c-dub

I picked up a pre-owned 2019 TT RS with 15.5k miles on it recently, and today at 16k I received a brake pad has reached limit warning. Is that normal? Any other issues other than the brake pad itself possible?

when I bought the car, the dealer provided sheet says the fronts were at 5mm and rears at 6mm. Don’t think they wear down that fast? I typically don’t break that hard.

Thanks

mark_b_good

I melted 6mm of pads after just 6 hot laps at a track ... and I think I had around 15k on the car ... so depending on how hard it's been used ... it's possible.

c-dub

My local shop said that I need to replace the front rotors with the front brake pads. Is that reasonable for the TTRS? Do you do replace them yourself?

Vegas-roadster

The light comes on at about 3mm so either the tech made an error in measurements (maybe he included the width of the metal backing which is a few mm) or something is wrong. This assumes you have never experienced premature brake wear before due to your driving style. You should not go through 2 mm of wear in 500 miles of normal street use. This also assumes you do not have ceramic brakes. There have been some horror stories posted of TTRS with ceramic pads being worn to the bare metal in one track day.
My experience with several base TTs is that the rotors are still within spec when the first set of pads need replacing. For the way and where I drive that is about 70K miles. Audi does not recommend turning rotors and folks are split 50-50 on whether you should put new pads on old rotors because all rotors have some wear/scoring. Most service techs will insist on new rotors to cover their ***. Personally, I have never had a brake problem putting new pads on old rotors.
Yes you can replace pads and rotors yourself. There are many good rotor manufacturers. Personally, I like EBC rotors with their Red Stuff pads.

kevin#34

made 35.000 km of road driving + 5 track sessions (but with cooling laps after each 2 hot laps stint) on OEM pads&disc and pad wear warning light just came out recently.... then bought a set of Girodisc to replace the OEM discs, and apart some normal wear, they were still good (not warped/thickness still above the recommended limit)

renderle

I just had my brakes done (70K on my car when I bought it) 2018 TTS, and it had had at least one brake job before mine where they used the wrong rotors. Unless you know what you are doing, it is easy to screw up a brake job, and with any car, particularly a high-performance car, you need the brakes to work right. For instance, a badly done brake job when I was younger caused my car to swerve into oncoming traffic, resulting in a head-on collision. I totalled the car even though I was only going around 15-20 miles per hour (40 mph combined speed), which cost me the car and my insurance carrier. The car I totaled was a '68 E-type roadster, so it was an expensive lesson.

c-dub

thanks for your valuable input. did you get both the rotors and brake pads done together at a shop or you DIYed?

renderle

All four brake rotors and pads were replaced, and even though I have both a lift and a full tool set, I had them done (I've done brake jobs before but I'm pushing 70 now and just don't want to risk I'll screw something up). There is a German car shop near me; the dealer would have been more expensive, so I had them do the job. I have been very pleased with their work.

mark_b_good

Normally when the pads are gone, so are the rotors. But after 16k, it would be worthwhile to check if the rotors are still salvagable.
I didn't replace them myself, I went through a shop, got myself girodisc rotors and girodisc street and strip pads ... much better than OEM, and less costly.