What's the average cost for a brake job on an A6 ?

A dealer quoted me a price of $850.

Do brakes deteriorate much with age or only with use?

On average how often does a car need a brake job?

 

Usage (aka 'driving style') will determine how much life you will get out of your pads and rotors, not so much as time. Audi dealerships will always change pads and rotors together, never one or the other when servicing the brakes. I wouldn't say time is the main determining factor as to when brake pads and rotors should be replaced.

I believe I have about 15,000 miles on my current set of OEM pads and rotors and still have plenty of pad depth left last time I pulled a front wheel off. I do some spirited driving here and there, but nothing too crazy as it's my daily driver and I want to take care of my 2.7T.

So it's hard to say what an average brake service interval is given it's so heavily dependent upon driving style. If I had to give you a ball park figure, I would say anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 for your average joe.

Oh, and $850 seems about right for a dealer to perform a brake job.

 

I changed out my 4 rotors and all the pads with quality non-oem parts. The slotted rotors were from ebay and the pads were from Autozone.

Total cost for parts was about $350.00 including lube and brake fluid. The fronts on my 2000 were a bit difficult because the caliper mounting bolts were difficult to remove due to corrosion. Some anti-seize at the factory would have been welcome. OEM parts and dealer labor is way too high.

 

I paid about $800 for new rotors and brakes 3 years ago, and $80 to have the rotors machined 2 months ago.