Pads

Sounds quite reasonable - may dad's car had the pads changed for the first time last year at 60,000 miles (mainly local trips), and they would have been OK for another few thousand miles. The shoes are still the original set, and are well clear of the limits. The Clio isn't a powerful or heavy car, and if driven gently the pads will last a long time - also modern asbestos-free pads tend to be quite hard, so although the pads last longer, disks need changing more frequently - typically every second set of pads.

You drive like a girl.

Well, it is a girls car ;o) Actually that does sound a bit too good to be true, only 20% worn after 18K miles for town driving. I'd expect nearer 50%. I've only ever owned one car that needed pads replacing, and that was at 27K (I'd owned it from 9.5K onwards. Cars since then I've owned from new and never had new pads before I sold them at around 33K. My current car has 25K on it (owned since 19K) and I think it's got the original pads on - around 40% at a guess is left.

Maybe the mechanic meant that 20% of the material was worn - given a new pad thickness of maybe 10mm, and a service limit of 3mm, that could be reasonable. Or maybe the mechanic just estimated wrongly. Or maybe the OP really does drive like a girl!

My dad's Corolla used about 30% of the front pads in 60000 miles

Thanks Guys, probebly the mechanic was drunk. as it seems that that 20% wear is low. Who knows :) its a stupid french car afterall! Thanks Richard