I'm being fussy but 4,000 miles and tatty brake calipers???

[s33nyboy12]

So my a3 has 4,000 miles on it , it's on a 13 plate and the calipers are well patchy!

They appear to be silver painted from factory and in places are down to bare steel from jet washing or cleaning. I wash my own car which is not that often as I'm busy but I wash it myself and don't let anyone else do it and I don't use any harsh chemicals or cleaners on the audi like my other cars.

I might ring audi and see if they can be painted under warranty, my m3 is ten years old and the calipers on that are in better nick!

before anyone says I don't close jet the calipers , just quickly waft over the wheels.

Is anyone else's looking tatty, or am I just being pedantic?

Sean

 

[robo1million]

Will this not be covered by paint warranty? Iirc 12 months isn't it?

 

[Dan76]

Don't suppose you could post a pic?

 

[s33nyboy12]

Will this not be covered by paint warranty? Iirc 12 months isn't it?

I hope so .........

Don't suppose you could post a pic?

yeh I will post one when it's light mate.

Sean

 

[Pulp84]

Hi

I have had this issue with my 18 month old A1 Black Edition and yes, there is an OEM fix.

After last winter my calipers discoloured and eventually started to rust. It appeared that anywhere on the caliper where water could sit, it rusted. Before this they had lost the nice silver colour. I will just note my car does not get the chance to go in the garage and is open to the elements.

We took it in this April to be repaired and initially the dealer said it was cosmetic and it did not affect their performance. Although I accept this assessment, I did not feel for a £24,000 car this should be happening. The next day my girlfriend had a call from Audi customer services asking about the experience of the dealer visit. She kicked off and complained about the poor service and being fobbed off (there were other warranty issues not addressed on the same visit). Within the hour the dealer had called very apologetic and promised to fix everything.

Week later the car went in and had the calipers stripped and painted gloss black. The technician said this was an Audi fix but not to jet wash the calipers in the future as the coating will strip. Since its been done there has been no issues and they look rather nice!

So - my advice would be to kick off and get it fixed.

Oh, as mentioned my calipers were silver when new and understand from Audi that this is an anti salt coating. However pretty rubbish if it wears off over 12 months!

 

[cuke2u]

Sorry but I think you'll find that the callipers aren't painted and it is normal for them to rust. Go look at any other car and you will see the same.

 

[s33nyboy12]

Sorry but I think you'll find that the callipers aren't painted and it is normal for them to rust. Go look at any other car and you will see the same.

when you say any other car...... I've had about 25 other cars and currently have 3 cars and a van and the audi is the only one to have tatty calipers . Even my van has Matt black ford calipers from factory and they still look Matt black not rusty on a transit! The brembos on my cupra r were faded a bit but paint didn't come off.

I think pulp is right , I will contact the dealer when I get around to it ........... Still need to post pics, but I did see my dads a8 and a6 today. The 2007 a6 they are still brilliant silver and his new a8 13 plate they are shiny silver that's got 6,000 miles on mine only has 4,000 miles on!

 

[cuke2u]

Sorry a caliper will not be painted matt black as standard with a Ford vehicle. I have had Fords since 1993 and not one of them had a painted caliper and all of them went the same way as you described. Yes as a measure of goodwill, if you complain enough the Audi dealership might just paint them to keep you off their back. Doesn't change the fact that they all go like it. If you wanted painted calipers then you should have ask them to do it in the first place.
See here for further information:
Rusty Calipers...Painting Advice
Rust on Brake Calipers
Rusty brake calipers. Will dealer replace?? - A5_OC

Other Audi owners seems to experience this so why you think your shouldn't puzzles me. It's normal, although they can be made to look worse if you use abrasive alloy wheel cleaners. Obviously if you use an abrasive cleaner then you might be removing natural oils that will protect the caliper. Also it might depend upon whether the vehicle is used often on salty roads. If you like I can take some pictures of my two year old Ford that has only done 9000 miles with calipers that are discolouring and have lost their new silver appearence...

 

[s33nyboy12]

Cuke2u, Yeh post the pics........ I didn't see it as an option when I ordered to have them painted mate otherwise I would have.

I have took one of mine just now but you can't really see it in the dark with the flash on. I don't think just mine shouldn't go discoloured, I think if I pay £26,000 for a car then no part of it should deteriorate , rust, blemish, discolour or fade within at least the first 12 months. Surely this is the reason we buy a new car and not a second hand one ?



anyway here is a picture in the dark, you can just make out the shiny steel parts then the dull parts that look either painted or high temp coated maybe. It looks worse in daylight but I think I only notice it because I wash the car I suppose if you were just walking by it wouldn't draw attention.

 

[cuke2u]

Looks normal to me, like any other caliper I've seen that's not been painted. No parts rust, you're kidding right, even your discs will rust because they are made from cast iron. Even Merc CLK's can have calipers that go the same way...

