About a week ago I changed the rear brake pads on my wife's A3. After spending a few hours on various Audi forums, I figured I'd give it a go.

I bought the tool from Harbor Freight and followed the following steps.

E-brake off, lifted rear of car, removed wheels, changed left, then right pads by pushing back piston using screw-tool. New pads, reassemble. Drop car, check fluid, start car, pump brakes several times, test drive and try handbrake multiple times.

The one thing I did not do, which I have now read is removing the reservoir cap while pushing back the pistons.

For pads, I cheaped out and purchased some at my local Napa auto parts store. Visually they were almost identical but did have little clips that held on the backing plate - these came over the top next to the removable portion of the caliper.

I drove the car the next day: 15 miles or so and she drove it a few times over the next several days for oh, another 100 miles.

We decided to leave town for the weekend, loaded up the bags and within 5 miles, the rear brakes were smoking. Both left and rear had been dragging, with the left more severe of the two.

Since we'd drove the car repeatedly I have no idea why it take so long for the problem to arise.

I then purchased dealer pads and ordered new rotors - just in case.

The car is an 06 A3, 2.0T
80k miles and this is the first time the pads have been changed. I changed the fronts about a month ago without issue.

I've now read the odd post that you should use the VAG tool to reset the caliper, but I assume they mean the ABS.

Any thoughts on the cause and what I should now try doing to prevent recurrence?

Thanks in advance.