Brake job

The regenerative braking of the Prius prevents a majority of the wear on the traditional brakes on your Prius. Somewhere on Priuschat a guy posted a picture of his brakes pads after 90,000 miles and there was no visible wear. So unless you drive in mountains or some other brake heavy environment you should not need any brake work for a long time. Ask to see the pads and rotors before agreeing to have work done. Ask to see new pads if you don't know what new pads would look like to compare. You should not need new rotors unless the pads wore all the way through to metal on metal braking, it would sound bad when you brake. Brakes are easy even on the Prius, any shop can do them so call around for estimates if you do actually need them. If dealer is close in price OEM parts are best.

 

There is an issue of corrosion from being near salt water or in areas where the roads are heavily salted in the winter. There are reports of rotor rust leading to pad wear and I've seen some pretty ugly photos of what the accumulated road salt can do. Recently Hobbit posted some excellent photos of self-maintenance of the brakes:

http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/brkjob/

For rotor rust avoidance, Hobbit or one of the other folks had suggested flipping the car into "N" at speed and then braking medium hard a couple of times to 'wipe the rotors.' But in terms of doing a brake job, I would wonder if there are specific symptoms you are seeing?

Unusual noises or vibrations, especially if using the "N" brake trick, would suggest someone take a look at it.

Bob Wilson

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(silfey @ May 23 2007, 09:22 AM) [snapback]448135[/snapback]</div>

Make sure that you really need them. On your Prius, your brake pads (front) and shoes (rear) should last well past 100,000 miles in normal driving. I have only had my Prius for about three months, but before I got it, I owned a Civic Hybrid for almost five years. During that time I put 45,000 miles on it. I Sold it last February. Just before I sold it, I took off the winter tires which were mounted on steel wheels and put the stock alloy wheels with the original tires back on. While I was doing that I took one last look at the brakes. They showed almost no wear, in fact, the rear brake shoes had not even completely seated in on the ends. Due to the regenerative braking, the brakes were almost like new. I am sure they would have gone well past 100,000 miles and the Prius should do just as well or better.

 

WOW, Prius brake pads last 100k miles? Oh man! I'm loving this purchase more and more every day.

 

Thanks to Hobbit's wonderfully illustrated document, I might actually service my slide pins someday! But I want to mention brake fluid maintenance as well.

This fluid will perform well for 2 to 10 (?) years in Prius, after which it will have absorbed too much water from the atmosphere. There are several testing devices to show how much water you've got, and the better brake shops can test yours free or for a nominal fee. Mine is 6.5 years old and now 1/2% water, having driven mostly in dry places. The famous original Prius taxi had several fluid changes in humid Vancouver.

One % appears (from visiting brake-oriented websites) to be a suitable action level. Wait for 2% and you may risk expensive corrosion damage to accumulators, pumps, or other thingamagigs.

In the new model Prius (at least), brake fluid bleeding requires the dealer's THHT tool, so it probably isn't a job for your favorite neighborhood mechanic.

 

2001 Classic Prius here with 230,000 km (143,00 miles) and I'm still on the original brake pads with plenty of material left on them.. I fully expect that I will *NEVER* have to replace them (ie, something else in the car will go first)..

To give a bit of perspective, the Classic Prius brakes differ from the HSD brakes in that the Classic Prius *always* uses some amount of mechanical friction brakes in addition to regeneration, whereas the HSD Prius in most instances uses only regeneration until the car slows to I believe 4MPH, at which point it engages the friction brakes; the only other time the HSD (and the Classic as well) uses friction brakes is in an emergency situation (ie, if the sensors determine that you've jammed on your brake pedal vs. applying it gently).. What this means is that if my Classic Prius brake pads seem to have lasted a long time, the HSD Prius pads should last even longer because they are used less often..

Now, the other side of the coin as mentioned by others here is that because the friction brakes are used less often, the HSD Prius rotors are extremely prone to rusting up and apparently a number of people have had to have otherwise perfectly good rotors replaced because of rust, but I also have a solution for that: on my Classic, but also on every other car I've owned, I've purchased a can of cold-galvanizing spray (basically 95+% zinc powder with an epoxy binder) and wire-brushed the brake components and then sprayed them with a liberal coating of the cold galvanize.. This has virtually eliminated rusting of the brake components, including calipers, pads, the rotors, the drums in the back, etc.. With the extra in the can, I also spray down all the exhaust components and have seen a dramatic increase in the life of the exhaust system (even the cheap aftermarket parts from "Speedy", "Mr. Lube" and other similar places)..

 

Probably the best way to tell if you needed a replacement is to have it inspected?

 

Here's a great post titled "Regen & brake jobs (long)" that really ties the two together nicely.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/seva_m...st/message/2735

 

I just had my car checked out, and at 55,000 miles, "front brakes 90 %, rear brakes 80 %"

So there is plenty of life left in them, so I expect I will also see a need to do work at about 100,000 miles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Enoyls @ May 23 2007, 11:27 AM) [snapback]448190[/snapback]</div>

I've done that on other cars. My 1988 Chevy Sprint got to 113,000 on the first set of pads. It conked out at 137,000 due to engine problems, though.

The trick is to work at never using the brakes unless necessary. I drove weekdays from New Haven to Danbury for a year while living in Connecticut and did manage ONCE to cover a specific 23-mile chunk without touching the brakes. The lights were just right, and the two 90-degree turns over a dam were done at just the right speed due to light acceleration.

Basically all the things one should do to maximize mileage in a Prius...

 

I put 87k on my 04 with no hint of needing brakes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Enoyls @ May 23 2007, 07:27 AM) [snapback]448190[/snapback]</div>

The fronts in my Civic lasted 70K and my rears 175K miles, and they're friction brakes.

Is this there something abnormal about it lasting that long?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(200Volts @ May 25 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]450119[/snapback]</div>

Yeh. But that's a new car.

I'll best some Prius drivers will get at least 200k miles on their brakes.

Dave M.

 

My 98 Camry did 104,000 on original brakes when I sold it.

 

I got 145,000 miles on the brakes on the Buick......so I figure that the Prius should wear out before I need to replace the brakes......just got a new 2007 one.

Depends upon how you drive, hills, and where you drive. Obviously, highway driving for long periods puts no wear on the brakes. Constant stop and go takes more out of them, especially if you are an 'on-off' driver...on the gas, on the brake....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(telegraph @ Jun 1 2007, 09:46 AM) [snapback]453204[/snapback]</div>

I have an '05 Prius with 65K miles, and I do live in the mountains, with curvy commute roads, so plenty of braking. And they're working quite well, no noises, hesitation or otherwise.

The dealership just told me the front pads only have 2mm, which evidently is the minimum, and they recommended immediate replacement, including resurfacing rotors, for well over $300.

From what I'm reading above, the brake/rotor situation is pretty much the same as other cars (other than the regeneration system), so I'll go with just pad replacement.

 

only 2 mm?

Unless you do alot of HARD braking, that forces the prius to use the friction brakes instead of regenerative braking, I'd get a second opinion or check them myself.

 

Newspaper boy, replaced around 20Kmile on front brake (non Prius) because he used brake more often.