thrustinj

My front brakes are make a noise whenever I don't put full pressure on them and its just before the car comes to a complete stop. They also moan when I "edge up" at a stoplight.
Everything works it's just that I'm worried the pads might be shot (though they shouldn't be, damn CarMax) or something else.

Daniel B. Martin

This sound could be coming from the brake pad wear indicators. Here is a quote from the Owner's Manual.

Brake pad wear indicators
The disc brake pads on your vehicle have audible wear indicators. When a brake pad requires replacement, it will make a high pitched scraping or screeching sound when the vehicle is in motion whether or not the brake pedal is depressed. Have the brakes checked as soon as possible if the wear indicator sound is heard.


Front pads typically wear out sooner than rear pads, so check the fronts first. If the rotors are not conspicuously worn and you have not felt any pulsation in the brake pedal, you may need nothing more than new pads. Replacing worn brake pads is something which may be done by the home mechanic. You will find good coverage of this subject in the Haynes manual, pages 9-5 through 9-9. Doing the front pads is easier than the rears because the rear calipers have the complication of the hand brake mechanism.

Brake pads can wear out in 20K miles or 100K miles. It depends on your car (brakes wear faster with automatic transmission), your driving style, your driving environment. In a stop-and-go urban area brakes wear quickly. In 100% highway driving the brake pads never wear out because they are lightly used.

thrustinj

It isn't so much a screeching sound as it is a moan (misaligned brakes maybe??)