Check out my brake pads at 60,000 miles

How the heck did you go 170,000 miles on a vehicle with conventional front friction brakes? Almost all highway driving?

 

Whats that red looking stuff on the rotors? LOL just kidding i used to live in MI. I think the only problem you may have is rust may buildup over the years and cause reduced braking.

 

Highway.

Neutral.

No one behind you/anywhere near you.

Brake!

Rust gone

 

I didn't notice any rust on the rotor where the pads come in contact with them, but where the pads don't come in contact with them.

 

It may be a good idea to deliberately hit the brakes every few weeks or months. Yesterday I had to make a sudden stop and it took a moment, maybe half a second, before the brakes grabbed hard. I speculate that some glazing or rust scraped off first.

 

That is a REALLY good point! I live in Wisconsin, we've had record snowfalls for the last couple of years. That means record salt drops by the Hiway crews. I've bought Eastwood's salt nuetraliser for the body (time will tell).
But the breaks- Excellent point, thanks.

 

I've had mine a month, and am figuring that I have to go down the big hill in town, in neutral, and hit the brakes for a couple of seconds to clean them off once a month, to keep the rotors rust free. Other than that, I don't expect to have to replace the brakes at all.

 

Last week I had to run out to get some wheel cleaner. Usually if you go cleaning wheels after a trip it will boil right off the rotors, on the Prius it just dribbled down the brake like it wasn't even warm.

I can see them lasting longer than the car.

 

2-3 mm have worn off my front pads in 120k miles. This is about half highway driving.

 

And people upgrade their brakes? LOL.... Big Brake Mod. One of the reasons I bought this car was the low maintenance cost as well as the great gas mileage.