Brake Noise

The used 2001 car my son just bought seems to run good. The only annoyance is a sound that the brakes make. When braking, and only when you get down to around 20 mph and lower, the brakes make a noise he has described as "a fighter jet flying by". Yep, that's what it sounds like in the last part of braking to a stop. The car seems to stop just fine, it's just so noisy when coming to a complete stop. Does anyone have an idea of what might be causing this noise? He is supposed to take it back in so the used car dealer can "look at it". But we want to have an idea ahead of time what it could be. The equipment list that it came with just says "power brakes". Thanks!

If the noise is that loud then I would say that either the pads have gone south and there is metal to metal contact or the pads have glazed due to heat and are no longer servicable. I would also look to see if the pads have shims behind them. This eliminates vibration which can cause the brakes to be very noisy. I am not sure what make this car is but there is a good possibility that the rear brakes are bad as well and causing the noise. Have them check all four brakes, check the thickness of the rotors and if it has drums in the back make sure the drums are within tolerance.