Out of curiosity how long did your brakes last before you changed them out? I’m seeing people change their brake pads for the first time at 200k and I even saw someone that said 300k on original pads. I’m at 105k and got 3mm left on my rear pads. I know this depends on usage but any idea how much more I should expect out of them?
quite a lot, iirc. i would look up the specs for new, and minmum, then divide by how many miles and figure average life remaining.
My 2004 Prius (Gen2) went 288k miles in 12 years on the original pads. If you do minimal maintenance: Periodically put your Prius in neutral (disables the regenerative braking) and lightly use the friction brakes to clean the light coating of rotor surface rust. Every few years lubricate the caliper slide pins so that the calipers move smoothly to equalize pressure between the inside and outside pads.
Somebody on the Prius Facebook group just posted yesterday he got 336,000 out of his pads, end they weren’t even worn down all the way yet. He went ahead and replaced them. His Prius is a 2016 I believe
Sometimes it depends on whos measuring. I had a set of tires installed once at a nation wide chain. At the time they installed the tires it was commented that my brakes were fine at 5mm. A week and a half later a fast leak developed in one of the new tires. I took it to the nearest store and the service manage came to me in the waiting area and told me my brakes were shot and metal to metal. When I challenged him that a week and a half before they were said to be 5mm, he then said they were less than 2mm and pointed to a display that said brakes need replacing at 2mm. Of course i knew someone was lying. I went home took to measuring. I came up with between 5 and 5.5mm if i recall. I think someone on here said new pads on the Prius was 9mm. That said, brakes wear differently depending on the driver.
New thickness is 10~10.5 mm (going from memory), and service limit is 1. My 2 cents: any time I see 3 mm (or less) I replace ASAP. Be careful with the rears in particular if DIY'ing: if they're like 3rd gen correct orientation of the piston face is paramount. Dealership service should know the ropes on this.
Our 2005 never had its brake pads replaced - the car died at 153,000 miles (11.5 years) and we upgraded to the Gen 4. Our 2010 lasted 5 years/65,0000 miles but only because it crossed two mountain ranges twice a year every year.
Am I reading correctly, that the 2010 got the brakes replaced at 65,000? (This is what B mode is for) I've done I-70 in western Colorado twice with trailers in excess of 1,800 lbs, and neither time did I need to use the brakes frequently. With over 100,000 miles of in-town driving, and the rest of my 254k on the highway, I've still got 5mm on my pads.
Yep. 105,000km/65,000 miles. True but brake pads are cheaper and I did use a combination of B mode and brakes but clearly not enough of a ratio lol. Those are great results that you had. Again, our Gen 2's brake pads never got replaced but it was mostly city/in-town driving.
It obviously depends on usage and long hills, and downgrades. I live in Florida and on my last car a toyota matrix I never replaced my rear drum brakes and owned that car to 335k. The front brakes I replaced every 100k but was told they weren't really worn all the way down yet each time I did it. If you do, I would suggest replacing with OEM pads unless there is a reason why to replace with another brand. Thats my 2 cents from my previous ride. Aftermarkets were noisy when I replaced them the first time. After that stuck with OEMs
Makes you wonder sometimes. NOBODY does front drum brakes anymore, but were they that terrible? I'd suspect rear drums have an easier life, not sure. My parents 58 VDub presumably had front drums, never paid attention though.
Rear wheels do a lot less of the braking, because of the way the weight tends to be lifted off them by the geometry of braking.
You were too young to notice, but your parents 58VDub didn't have front brakes at all. Your dad used his feet, a la Fred Flinstone.
