Brake pad life

I hear you. I had the "exact" same experience, and have been told by everyone, and the service manager, that the breaks will last for a long, long time. Here's the thing...the brakes are part of the battery recharging system, so even if you are braking gingerly, these puppies must be working overtime to generate power for the engine. But in answer to your question, you're not in the minority here.

 

That is completely wrong. The brake pads are not recharging the battery and thus not being applied all the time. My GenII was sold with 158,000 miles and still had 50% pad life. The hydraulic brakes don't even kick in until below 10mph or so unless braking hard.

 

Yep I agree that is a little weird. Now you may find 2 girls in nighties on your bed exciting
But a Brake Pad report that may just be informative.

 

Shops used to do that but to my knowledge we're the only one that still measures the pad thickness. Its simple enough to do but does require 3-4 minutes per disc braked wheel so there's the cost; will you add $10 t your inspection charge?Most people will just wait til someone tells them that screeching noise is the brake sensor that goes on when the pad gets down to 2mm thick. And nobody checks shoe thickness on drum brakes. You couldn't afford it. As for z%, few brake padss are the same tickness so the % left is an individual calculation for each car and that adds another $5 to the bill.

 

I'll have to check the receipts I got with the car from it's first owner but I've just had the front pads on my 2005 changed at 223,000 miles. It had 113,000 miles on it when I got it and this is the first time I've changed them. Might be the first time they've ever been changed.

 

87% is just a garbage number that they throw at you. They would need to measure down to a tenth of a millimeter to get that kind of accuracy.
8787

 

Do u always make up explanations and report them as fact?

 

The Prius has several braking systems: (one reason NOT to mess with the brakes unless you are trained on the Prius)

Friction Brakes (Disc and or Drum brakes) which convert rotational energy to waste heat, are always used at low speed (under 10 MPH), when you PANIC stop, and as you try to de-accelerate faster than the regenerative brakes can transfer energy to the battery.

Regenerative brakes (mostly Motor/Generator 2, but also M/G1 in some scenarios) use rotational energy to charge the HV battery, used in gentle braking up to the amount of charge the battery can accept until it is 'full' in the opinion of Toyota's software.

Engine braking rotates the engine as an air pump to generate waste heat and is used when the HV battery is 'full' and when you choose the B mode. (PIP may work different in B)

 

how long does your brakes last with 90% city traffic?

 

My dealer never report percentage. They always report brake pad thickness in millimeter, same with tire thread life.

 

^ I'd prefer that. Actually could never understand how they come up with the percent statement. Remaining pad thickness (or tread depth) is simple, clear.

It also forces the owners to learn a bit, get an understanding of what the numbers mean.

Or not, lol.

 

I don't know if they're typical for the v in general, but you're definitely not alone! I replaced my front pads at around 45K miles (still had 3-4 mm of pad remaining), and rears around 50K miles (pads basically shot, making noise, maybe 1-2mm left max). Pretty good for a normal car, but I was surprised to see them go so fast in a Prius - I've heard from friends (and seen on here) that 100K mi on a set of pads is not unusual. I was especially surprised to see the rears wear so fast. Maybe the v is heavier, maybe it's our driving habits or (hilly rural) landscape, who knows why this came out different than some non-v Prii.
I'm not concerned enough to call the dealership or anything - 40-50K mi on a set of pads is acceptable to me!

 

I was really glad to read this... Just doing some searching, since my mechanic just told me that my 2012 v w/ 55k miles needed rear pads and rotors... totally shot, and dragging, but for some reason not making noise like they're supposed to when they get low! Meanwhile, the front one's still have 50% left. They thought it was odd as well, but they haven't seen many v's come in yet, so it must just be a v thing. They said the drums on the regular Prius's last a lot longer, and since the v has discs rear, that could be part of it.

Still, I was really surprised, like others on this thread, since I'd always heard that "Prius's never need brakes", etc.

Anyone got any tips for good online parts stores?

 

My cheapo vernier caliper gives me repeatable measurements to two hundredths of a millimeter, no sweat. The lining thicknesses when new, and the minimum thickness for end of life, are both published in the manuals. Measure, subtract, divide. What's the problem?

-Chap

 

What I find weird is: it's hard as heck to come up with a percent, which service writers so often relay to customers. Dead easy would be to just say, for example: you've got 3mm remaining.

 

Evidently they find it easier "to come up with a percent" than to explain to a typical customer the significance of "3 mm remaining."

 

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Still, I like the immediacy of, again for example: "2 (flakey and debatable) mm between me and certain death", lol. Anytime it's measuring 3 mm or less, I'm getting new pads.

 

Especially because the "significance of 3 mm remaining" is indeterminate without the percent!

Suppose you're driving a Gen 1 or a Gen 2 and somebody tells you your rears have 3 mm remaining and your fronts have 4? What does that tell you?

Considering the rear shoes came with 4 mm linings when new, if those are only down to 3 by now (and the limit is 1), you will probably never own the car long enough to replace them.

Now if those fronts, 11 mm when new, are down to 4 in the same time period, you not only have a pad replacement in the foreseeable future, you'd also better figure out what's wrong with your brakes.

Somebody telling you "down to 3 mm rear, down to 4 mm front" doesn't tell you what you need to know, unless you have also memorized the specs from the manual so you can subtract, divide, and find the percent in your head. If they tell you "down to 67% rear, down to 30% front" you have what you need to know in one step. How is that not easier?

-Chap

 

If it's just disc brakes it pretty straight forward. And drum brakes, regardless of their drawbacks, seem to last forever lol.