I got my 99.5 Golf (AUTO) last August with 34,000 miles on it. Yesterday I just broke the 60,000 barrier. When I got the car, the original owner told me that the brakes were still the original brakes. About 2000-3000 miles ago I had to get new rear brakes. The front ones are now just starting to squeak and are spitting brake dust all over my alloy wheels, so I think those will have to be replaced soon.
I am interested in seeing how the new brakes hold up. They are just your average brake pads on the rear now (not VW OEM brakes). I will be putting the same on the front, unless I actually order the Minitex Red Box (or whatever) pads before I need to replace the front pads.
-Pete
I've read the odd post here that people have been getting poor life out
> of their Golf/Jetta/Beetle brakes, usually 40,000 to 60,000 km before
> pads and rotors need replacing so I thought it worth posting my recent
> experience with brakes.
>
> Recently I've been getting the odd squeal from the brakes on my 2002
> Golf TDI that sounded like a warning tab so I took it in to the dealer.
> It turns out that it was just dirt and a few small rocks. (I live in a
> new development with lots of construction and lots of lumps of sticky
> clay on the road.) I have still 60% on the front and 40% on the rear
> left. No brake work was necessary.
>
> Currently, I have about 119,000 km on the car and on these brakes. I do
> a lot of long distance driving but do I get stuck in stop-and-go traffic
> at least three or four days a week. (I drive in the Toronto area and
> serve offices in southwestern and northern Ontario.)
>
> Perhaps VW has dealt with this issue or perhaps the short life brake
> issues are related to auto tranny cars (mine is a 5 spd).
>
>
>
> Peter
>
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