Warning symbol ? (O) ?

[roydonaldson]

Hi there,

I've got a warning symbol just come up on my DIS. It looks like (O)
I've looked in the manual and can't see it, all I can see that is similar is one that
looks like that, but has a '!' in the middle, mine doesn't.

Any ideas ?

Thanks,
Roy.

 

[mitch78]

:thumbsup:

 

[MikeA3]

Yup - it's the brakes

 

[Dave_Bayern]

As said above its brakes.

To check if its pads, or discs, or both, go out and have a look, the fronts are the only ones with Wear indicators, so its telling you about the front brakes, but you need to check the rear too.

Have a look at the pads, they should be approx 2mm-3mm thin at most as per Audi guidelines (better to be safe than sorry), any thinner than this and you need to change them.

The discs need to have no, or a very insignificant lip, the easiest way to check this is to run your finger up the disc from the hub to the outer edge and see if your nail gets stuck on the lip. even a 1mm lip on each disc is too much and is immediate replacement per Audi specs.

Refer to previous threads on brakes, but if you are replacing discs/pads, make a careful choice about which ones you use, and for the price, don't buy from a main dealer, if you want genuine, go to Euro or GSF, or if you want better braking, go Black Diamond or similar with decent pads.


Its easy to do yourself too, and as long as you dont trap any air in the system, you wont need a garage at all, it should take approx 20 minutes per wheel to replace brakes. I aim to do a proper guide next time I do someone elses brakes.

 

[roydonaldson]

Ok, just got prices from Audi dealer:

Front Pad+discs: £179

Rear Pad+discs: £150.

What you think ?

Roy.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

This is rough pricing as I don't know what car you have but:

Dealer:
Audi Genuine front discs, Textar pads, Gen rear discs plus textar pads, total price £329, is this price including the VAT?

312mm front discs £96.35 inc VAT (Brembo or Zimmermann)
256mm rear discs £35.25 inc VAT (Brembo MAX)
Mintex Extreme front pads £58.75 inc VAT
Mintex Extreme rear pads £25. inc VAT
From GSF, total price: £215.25

Those were better than standard, but not as good as:

Black Diamond 312mm grooved fronts:£180 inc VAT
Black Diamond 256mm grooved rears: £129 inc VAT
Black Diamond front pads: £52.80 inc VAT
Black Diamond rear pads: £19.40 inc VAT
From Venom Motorsport, total price £381

These are based on your having a Quattro or an S3, prices drop considerably if you have a FWD A3.

So basically, if you just want standard replacement items, although they are slightly better than standard (fast road pads and decent disks) then you can save £114 by not buying from a dealer (assuming the dealers prices are inc VAT).

If you want to upgrade, then it will only cost you £52 more than the standard rubbish from a dealer.

Also, if you have a FWD A3, things change dramatically, and both upgraded systems will be cheaper than a dealer.

 

[mk1chopper]

Its worth asking for discount,

I got my front pads, front disc's,rear pads and fluid for £200 from audi, i asked if there would be a discount and the bloke did it at trade price for me.

 

[roydonaldson]

Thanks.

The price of £329 for front+rear Pads+discs, was for my S3, inc. VAT and labour.
So, that's fully fitted and not parts only.

How's that sound ?

Roy.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Inc Labour, thats a decent price then.

Bear in mind your reasonable priced discs and pads will only perform as well as a reasonable priced item, don't expect them to be good or anything. I have a hatred of the standard Textar pads, I set a pair on fire the other week braking as they are so incredibly bad.

Ask for a discount too, its unusual if they cant at least give you 10%. I get VAT off at my local dealer as I'm a member of VW CGTI.

 

[roydonaldson]

Discount. You'll love this then, the price I got is the one after discount as the car is greater than 3 years old.

The standard prices (for a laugh) would be: £655 ! This is Glasgow Audi.

Roy.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Have you asked local independants? Brakes and pads aren't something you would normally expect to be carried out by a main dealer.


Given that standard GSF prices for stuff thats better than genuine is only £215, the trade price on that must be considerably better, and its maybe 1.5 hours labour, an independant might be your best bet.

 

[roydonaldson]

So, it does look like I'm getting a reasonable price for the standard fit with labour and VAT from the Audi dealer here then.

I'm probably going to just go with them for 2 reasons:

* They will come collect my car from my work and deliver it back to me, no hassle, don't need to find independant and work out how to get there/back etc. while at work that day.

* Car is completely standard, full Audi service history from new, no modifications, low mileage. So, basically a nice all round clean car and easy to sell for me later on. It's currently running at just under 10k miles per year and has 56k on it just now. Will get cam belt etc. done shortly and it'll be a easy car to look after.

Roy.

 

[Dave_Bayern]

Yeah, given the circumstances, the price is fine then. I did think it was very cheap for a dealer as they normally charge £110 plus VAT per hour and would price that up as a 2 hour job.

 

[jojo]

I managed to source a complete set of brand new front and rear disks + Ferodo pads for my mates A3 TDI 130 for something like £125? and charged him £25 to fit them, try your local mortor factors...

 

[Shades]

Have you asked local independants? Brakes and pads aren't something you would normally expect to be carried out by a main dealer.

Upon what is that based? Discs and pads are the bread and butter (along with services upon which all discs and pads are usually inspected by the tech and recommendations made whether they need replacing immediately or in roughly x miles). If a vehicle is in for any length of time (greater than having a wiper blade or bulb replaced for example) most dealers will check peripheral items, its a way of generating extra revenue. Even so, no stealer is going to turn down anything!! "Yes sir, we do windscreen wipers, we do bulbs but discs and pads? Oh no sir, we certainly aren't expected to do them!"

You must know some really bad stealers!

 

[Dave_Bayern]

I meant from a buyers point of view.

I wouldnt have any issues buying a car where the servicing was carried out by the dealer, but brakes and pads had been done by an independant, they are a consumable item, the same as tyres, and I wouldn't expect tyres to be bought and fitted by a dealer either, even though they do offer the service.