Advice on new parts for my 2008 A5

[jtaylor]

Hi Everyone, 

I recently purchased a 2008 A5 TDI Sport and had it serviced. Everything is good for now but the garage said that around about winter time I should look into replacing the brake disks and pads and the front shock absorbers. 

I got a pretty hefty quote for the parts and after having a look online I can see that I can save a lot of money if I buy them elsewhere. With that said I dont want to fit my car with rubbish. A nice balance between cost and quality would be ideal. 

Can any of you please recommend me some parts that fit this description? So thats a full set of brake pads and disks and front shock absorbers. 

Thanks for your help in advance

Jack 

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Jack, you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂

my key question is where did you get your car serviced and who told you you need new shocks and brakes? 

audi do offer a free health check if you're not convinced on what your garage has said.

cheers

Steve

[jtaylor]

Thanks for the reply Steve. So I got the service done at www.vagtek.com. The MOT it had done in April also commented that there was a little mist on one of the shock absorbers. You would know better than me but I felt confident in the assessment. 

Ive attached the quote. They did say the glow plugs issue would be fine for a while and I’m not going to worry about the a/c motors as the air con still works fine. 

Thabks again 

[Steve Q]

Now if I recall misting on shocks is fine, but you'll need to replace them once they start leaking. They can be Misty for a very long time before they start to leak and it's not an MOT failure for them to be Misty (I think, was the case on the old rules). However, it might be worth you checking with the new MOT rules that came into force last May as this could be classed as a fail now, but I doubt it. Other members my correct me on this if I'm wrong.

Now correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't your a5 have a brake pad warning light? I know my much older a6 does and it's at that point the brake pads need changing. 

Cheers

Steve

[Magnet]

Hello Jack,

A second opinion is usually with while, and I would follow Steve's suggestion. I would not mention anything to Audi about the assement you have already had done by the independent.

Some pointers which may help you if and when some of these items may need attention:-

Shock absorbers - generally long lived and I would be questioning (just in my mind) the significance of a bit of misting. If a shock absorber does need changing, then the recommendation is that they are changed in pairs, and you know what that does for your bill! See what the Audi check comes up with, but if the misting was listed as an advisory (justified or otherwise - and there is a lot of bum covering with thes things now)  on the last MOT then don't be surprised if Audi comment as well, since they may well tap into the MOT history of the car.

Brake pads and discs - about winter time? Even if these are getting towards end of life, it is surprising how many miles can be covered before they actually get to a point where they really need changing - without taking any risk. I guess the quote you have is for using Audi parts, and that is ideal, but....

If and when they do need changing, I think I would be fostering relationships with a trusted, recommended local garage, since such things are easily dealt with by any skilled mechanic, usually at much cheaper labour rates. Potential problem of using that route?? - they might want to use  the 'Brand X' parts which their usual motor factors supply them. I would beware of that since some/a lot are nowhere near as good as Audi parts. I would not be happy with that. Possibility- you supply the parts, and they fit them for you. You can try a company called TPS (usually have localish depots) who are likely to supply such VAG  parts at a bit of a discount, or if you are looking at non Audi aftermarket manufacturers, ( second best option only)  there are many to avoid! I have however used EBC parts to good avail, and I believe this forum now has a discount on these - see a recent alert by Trevor. 

Good luck with this Jack,

Kind regards, 

Gareth.