Is it reasonable to think that I could wait the ~1200 miles until my next scheduled maintenance to get the front brakes done, or does that warning come up right before you're completely out of brake pad?

 

i would just visually inspect your pads. If they dont have to much wear and arent grinding then i would say u would be fine. ONce u hear grinding i would swap as u dont want to damage your rotor.

 

There's no grinding thusfar, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was told I needed rotors anyway; they're original to the car, and at 88700+ miles in Minne-snow-ta, they have acquired significant rust and other wear. (Had to do my rears a while back, and needed new rotors there at the time.) I guess I'll just keep an eye on the pads for the next little while and plan on the 90K service being when I do the brakes unless something funky happens.

 

Yeah, I would replace the rotors when you do the pads. The rotors on my wife's 2003 Avant with 79K miles look like rust city on the edges, too. Gotta love what all the salt & snow does to our cars!

 

Yes, You'll make the next service. the pad warning comes on at 3mm..... generally 3-5k miles depending how you drive

 

Thanks for the info Audi Tek - it's comforting to know that I can reasonably expect the brakes to go a little bit farther than I actually need them to. Now for another (related) question: the brake wear indicator has not come on the last few times I've driven the car now. Is there any good explanation for why it would light up one day and then the next seem to be fine again?