 

[s33nyboy12]

When I say rust I didn't mean consumables like discs that is different, I meant body, arches, doors, sills, roof etc.......
so no I'm not kidding, and yeh I imagine clk's do as they are pieces of **** unless it's the amg variation.

 

[Pulp84]

Cuke2u, Yeh post the pics........ I didn't see it as an option when I ordered to have them painted mate otherwise I would have.

I have took one of mine just now but you can't really see it in the dark with the flash on. I don't think just mine shouldn't go discoloured, I think if I pay £26,000 for a car then no part of it should deteriorate , rust, blemish, discolour or fade within at least the first 12 months. Surely this is the reason we buy a new car and not a second hand one ?



anyway here is a picture in the dark, you can just make out the shiny steel parts then the dull parts that look either painted or high temp coated maybe. It looks worse in daylight but I think I only notice it because I wash the car I suppose if you were just walking by it wouldn't draw attention.

Yep - mine started off like this. I'm an ex valeter so very careful with what I put on my wheels etc so was confident that cleaning was not the root cause. In the end I think I found out what the issue was.....where I live we have many muddy lanes and basically with the salt and the cows muck / farmers crud I think this was just eating the caliper finish. My girlfriend changed jobs earlier this year and instead of driving down country lanes, she started to do very short distances down main roads. With in a few weeks the corrosion seemed to stop and then it was only surface rust. It was a very noticable halt to their deterioration with this change. They still looked awful though hence the request for the repair.

Also the OEM fix does exist, seen the job paperwork confirming and when enquired what colour they had been painted, helpfully the technician went off and brought back the spray can which was marked up in German with all the usual Audi / VAG packaging. It wasn't stuff from Halfords! Shame you have to kick off but if you are worried about this then it's worth pressing on to get this done.

Oh and it is quite interesting how many nearly new cars suffer from this issue on dealership forecourts at Audi. BMWs used to suffer from this problem a few years ago but they seem to have fixed the issue now!

 

[TFSI]

Get some paint on em.....Two hours of your time and about £15. Mine was done when it was two weeks old.

 

[YSN]

If it's not painted could you not go over it with some metal polish like Autosol? I'm sure it would also give a bit of protection?

 

[s33nyboy12]

Get some paint on em.....Two hours of your time and about £15. Mine was done when it was two weeks old.

View attachment 23854

That looks smart mate, did you whip the calipers off or just mask up?

i know it's an easy job , to be fair Ive done loads of my early cars when I was 17 it was my first mod that and painting the wheels black lol. Those were the days!

If it's not painted could you not go over it with some metal polish like Autosol? I'm sure it would also give a bit of protection?

That is another option mate and not one I'd thought of........ I'm just wondering if I paint them myself before moaning to Audi , they will try and throw the warranty card in my face should something go wrong in future to do with the brakes etc...... Ill ring audi when I get chance and thanks pulp84 for confirming mate.

Sean

 

[TFSI]

That looks smart mate, did you whip the calipers off or just mask up?

i know it's an easy job , to be fair Ive done loads of my early cars when I was 17 it was my first mod that and painting the wheels black lol. Those were the days!

Just took the wheels off to paint and then when dry stuck the decals on without removing the wheels then finally a quick lick of laquer over the decals. Total time approx. 2 hours.

 

[cuke2u]

Just for reference this is a picture of one of my rear caliper's from my sept 2011 Ford Focus that has only done just over 9000 miles. Never used any wheel cleaner, only shampoo/wax and hosed not pressure washed. Never been through a car wash either.

 

[steeve]

First of all dont try metal polish on the calipers, they are plated and the metal polish will speed the plating removal. Second Audi are unlikely to make the calipers and will buy them from the same company most others buy from. If you use wheel cleaner then this will also attack the plating, whether its alkali or acidic.

Ideal is to either buy a proper caliper paint kit from places like Halfords or use Hammerite smmothrite. Black looks nice with the addition of a nice decal, S Line, Audi rings etc etc, available off Ebay, just search for Audi caliper decals, or Audi brake decals. No need to remove the calipers, just use a small selection of brushes of differing sizes.

While your doing your calipers you can also paint the hubs, what a mess they look when rusty?

 

[Mark996]

While your doing your calipers you can also paint the hubs, what a mess they look when rusty?

Glad you bring that up as I've just today noticed that the rear hubs on the missis' S-Line are already showing signs of a fair amount of rust?! Looking on another forum, I notice that this is a common problem with S3/RS3's, but clearly with these too.....

Oh, and some have said on there that Audi's 'fix' for that issue didn't solve it at all - they've taken to buying POR15 from eBay and doing it themselves....

 

[cuke2u]

The hubs are made of cast iron, thus the 'protective' coating will always form and I don't think any particular model of Audi is more at risk than any other. Again you will see this happen on the majority or manufacturers cars.