Brake Fluid 2014 A3

[tomlinp76]

Hi,

Although I’m prepared to keep my car serviced at Audi due to the nature of the PCP contract, I’m not paying near on £100 for a simple brake fluid change. (Car is being part ex’d in the summer so VAG finance won’t see it!)

I’m buying the genuine stuff myself then bung the local garage £20 to do it, and keep the receipt.

Question is I’ve looked on eBay, plenty of genuine vag brake fluid out there, but is there a specific type (like oil) or will any ‘Dot 4’ as it’s described be sufficient?

Thanks for any help!
Paul



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[ahtcap]

Hi,

Although I’m prepared to keep my car serviced at Audi due to the nature of the PCP contract, I’m not paying near on £100 for a simple brake fluid change. (Car is being part ex’d in the summer so VAG finance won’t see it!)

I’m buying the genuine stuff myself then bung the local garage £20 to do it, and keep the receipt.

Question is I’ve looked on eBay, plenty of genuine vag brake fluid out there, but is there a specific type (like oil) or will any ‘Dot 4’ as it’s described be sufficient?

Thanks for any help!
Paul



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Any answers?

 

[rum4mo]

The current VW Group brake fluid, while listed as DOT4 as that is the official spec that it conforms with is actually DOT4+ which equates to "ESP" or "PRO" included in its title.

I'm mentioning this as at least the last time that I was looking around for alternatives to the VW Group offering, most places were selling both "non ESP/PRO" and "ESP/PRO" obviously the non versions were cheaper and still conforming to DOT4.

For what it is worth, for a full brake fluid change, I've always just ended up buying VW Group brake fluid either locally or from online sellers if the price to the door step was cheaper for the online sellers.

Edit:- I've just remembered that I suddenly came up against "I've been at this dealership since it opened 10 years ago and we have never stocked VW Group brake fluid in one litre containers - it has always delivered to the workshop in bulk!" - I think that after that, first place was a Skoda dealership and a VW Van Centre, I just ordered it in via ebay you can normally see the manufacture date printed on the tin and anyone selling it at a good price on ebay will be moving stocks quickly - normally they are VW Group dealership Parts departments. IE some VW Group dealerships will stock it and some will not now stock it it seems!

 

[RAF_S7]

You don’t need to use VAG fluid.

Anything DOT 4 (or above) will be fine

 

[rum4mo]

You don’t need to use VAG fluid.

Anything DOT 4 (or above) will be fine

Correct if they are actually DOT4 +, DOT4 Plus, DOT4 ESP and maybe some other bits added to DOT4 as the stuff that VW Group use is labelled up as DOT4 but is also DOT4 +, and I've found that I can get hold of VW Group DOT 4 at a good price. ECP used to sell, for a short period, TRW branded suitable brake fluid - but they no longer sell that.
While basic DOT4 can be found on sale very cheaply, the minute you start looking for DOT4+ etc, the price rises above VW Group's price for what is DOT4+.

Edit:- as the question was asked, I just gave my version of the full answer, but I did leave out that nothing or not much should happen if you just throw in any DOT4 brake fluid, though why not aim to use same or better, if it exists, to that spec of brake fluid VW Group use at factory.

 

[China Dave]

Hi,

Although I’m prepared to keep my car serviced at Audi due to the nature of the PCP contract, I’m not paying near on £100 for a simple brake fluid change. (Car is being part ex’d in the summer so VAG finance won’t see it!)

I’m buying the genuine stuff myself then bung the local garage £20 to do it, and keep the receipt.

Question is I’ve looked on eBay, plenty of genuine vag brake fluid out there, but is there a specific type (like oil) or will any ‘Dot 4’ as it’s described be sufficient?

Thanks for any help!
Paul



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The reason that it's recommended that brake fluid is changed is due to the fact it's Hydroscorbic , in laymen's terms this means it absorbs water.
When the footbrake is pressed friction of the pads rubbing on the disc and drums generates heat this heat is transferred to All the brake components including the brake Fluid. Since the fluid absorbs water, the water can boil within the fluid this causes pockets of hot gases within the brake fluid.
Since gases can compress, this leads to a "spongy brake pedal" feeling when the footbrake is pressed and under harsh braking situations can lead to brake failure.
In a Simple answer to your question, I would always recommend using the fluids on the manufacturer's "Spec List".
Hope this helps,