Volkswagen Repair: brakes??, dominic dominic, brake job

Question
hi don, i have a question all of a sudden my brakes went out, i press the brake pedal and the brakes go stright to the floor, i looked at the rotor and found a black/ dark green goop also when the car is off the brakes hold just fine but once i turn the car on all of a sudden they go stright to the floor. Do you know what wrong?
thanks
Dominic

Answer
Dominic, thank you for your question.  YIKES! Sounds like you have a leak in the brake system. The green junk sounds like the pads are deteriorating and the sporadic brakes are an indicator that your calipers, lines or master cylinder are going out. Either way you should get to a brake shop and soon before they go out forever.  Beware that the rotors, master cylinder, calipers or shoes or any combination of those things may have to be replaced and they are not cheap. The average brake job runs 350 to 800$. Just as a warning.
Hope that helps