Golf MK 6 Brakes?

[gtv160]

Has anyone experienced any issues with the brakes on their Mk6. A friend who has a one month old Golf twist 1.4 has experienced inconsisitent brake feel ranging from the pedal being very hard and offering very little stopping power to the pedal going to the floor. This has resulted in her hitting her garage wall! Dealer has been unable to find any issues logged. Any ideas or similar experiences?

[Steve_D]

I've had the opposite on mine at times - when driving slow in traffic, a slight bit of pressure on the pedal = nothing, a little bit more pressure and you nearly go through the screen! Feels like too much servo vacuum or something. Only happens now and then and hasn't happened for a while now. I'm generally lazy and haven't bothered to take it back to the dealers yet.

[Gerryf]

Hi Gtv, I've also experienced similar servo issues to Steve on occasion.....mostly at very slow parking speeds but thankfully nothing worse......I do experience slight brake fade under heavy braking when the car is loaded.

If your friend had the pedal go to the floor.....she shouldn't accept the dealer telling her....nothing showed up on the computer.

A brake pedal going all the way to the floor would suggest a master cylinder problem if everything then returns to normal.

[Keithuk]

This has resulted in her hitting her garage wall!
Tell her not to drive to fast into the garage. :D

No real issues only if you brake lightly the car tries to slow down pretty quickly it doesn't lockup but you can feel it deccelerate sharply but if you want to stop even quicker you have to press a lot harder on the pedal. This was the same on the demo I drove before I ordered mine.

As Gerry says if she's loosing the pedal totally then it looks like a master cylinder problem. Have the dealer collect it and make them pay for the damage.

[Gerryf]

Hi Keith, I'm baffled with the OP'S query because he's actually describing 2 separate braking problems.
A petrol car could easily exhaust the vacuum power by jabbing the brakes several times as opposed to how a diesel would behave because of its pump derived vacuum......so several applications of the brakes could easily result in very little assistance in a petrol car.....could also be down to a vacumn leak ?

The more serious problem of the brake pedal going to the floor is extremely dangerous and like you I'm thinking the car should be collected by the dealer because of safety issues.

I'm going to go out on a limb here in that it's very possible the dealer is dismissing a female drivers description ?

[Berisford]

Hmmm......I don't think it would be reasonable to assume the dealer has dismissed the concern, if they have checked and found nothing............

[Gerryf]

With respect Berisford, it's a distinct possibility but not very probable IMO

The OP stated "Dealer has been unable to find any issues logged" without further comment from GTV this seems to suggest they didn't look any further.

I once presented a newish Peugeot 306 DTurbo to the supplying dealer explaining that the car was locking up the OSF wheel under severe braking......I collected the car after they declared it had no fault after interrogation.
Yes you guessed it !......the fault hadn't been investigated properly so I re-presented the car only to find they still hadn't addressed the fault......I then asked the chief technician to test drive the car.....he duly found a quiet spot where he could stick the car to the road.....he lost control and nearly smashed the car into parked cars........he then took the car into the workshop and cleaned the offending ABS sensor....and hey presto....my car was A1 again.

[Keithuk]

he then took the car into the workshop and cleaned the offending ABS sensor....and hey presto....my car was A1 again.
Well Gerry a faulty ABS sensor or not brakes should still work even if the ABS system packs up completely thats the way they are designed.

[Keithuk]

Its the same with powered steering it maybe very heavy but you can still steer the car.

[Gerryf]

I could easily live without ABS but I wouldn't be happy with a half baked ABS system Keith.

[slowhand]

I thought it was just me, sometimes my brakes seem to be very aggressive, wife stuck to the windscreen, then they work normally the next time.
But I can never reproduce the hard braking when I try to, then blow me, at the next roundabout the wife is stuck to the windscreen again.

VW have had issues with the ABS unit for years, I thought they had cured it with the mk6, perhaps not, can only wait and see if people start getting bigger problems after a few years.

[gtv160]

Hi. thanks to all who have taken time to reply, it is much appreciated. My friend is still awaiting news from the dealer. As I am sure you appreciate, if you have lost confidence in your brakes you would want a definite identification of a problem and replacement of a faulty part to restore confidence.

'Hi Keith, I'm baffled with the OP'S query because he's actually describing 2 separate braking problems'.

I agree with you there but I am just reporting what I was told. I honestly feel that she is describing inconsistent pedal feel with inconsistent travel where the pedal is longer than usual rather than the pedal actually 'going to the floor'.

'I'm going to go out on a limb here in that it's very possible the dealer is dismissing a female drivers description ?'

How could you suggest such a thing?:biglaugh: I don't konw if the dealer could have been said to have dismissed the problem but my friend definitely did feel she was not being taken seriously enough. Anyway they have the car now. If there is a definite answer I will post it on here. Again, thanks to all who have replied.