High brake wear on 2006 Prius

We purchased our 2006 Prius when it was about 3 years old and have always had it serviced by same Toyota dealer.

At 155,000km (around 95000 miles) the brake pads were replaced by the dealer and I believe that was the first time they had been done (it was the first time we had replaced them and we purchased the car with about 50000 km on it).

I have just had the latest service last week at 186,000km and have been told by the dealer that the front brakes and discs are badly worn and will need replacing at the next service or possibly before (he has asked me to take it back in 5000 km to check the wear for safety to see if it needs doing or can wait until the scheduled service). This means the brakes and discs have worn out in under 40,000km (roughly 25000 miles). The service manager has confirmed that they were definitely replaced at 155000 and that genuine Toyota parts were used. He did seem genuinely surprised by the wear rate but insists there is nothing wrong with the car and it must be because we have moved to an area with more hills.

This does not seem right to me as I live in a rural area and am fairly gentle on the brakes most of the time - the only time they possibly get a bit of work is that there are a couple of hills around the area which have a stop at the bottom (they are not steep enough to require braking all the way down the hill - it is coasting down most of the way then using brakes at the bottom to stop for an intersection). I definitely don't use the brakes heavily as a rule and try to always slow gently if coming to an intersection, etc, rather than waiting to the last minute and braking hard. There is a bit of gravel road driving around our area but the roads are well maintained and very little braking on the gravel sections as they are flat with no intersections.

The service guys at the dealership do not seem to be particularly knowledgeable about the Prius (even the technician who is supposedly their Prius expert didn't seem to have a great understanding of how the braking system should work in practice).

I thought it may be an issue with brakes rubbing slightly all the time - if I drive it for a few miles without using any brakes at all the rear discs (Australian spec car) are cold but the front ones are hot (not so hot you can't touch them but you can feel the heat coming off them). I mentioned this to the service manager but he said that is perfectly normal as the fronts will tend to heat up a bit through the slight rubbing and with the heat from engine bay, etc. He said if they were rubbing badly the discs would be way too hot to touch and you would be able to smell the burning after each drive.

Just wondering if my concerns are valid or if 25000 miles is acceptable brake wear? Is there anything that could explain the brake wear that should be checked out? I am thinking of taking it to either another Toyota dealer (we have a second one not too far away) or a brake specialist but not sure if they would understand the Prius brakes.

Any suggestions welcome or if I am worrying about nothing then tell me!

 

Thanks for the feedback. I need to check my documents but last time the pads were replaced and rotors were either replaced or machined (I think they were just machined but have no proof that this was done properly of course).

I am the main driver of the car and only other one is my daughter who is learning to drive but neither of us use left foot to brake.

Dealer has said that both inside and outside pads have even wear.

 

The dealer has told me there is about 3-4 mm remaining on the front pads but no I haven't checked it myself yet. I have a friend who is a mechanic and although he has not worked on a Prius before he is going to have a look at the pads for me early next week (he has a hoist so we are going to lift it up and take the wheels off to have a proper look) to see exactly how much is left on each one and if the wear is uneven, etc.