I notice that on my 09 sometimes . I'm thinking it's normal for the material the pads are made from . The noise I hear is very low and most likely wouldn't be noticed with the radio on .My wife's Ford Escape makes a groaning noise when braking aggressively (just catching a red light for example). We have had the brakes checked and they are fine. None of the three mechanics we have taken it to can find anything wrong. Anyone have any suggestions?