Honestly, this is not a problem common to any Touareg generation. Seek another opinion. Good luck.

 

Really not supposed to be resurfacing those rotors at all. Not a lot of material there to begin with. Did they actually replace the rotors when they replaced the pads? If not that is probably your problem and you needed new rotors too.

 

x2. This is not a common problem.

There is only 1mm of wear on each side of the rotor. Skimming them is most unusual, especially for any VW dealer and, as above, if they did not renew the pads they made a fundamental error even if the pads had only done 2,000 miles.

My brakes do 70,000 miles or more. One or two have reported low mileages but I think most would get 60K plus.

It is very unusual for brake rotors to actually warp.

I'd be looking to see if the caliper pistons are all working correctly and looking also at the wear on the pads themselves.

Re-reading your post, I note you had one tire replaced. Is it the same model, size, tread pattern, etcetera as the other 3?

And is the tread depth the same as the other three?

If not . . .

 

My brakes do 70,000 miles or more. One or two have reported low mileages but I think most would get 60K plus.

You must do a lot of highway miles. I don't know of any Touareg owners in the NY City area that get more than around 30,000 on a set of brakes. A lot of stop-and-go traffic.

 

Easy to late brake and go deep into the pedal with a Touareg, which can expedite a case of warped rotors (hand in the air).

If they didn't replace them as Yeti says, they're probably done. And as Nooby and Yeti said, this isn't your dads Ford station wagon (if they ever came with disc brakes :-k) ) resurfacing them isn't the best idea.

 

My sets of Pagid pads (VW pads are made by Pagid) on Zimmermann rotors (TUV-certified German rotors, aftermarket) after the factory set have always been quiet, strong, and vibration free like the day this 2007 V6 was driven off the lot.

European brake pads are more abrasive because they have so much stopping power. Every time you apply brakes the pads effectively resurface the rotors a tiny bit. Maybe debris lodged between the hub and the rotor when the technician tightened the bolts. Or maybe they did something to the caliper and now the pads are not sliding freely and now rubbing the rotor. Maybe the caliper was mounted crooked, new bolts were not used, and the bolts were not tightened down to specifications.

Dealer should install VW rotors and pads, and these are very good Brembo parts. Therefore I believe it was an installation problem.

I would ask them to check caliper operation (pad dowels and piston movement), proper caliper mounting with new bolts torqued to factory specifications (I did!), cleanliness of the hub and rotor mounting surfaces, and inspect rotor for heat related signs (metal turning blue).

I suppose you can ask for new set of already very good parts, but they should find the underlying cause or you will end up with the same thing again. Is there measurable uneven wear on the pads?

VW/Brembo pads are made by Pagid:

 

Thanks for your ideas

Thanks to all for your ideas. I've got some things to talk to the dealer about. I'm going to ask them to check calipers etc. to find underlying cause, and ask for new rotors and pads rather than resurfacing them again.

And to answer some of your questions:

1. Yes, pads and rotors were changed at 70,000 miles. Pad wear sensors were also replaced.

2. The tire that was replaced was the same as the others (Goodyear Assurance CS). Tires were relatively new, only 7,000 miles on them. Tire was replaced under warranty.

I'll let you all know what I find. Sounds like I've got a problem that is unique to my car and / or the dealership's work.

 

Do come back and let us know how you get on and what the fix is.

Lots ask for advice and then disappear!

 

A cause for vibration can be the disc not seated properly on the hub (a bit of dirt or rust or just poorly installed). This causes uneven braking and probable hot spots on the disc and will also mean the wheel is slightly out, leading to dynamic balance issues and uneven tyre wear. Get someone to take the wheels off and put a dial gauge on the discs after making sure they are securely fixed to the hub with more than just the locating screw. By memory the maximum runout is less than 0.09mm but I'd check that in the manual. John

 

I have a 2007 V6 that just hit 120,000 miles, so I'm a bit ahead of you. Recently I noticed some steering wheel vibration when braking, but I suspect it's either the front brakes needing to be done, or possibly some worn front suspension components. A trip to the mechanic over the next few weeks will tell me which it is.

Minor issues aside (including the center carrier bearing replacement), my vehicle has been pretty much flawless since day one.

