if I couldn't find the obvious culprit though.

If it takes "2 or 3 miles until it completely stops," you've got big problems.

and in addition to all that's been mentioned you likely have a serious alignment problem >
 

but that's the least of your worries. And there's no such thing as a small chunk that did the kind of damage you're talking about: there's internal damage to the tire - bet on it - just not your daughter's life.

Thanks for the concern but
 

the car has been back to my private mechanic since the front wheel was hit to have the clutch replaced (had 100K on the car and it was slipping). The private mechanic works exclusively on Audi's and VW's and his fiancee has a TT roadster herself. He didn't find anything wrong with the front end. I wouldn't put my daughter's safety in jeapordy.

The noise was not evident for quite a while after the incident. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, it's probably been about 3 months she she had her curb incident. I've driven the car several times since then, once on an extended trip by myself. The noise just started a few weeks ago and I was just informed about it. She doesn't drive that often over 45 mph. (she's since been told to let me know these things right away). When she took the car out Sunday was when she noticed the brake stuff. She was only a 1/10th of a mile up the road and brought it right back. I took it out for a spin and had the same issue. It has since sat in the driveway and she took her mother's car.

As for the original noise, I can't tell exactly where it's coming from. I'm wondering if something loosened up from the clutch replacement. I will check take your suggestion and check the wheel bearings as well. I probably at some point need to do some suspension work on the car. It has a VW sticker on the front strut so I'm assuming it's probably all original.

Bottom line, I bought this car because it was a safe car and had excellent crash test ratings and side air bags. I'm an idiot from the way I bought the car, not with her safety.

Good to hear you've taken those steps
 

I remember you're original story. I should have known you wouldn't risk things. Now see if that mechanic can figure it out.

You were right, wheel bearing appears to be screwed.
 

Was thinking about trying to change it myself but after doing a search on the forums and reading the recommendations, I will be taking it to the mechanic. Don't have the tools and buying them would chew up any savings. If I was going to use the tools for other projects, then I would certainly get them.