04 Prius - 'life expentancy' of Front Brake Pads

Depending on how you drive Prius pads can be almost lifetime pads. Much of the braking is done by the electric motor which saves pad wear. If you slow down slowly you won't use your friction pads until under 8mph.

 

My 2004 Prius is at 171,500 miles - Original brakes!

JeffD

 

New pads have 11 mm of thickness and should be replaced at 1 mm.

If you had 1/4" of thickness remaining, that would be ~6 mm, so 50% worn.

 

Rear shoes are 4 mm new and must be replaced at 1 mm. They should have a long life, unless you like to leave the parking brake engaged when driving around...

 

I had my 60k maintenance done on my '04 about a month ago. Had the rear brakes cleaned and adjusted. Unfortunately, I had to have extra work done on the front brakes: they were rusted and pitted...seems I haven't been using them enough to clean off the salt they dump on the roads to clear snow.

 

On other vehicles it seems like drums last a minimum of twice as long as the fronts (usually more). If that's also the case in the Prius I'd imagine the car will fall apart before needing rear brakes.... unless you drive around with your parking brake on like Patrick said. Then again the Prius has the smallest drums I've ever seen on a vehicle. I literally said, "how cute" the first time I rotated my tires. Then again my other vehicle is a Dodge dually so I'm used to changing massive breaks. The Prius looks like it has brakes off a riding lawn mower compared to it.

 

I measured my front pads at 30k and extrapolated the amount of wear vs. the min thickness allowed. I could theoretically get about 210k miles.

 

My rear shoes seem to be wearing faster than the front pads. My expectation is that I'll be doing all four at 200k miles as well as finally (my 2004 will be almost 7 years old at that point) getting around to changing out the Brake fluid (seems to require the dealer's computer tools). This won't be cheap.

Keeping a car in good shape as it ages can cost a bit:

• 150k - Replaced the two main cooling pumps when doing the second coolant refresh (ICE and Inverter - preventative, the Inverter pump design has been improved since 2004) and replaced the serpentine belt. About $1000
• 180k - Time to do the struts - many have done it much sooner ($750 at a local garage using KYB struts). I will also do my THIRD ATF exchange (only ~$100 at my dealer).
• 200k - Brakes!
• If ever necessary! rebuild HV Battery - $1000

JeffD

 

Where can you get the HV battery rebuilt for $1000, Thanks

 

I just had the state inspection done on my 2006 and have 4mm LF, 3mm RF, 3mm LR and 3mm RR of brake pads left. It passed but should probably be replaced in the next 10,000 - 15,000 miles.

Of course my car has 188,113 miles on it so I would say the wear on the brakes isn't bad, LOL.

Ohhh, and if Patrick is reading my tires are at 7/32" all around. These are the Michelin Harmonies we were discussing in another post at some point that have over 110,000 miles on them now.

Happy driving,
Chris

 

John,

One choice (on Long Island in NY) is:
Hybrid-Battery-Repair
They charge $1000 for rebuilding Honda batteries and a little more for others (They need to obtain modules).

Bob Wilson has investigated one other Battery Pack Rebuilder, Re-Involt in Sanford NC which charges about $1500:
Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs
They seemed to know what they were doing.

And a "DoItYourself" Guide:
How to rebuild a prius hybrid battery guide.
For about $50 (plus the cost of a eBay battery).

JeffD

 

Thanks for the info, Does anyone have experience with the "How to Rebuild a Prius Hybrid Battery Guide" that costs $50 to download?

 

Hi John,

I think that $50 guide is intended for Classic owners. A high price IMO.

Since you have a 2G, if you are going to buy an eBay salvage battery, just remove the old battery and replace with the salvage. You can find repair manual info (which I highly recommend, since this will provide you with safe handling procedures etc.) at techinfo.toyota.com for $15/two business day subscription.

Hi Chris,

Sounds great. Only the front brake pads need to be replaced, when you decide to have the brake work done. New rear brake shoes have 4 mm of lining; 1 mm is minimum spec.

 

If they are the original disc pads they've lost 8mm in 188k miles, so the remaining 2mm of usable pad should last 2*188k/8 = 47,000 miles, assuming no changes in your driving and braking habits. (Six years ago some scoffed when it was predicted that Prius pads would last more than 50,000 miles!)

 

Hello all,

I am purchasing parts for my 200K service and was wondering if anyone has tried the TRD brake pads for the Prius?

They are about $20 more online and I was wondering if they were worth it. I'm not interested in increasing the life of the pads really because 200K on the originals is good enough. I was wondering if the stopping distance is better, if anyone knows?

As always thanks for all the great feedback from fellow Prius Chatters.

Happy driving,
Chris

 

HEAT - is what wears out the pads. Our hardly get that hot or have time to cool down enough.

A regular car, coming off the highway and coming to a stop after exiting and stopping at a red light. You cannot touch the front disk with a finger without burning your finger tip off.

The Prius, would be warm, but most likely less than the boiling point of water.

Metal alloys become elastic & brittle at high temps, friction turns it to dust.

Just explained that to my Mom last weekend, after her 2nd brake job on her Hyundai Sonata in 4 years...at over 500$ per job. We have the same mileage, same age 2006 car.

Prius does not only save on gas !!!

 

My 2004 Prius is still on the original brake pads all around after 258,000 miles. No squeaking yet. I drive most of my miles on the highway, so this may be unusual.