I recently began leasing a 2010 VW Jetta in November (in Chicago). About a month after I drove it home the brakes began to squeal very loudly within the first 10 minutes of driving, and although it mostly goes away after the first 10 minutes, it sometimes squeals after being warmed up for a while, too. I took it into the dealership and was told that there was nothing to be done about it, since VW doesn’t use asbestos on their brakes and is therefore fine with their brand new vehicles squealing around town. I find this hard to believe. Perhaps this is because the car is under warranty and not worth fixing (since I won’t be paying for it)? Has anyone else encountered this or have any suggestions?
Totally normal in the winter. What’s happening is that all the salt on the road is causing the brake discs to get rusty really fast. When they’re not smooth, they squeak. I’m surprised you never noticed this on your older cars. When it warms up, it will be fine.
It could be that your driving habits could be causing this; especially if you do a lot of city driving and/or hard braking.
Squealing can be caused by a number of things; glazed brakes from the above, brake pad vibration due to whatever, brake dust, etc.
Next trip to the car wash you can try doing a little blasting of the brakes as best as possible with the high pressure nozzle. That might clear it up.
No one uses asbestos or has for years and I don’t believe it would be matter of not wanting to do it under warranty. I worked for VW for quite a few years and to be honest, I found their warranty labor times and reimbursement to the dealers to be very fair and superior to other car manufacturers.
Hope that helps some.