Hi everyone,

We live in Calgary, Alberta and we just bought a 2009 Q7 3.6 S-Line in August. This is our 3rd Audi as we had a 2008 A6 3.2 S-Line and we traded it earlier this year for a 2009 Audi A5 which my wife drives now. I have a question and want to inquire if any of you have encountered this....

After the first month of owning the car, the brakes on the Q7 are starting to make considerable noise. It happens after driving for 5 - 10 minutes with moderate brake use. When coming to a stop, the front brakes squeal horribly. If I apply hard pressure on the pedal and perform more of a "panic stop", there is no noise. It only happens when applying the brakes lightly, just as you would during normal driving.

I spoke to the dealer and they said that they create a lot of dust and the noise is normal. They recommend a couple of hard braking stops to clean the brakes. So, I tried that but the noise came back 5 minutes later.

Have any of you encountered this? The dealer tells me it is normal but I find that hard to believe since I've owned Audi's and VW's before and none of my vehicles have done this. I even spoke to a guy that has a Porsche Cayenne 3.6 (same brakes?) and he's had no problems at all. Would replacing the pads with a "non-stock" set remedy this? What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

Randy

 

does the noise only happen when you brake.could also be a wheel bearing gone,also have you checked the pads on both sides.

 

It only happens when braking and the dealer has ruled out the wheel bearings already. The Audi dealer has also taken the pads off already and cleaned them in mid October and the noise came back a couple of days later. Therefore I am thinking it's the pads but I don't want to pay any $$ to replace them since we've only had the vehicle for 3 months and has less than 5000 km's on it. Audi should step up to the plate here and cover it under the warranty because a vehicle that costs almost $80k CDN should not have brakes that squeal like some 1980's K-Car!!

 

My A3 has the same problem...

 

Yep, they ended up replacing the pads under warranty last month and they have been perfect ever since.

 

New VWs and Audis are notorious for brake squeal. They use a semi-metallic compound in the pads nowadays because they no longer use Asbestos. Less technicians getting cancer, but more squeaky brakes. The rotors become oxidized and that oxidation combines with the pads and that is where you get the squeal. They will replace the pads up to 6k miles on the car under warranty. When they replaced your pads, they also lubricated components that were not lubricated at the factory which can help eliminate some of the squeal. To forewarn you, city driving, these brakes last about 15k miles. Rural living they get about 20 to 25k. At that point it won't be under warranty. The rotors are hearty and can be reused about 70% of the time.

Edit: Going by US standards.

 

At the end of my rope, I replaced my A3's front brake pads with a pair of Hawk HPS Brake Pads in February.
The brakes have not squealed since. Best $150 I ever spent!

 

Have to remember, Audi (and all other car manufacturers) try to come up with a pad compound that will work in all conditions, hot/cold, dry/wet, give sufficient braking without being grabby, etc..... Also, many different types of people will be driving the vehicles. Sometimes they have to compromise and find a happy medium between pad life, dust, cost and noise.

 

I have 08 q7 brakes been squeaking since day one and dealership said it's a normal noise -so i let it be and now 1 yr later they said my brakes are shot and it's going to be approx 2k to change the brakes the vehicle is a lease and i have about 6 months left anyone have any ideas what I should do

 

I feel your pain and that, depending on location, driving habits, city vs hwy, etc.. the pads wear out in as little as 25,000 miles. We have customers who do primarly freeway miles with 80,000 on the original brakes. $2,000 is about the going price for new pads/rotors, service the caliper slides/pins depending on which brakes you have (there's a couple differnt options for the Q7). In a lot of cases, the rotors are thick enough to machine once which cuts the price down a lot. The biggest cost for the Q7 are the rotors. Pads aren't too outragous. I always measure the thickness first and then we give the customer the option of machine or replace. Some still replace rotors anyways.

Hopefully, the tech that looked at the brakes did measure. If not, be sure and have them check first before automatically replacing them. If they will be below min thickness after machining, then you have no choice.

We (Audi tech's) have battled the noisy Q7 brakes but have to abide by the Audi warranty policy, so there's only certain things we are allowed to do.