Brakes

Star Trek fan?

What car is it? Is the car new? What k> How long should I expect the front and rear disk brakes to last.

I get 40,000 front and 80,000 rear with about half the meat left. The brake fluid change interval is 30,000 so by stretching that a little and combining it with pad changes, 40,000 work well for me.

I don't drive like a little old lady, but I don't drive like a teenager either.

They'll last until they go "squeeeeeeeeeeeel".

Hard to put a number on them sometimes. My Outback went over 40,000 miles without issues. My WRX went 25,000 miles and needed new pads.

My Forester went 80,000 + front & 70,000 rear. NO that is not a typo and have heard the same from others owners.

It's a '03 Forester, 44+ k, don't make much black stuff on the wheels... I have Whippet in the back (cargo area) so I'm really easy on the car. I'll go for those 70-80 k.

My '84 BMW 318i I drove pretty hard; - the disks lasted for 97k..

H.

Who knows? My wife's Forester has 71,000 miles (so far) on the original front pads...

It puzzles me quite a bit but here it is:

Impreza with >90,000 mi of mostly city driving. Recently, a shop that was changing tires (not Subaru dealership), did "free brakes inspection" and stated that in front there is 10% left and rotors warped but still can be turned, rear is 40% and too rusted. The quote was for $273 for all. I declined and went for a regular maintenance to an independent mechanic, asking for inspection. He stated that there is still 50% left in front and rotors are warped a bit, declined doing any work and recommended going until brakes squeal and then replace both pads and rotors.

The disparity made me wonder what's going on and I went to study regular Subaru dealership maintenance (done religiously until about 75K). Well, I *could not* find a mention of brake pad ever being replaced!? Inspection at all times is mentioned. 60K inspection mentions explicitly 40% left on *both*(?) front and rear.

So, all in all, I have no idea of what's going on! For all I know, brake pads have never been replaced during over 90K city driving but right now the car brakes as good as it ever did and no bad sounds or vibrations. Is this even possible?

DK

No disparity at all. The first shop wants to make as much money as possible and the second shop wants to do the right thing, knowing you'll come back and that you'll tell your friends about them.

There's no regular interval for brake pad replacement because brake wear is so dependant on driving conditions. A 20-something person in San Francisco or Seattle will go through 4 sets of pads while a 50-something person in Sacramento will go through one.

There really isn't any such thing as a 'free brake inspection' The only reason they do it is to sell brake jobs. And you can bet there's pressure to turn every free inspection into a money-making brake job.

Keep going to the independent mechanic. He seems honest. Listen to what he says and thank him for saving you money.

I just find it really strange that in the city's stop and go driving I'd only used up 50% of the brake pads over 90K!

So, okay, is it *really* absolutely safe to go until brakes squeal? My daughter is driving the car half the time now and if there is any doubt I'd rather spend ~ $400 for the peace of mind...

DK

The brakes don't squeal until the pad is worn down to the safety margin. Yes, its perfectly safe to wait until it squeals.

Most of the time, yes.

Is it absolutely, always, 100% "safe" to wait for the squeal? No--sometimes the spring scraper will rust off, or mystically disappear. When that happens, you won't hear a "sqeal"...you'll hear a nasty *scrape*, from the metal pad backing plate contacting the rotor, which will also be the signal to buy a new rotor, along with the pads.

The only 100% guaranteed way to replace the pads before they wear too far (and cause rotor damage) is to eyeball the remaining thickness. Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do, and someone can show you how to do this in a minute---faster and quicker than trying to explain it here ;-)