Does my Auris Hybrid warn me when the brakepads need replacement

Yes, when you press the brakes and you hear metal to metal and you don't stop!
You can look through the wheels and see how much pad is left.
Or, the better way is to remove the wheel so you can look at them.

 

Most pads these days have a "wear indicator" on them.......that is supposed to make a screeching noise when they get worn down.
Other than that, no warning.

 

Technically two wear indicators. One is visual, you need to take a wheel off and look for it.

The other is a back-stop, that's the "squealer" sam referenced above. It's usually a little tab of metal bent to face the rotor. When the pad material is consumed past a certain point, the tab contacts the rotor and makes an annoying squeal as you apply the brake.

That is pretty much your last chance warning before bad things happen.

Really the best thing is annual inspection of the visual indicator or a simple depth measurement of the pads.

 

Hybrid power system means the brakes aren't always used to stop the car- this can change the pattern for when you hear the squeal.

The bigger point is, if you're already hearing something like that it is officially time to do a wheels-off visual inspection, or pay to have one done.

 

IF.....you are starting to move from a stop......why is the brake pedal still depressed ?
On most all cars, if you are skilled enough, you can partially release the pedal to a point where the vehicle just BARELY starts to move and the brakes will make a "funny" noise. Sometimes a squeal, sometimes a growl. even with perfectly good brakes and that does NOT indicate a problem.

 

All true info above. I'll add that sometimes that little tab thing that is supposed to contact the rotor to give you an audible warning will be misadjusted.

Once I got that noise (different car), so I took the wheel off, all ready to do a brake pad change, and found that there was plenty (5mm) of pad left and the bendable warning thing was bent too far towards the rotor. So in that case, I bent it back to be properly adjusted and am still driving on those pads.

I now make sure to confirm that tab is properly adjusted whenever I work on brakes.

I wonder if the tab thing had been purposely mis-adjusted by the same bad mechanic that stabbed holes in my CV joints, trying to drum up some business.