Brakes already!?!?

welcome!

yes, it is very unusual. i think someone else just reported same on a 16 w/ 38k or something.

do you think you could have the mechanic show you what he is seeing, grab some pictures and record your conversation to post here?

 

are you having any problem with the brakes? perhaps they're all just trying to clean out your wallet.

 

check out the thread by @ralphgonegolfing

 

Salty environment in the rust belt leading to brake components not working well?

At least in these 2 examples that sounds likely .

 

Yeah, salted roads during the winter would be a significant factor.

 

Doesn't sound right to me - mine have done almost 30,000 miles - and look barely worn at a glance. It's in for service tomorrow, so I'll ask them to have a closer assessment for me.

I'm a fairly gentle driver though, and usually got good life out of brakes.

 

There's no normal reason for the brakes to wear out that quickly. 150-200k miles is more typical. Unless you're a very aggressive driver, it seems to me like it would require all four brakes to be dragging for them to wear that quickly. And that would give you really bad gas mileage (as would the aggressive driving).

Did they say it was pads, rotors, or both? It might help to know exactly why they want to replace them.

 

Or ... the extreme here ... I know a girl who drove around with her parking brake on and burned up her brakes.

 

My dealer tried to sell me a tranny flush, brake flush, radiator flush at 24K.

I have never flushed the bakes or radiator on a Prius.

Tranny is drain and fill only and only if you keep it long term.

 

If that includes 4 new rotors, 4 new calipers, and hardware then ok if you can verify it was actually done.

 

i wouldn't take anyones word for it, no matter how many places tell you. to need brake work without any symptoms is very unusual.
don't waste your money until you're convinced

 

Brakes are funny. They can last for years and years and 200,000 miles or more before wearing out, if everything goes right. They can also develop a small problem, pick up a piece of road debris, etc., that can do them in quickly, in between the last time you inspected and found no problem, and the next time when you find a situation requiring parts replacement. That can certainly happen if you're following Toyota's only-every-3-years-or-36,000-miles inspection recommendation.

Often little problems like that can be nipped in the bud if caught early, just by looking at the brakes more often. They are super easy to look at whenever the tires are off, say for tire rotation, which would have given about five chances to peek at the brakes already on a 33,000 mile Prius.

Also, I very much recommend boldly jumping in and inspecting the brakes yourself. It isn't hard to give them a quick look, and it's the ultimate protection against mechanics using vague brake "problems" as sources of boat payments, which, regrettably, does seem to happen.

 

I've just come back from my car service - I asked them to check how much the brakes were worn.

They said there's over 10mm left - and considering that there was only 12-13mm originally, at this rate they said I should be right for 200,000+ km. It's driven 45,342 kms - which GOOGLE tells me is 28,174 miles.

Did you buy the car new?

 

All good info and my daughter is better mechanic than my son in law.

Stuff happens for sure. Someone was sloppy with an air wrench etc, you hit an object, salty roads, part failure. We taught at the votec that you: start the the lug nuts with your fingers, then use an air wrench at a very low setting, then hand tighten and torque with a crisscross pattern just like a head job.
Some dealers do it correctly (one dealer actually had a safety checker) and they should brakes at every oil change. A good look at the rotors will tell the story.
Anyone try those Chinese rotors from Autozone for a Toyota? I have had OK luck with other vehicles.

 

Well, salt is brutal. I lived in Ohio and Iowa for a large part of my life, so I know what you mean. And it can ruin brakes.

As to the price difference, it's probably a combination of Toyota parts vs generic and a difference in labor rates. Any brake shop should be able to work on your brakes as long as they know to disconnect the 12V battery so the Prius' brake actuator can't come on while the brakes are apart.