 

Indeed, I remember now that I was going to add a line saying city based drivers might get fewer miles!

 

Yes. On the front. I think there is 2mm each side on the rear discs/rotors.

 

Cheers, that'll be the next job for me then!

 

PAGID pads and Zimmermann discs [they don't rust on the hubs] is a common suggestion on here and the latter are available in the UK.

There are others of course . . . !

Brake wear sensors off flea-bay.

Lots of DIYs with pics on here and on mytreg if you need them.

 

Cheers!

I'm off to the usa for a few weeks with work so I'll do that when I get back in December.

 

I also have the steering wheel vibration while braking at 90,000 miles. Drives perfect when not braking. Brake pads have 50% pad left and rotors were checked and are still flat within 3 thousands of an inch. Had center bearing last replaced at 44,000 miles my money's on the root cause being that its time to replace the center bearing again. Thoughts?

RAS
2006 Touareg V8 w Air Suspension

 

Unlikely in my view.

I'd focus on suspension bushes, steering and brakes.

 

Here is an update after day 1. Dealer reports that they have replaced front brakes and re-surfaced rear brakes and there is still a vibration (although it is less). They are keeping the car overnight to troubleshoot again tomorrow. All of this work is being done under the parts warranty, and they gave me a nice loaner car so the inconvenience to me is minor at this point. I'm just curious as to what the ultimate cause is. I'll touch base again tomorrow once I know more. Thanks again for your ideas.

And by the way, I do mostly city driving and almost weekly I haul around "stuff" that fills the Touareg to capacity. Sometimes I tow trailers too. So I would classify my driving as more severe duty than highway commuting, perhaps leading to me only getting 35,000 out of the brakes. It has been suggested by the mechanic at the dealership that I am driving too hard leading to my vibration issues. However, I drove the vehicle the same way for my first 35,000 miles of ownership with no brake problems whatsoever.

 

As others have said, Your dealer should NOT be re-surfacing the rotors at all.

Why are they re-surfacing the rears when they did that once already to the fronts to no avail and trying it again on the rear rotors. Insanity.

 

Did they put new pads on the rears after "resurfacing"? If not, why not?

 

Nooby, your slightly off with your info. The R5 (2.5l TDI) is the only one with a 4mm wear limit on the discs and that is front and rear.
All the others have a 2mm wear limit front and rear.
For the initial OP, if they skim only .25mm from each side, they just reduced the available disc usage by 25% and if they did it twice you just lost half the disc usage. This is with only .25mm a side , basically the thickness of a postcard!
Skimming a Touareg disc except to remove ONLY the lip at the edge is just crazy. John

 

Thanks for the correction.

 

Had the same vibration under braking after a poor brake job was done and it turned out to be seized front calipers, which destroyed the rotors. Replaced the front calipers, new rotors and pads and everything is fine again.
Very hard to fine a good mechanic this days. I am trying to get up to speed on doing all my own work, then I have no one to blame except for myself.

 

Resolution, for now

Today I got the car back from the dealer. The diagnosis was "hot spots" on rotors causing warping and vibration. No word on what caused the hot spots. Possible explanations they gave me were excessive panic braking (which I did not do), overheating brakes driving down hills (I live where it is flat) or possibly a problem with a caliper. They did not mention poor installation of the original brakes as some have on this forum, so I guess that could have been a cause too.

To resolve the problem they disassembled and checked all calipers. Did not mention if they found any problems, but in any event all are working to spec now. Then they replaced all four brake rotors. Note that the resurfacing of the rear rotors did not work, and was probably a bad idea to begin with. The dealer did not replace the pads, instead opting to do something to refurbish them since they were nearly new. I'm not happy about that, but they are honoring a parts warranty so I guess it is up to them. I'm worried that the problem will re-occur, but hoping that it does not. If I have any trouble with the brakes within the next 30,000 miles I'm going to be on the phone to VW of America unless the dealer stands behind the work, which I think they will.

The results are dramatic. The vibration was worse than I thought, and was apparently even noticeable during driving at all speeds rather than just braking. I say that because the Touareg now drives and stops as smooth as silk, just like I remember it doing. One of many reasons I love this car.

 

Finger crossed you're sorted.

 

Ha! Indeed!!