life expectanct of brakes

Don't know about a LaCrosse, but average is 20-25K.

Some cars go way beyond that. It comes down to what kind of a driver you are. The ways to burn out brakes include:

-Braking at the last second at intersections. All that kinetic energy has to be dissipated using the brakes instead of letting rolling friction eat up much of it. More surprises on ice or gravel, too, using heavy braking.

-Braking all the way down long hills. The numbers in the PRND321 means something, as do the lower numbers on the gearshift knob on a manual.

-Riding the brake pedal with the left foot. God gave us left feet for clutch pedals. And dimmer switches, if you're old enough to remember. I have replaced the front pads *once* on my 2001 Cavalier, at around 130,000 km (85,000 miles?). The rear shoes are still the originals, at 167,000 km now. Over 100,000 miles.

Dan

Anywhere between an hour and a hundred years, depending on the level of use.

Are you the type of driver who races to every light to slam on the brakes?

Lifetime......unlimited mileage.

I know this to be FACT, not Fiction...........

because Midas and Meineke have selling them for ever.

:)

~:~ marsh ~sips his mushroom tea....awaits the next well worded question on the quiz~ ~:~

If you're driving mostly on the highway, you can get 50,000 miles without a change of pads.

If you're driving a taxicab in the city, you might be lucky to get 3,000 miles on a set.

It has more to do with where and how you drive than the car itself, really.

--scott

Well, that's only because the car is designed to rust out before the first set of pads wears down.

--scott

I get about 40K miles on a set of pads for my cars. Rotors, at least twice that. I could be easier on car brakes than the average driver, I'd guess. I also use the same foot for gas and brake, as you should.

With the cars I've had with rear shoes, I've noticed they usually last about twice as long as pads. The front pads do most of the work stopping the car.

I change pads at about 25K and usually have at least half the original thickness left. I consider myself fairly hard on brakes. I've gotten to where I'd rather change the rotors than cut them, especially since I usually only have the car I'm working on when I'm working on it and it's hard to drive to the parts store without rotors, but actually because I like having fresh thick metal there. If I settled for Chinese rotors, at some places buying new rotors is cheaper than having old ones turned.

It depends SO much on driving style that such an average is almost meaningless.