Life expectancy of brake pads?

It all depends -- on the brake lining material (which isn't as durable these days as it was when it was made out of dangerous asbestos), on whether the car has a manual or automatic transmission, and on how and where you drive.

My 1988 manual transmission 4x4 Subaru GL wagon went 210,000 km (about

130,000 mi) before the front brake pads needed to be replaced. The rear pads lasted longer.

My 1997 manual transmission Legacy Outback went 240,000 km (about

149,000 mi) before the front brake pads were replaced, earlier than they otherwise would have been since I was about to begin a transcontinental trip and didn't want to have to have the brakes worked on before I returned home. The rear pads are still the original ones, now at 271,000+ km (about 168,000 mi).

Both vehicles have had lots of high-speed long distance driving, but both were also driven in daily Vancouver, BC traffic, and others who live here will confirm that one *does* use brakes quite a bit (but the guy in front of me seems to use his about three times as much as I do, partly because of the way he drives and partly because he's probably got an automatic transmission). The 1988 vehicle descended 300 m (about 1000 ft) daily coming home from work; the 1997 vehicle hasn't had to do that since it was bought as a retirement present to myself, but it does go up and down in the mountains the way its predecessor did.

So as I said, it depends.

David

My OEM pads lasted about 25,000 and my new aftermarket full-metallic pads have 90,000 miles on them and lots more to go. TG

rally drivers can burn out a set in 1 day it all depends on your driving

just had major brake work done on their car (non Subaru). I went

about 41K miles and my rear at 65K miles.

the 2nd set on the front is getting me further than the first

at brakes on a routine oil change but nothing was said at the big

figuring the bill will be so much above my "standard" (oil change,

needed brake work done since what's a few more bucks but of course,

I have a Forester MY'01, with 74,000 miles (116,000km). It is an Auto Trannie, and just changed only the rear pads. The front still had 30% left. So it really depends more on the driving style than transmissions type.

It also depends on when you want to change them. I change mine when they are 30% *gone*

Why?

Do you toss out beers after a few sips?

Barry

Don't know if Jim does, but I do if they're warm (I'm a Yank, ok?) and flat! Which is to say, I've had pads go "hard" with age on vehicles that didn't get driven much. A fresh set often helps the "feel" even if there's no real difference in stopping power. But I'll admit that's pretty subjective.

Rick

Not when I'm drinking Optimator. Which I usually do.

Agreed. I still get 40k miles out of a set and would much rather change them early than buy new rotors because the pads hardened and cupped them.

I just traded in my 2004 Toyota Corolla with 284280 miles on it. I replaced the front pads at 181000 miles. Never did do the rear drums. Not all highway driving either. Quite a bit of 'traffic' miles. I only hope the Honda I bought will do as well.