I just got my brakes fixed. I heard squeaking and they were rough. At the shop, they told me that the brakes had glazed. They had to machine the rotors. Mileage: 20K.
The Prius brakes are used sparingly with the electric motor regen braking used down to about 7-8 mph. They are prone to developing rust on the rotors. The best way to take care of this is to put the car in neutral while braking. This disconnects the HV battery and disables regen braking and forces the friction brakes to work. This will wipe the rotors and help keep the rust off. Most on here have gone well over 100,ooo miles without brake or rotor work needed. This is one of the advantages of the Prius. I think your shop just fattened their wallet on this one.
Luckily I didn't have to pay a cent for the brake job. Is it really practical to put the car in neutral every time you brake? I would think doing this once in a while only.
He meant that you should only have to do this every once in a while. I would add that it would be useful after a rain or after washing the car. FWIW I have never done it and my first Prius went 160k+ without doing it and the brakes are fine with another 100k worth of pad left. My current Prius has 35k and no issues. Did your shop offer and explanation for the glazing or show you the glazing? I'm thinking they don't understand the Prius and wanted to get paid or you have a real problem and it has not been addressed.
My 2008 has 135.000 miles and never repaired the brakes. I passed the state inspection not to long ago and the pads showed no glazing and enough material for another 80.000 more miles. Still with the OEM parts.
The problem is that unless you have defective brakes, you were blatantly ripped off. So even if you didn't have to pay for it, it's still not ok. Can you share the name of the shop, or at least if it was a 3rd party shop?
The large issue here is that Toyotas of his model year were recalled due to brake problems, if I recall. The PiP was not among them. Still....why were mine glazed at 20K miles?
Fuel Efficiency averages 50mpg. I drive mostly highway (and in DC it's not smooth). While in the city I try to stick to EV, then click to HV/EV when on the freeway.
i wonder if your pads are rubbing against the rotors full time? anyone else out there with 20K on their pip? i only have 6500. when did it start squealing, recently?
