How many miles do you get out of your car brakes?

[Patrick McCarthy]

2015 Chev Silverado 4WD 6.2 liter V8 with 138k and still original brakes Front and Rear. Last 2 service visits i inquired re brakes, and each time told they are still within specs. 47k on OEM tires, 80k on Michelin LTX.

OTOH, 2007 911 with 45k and brakes done at 30k and tires replaced twice . . . and approaching third.

Different horses for different courses.

[Mike Null]

I got 60,000 on the rear brakes and I have 75,000 on the front of my Volvo XC60 with no indication I need to replace them.

[Brian Elfert]

I have 96,000 miles on my car. I had to replace the rear pads for the first time around 86,000 miles because one of the rear calipers locked up. It turned out the pads had been wearing very uneven on that wheel. I could have gotten more miles out of the pads if not for the uneven wear and the caliper locking up. I replaced the rotors too because they were pretty bad and they are so thin to start with now you can't do anything with them. I suspect the front brakes are due for work for the first time pretty soon. I like to accelerate gently and coast up to red lights.

A buddy of mine has to replace his wife's brakes about every ten thousand miles. She treats the accelerator as an on/off switch and waits until the last second to slam on the brakes.

[Andrew Joiner]

My wife just had a brake job done because the mechanic said "You'll need it in about 10 to 20 k miles". She has 70,000 miles on her car.
I'm a lot more frugal than her so I don't want to get it done if I don't need it.

Is it safe to wait till I hear some screeching from the wear strips?

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful.

[Edward Weber]

You can wait until it starts to squeal, if that's your preference. At 90k you're going to need the rotors resurfaced anyway for the new pads.
Please keep in mind, that brakes are not something to put off too far or go cheap on. They are the main safety system in your car.

[Mike Soaper]

You can wait until it starts to squeal, if that's your preference. At 90k you're going to need the rotors resurfaced anyway for the new pads.
Please keep in mind, that brakes are not something to put off too far or go cheap on. They are the main safety system in your car.

Yup, the woah'n is more important than the go'n.

I realize some folks have limited resources, but I really don't understand those who use the cheepest ($12?) "economy" no name pads off of the internet to stop a 1-2 ton vehicle at 55mph

[Earl McLain]

A friend of mine would get about 9000 miles on a set and rotors on his Subaru. Auto store with the life time warranty would give him new ones after aboul8 or 9 replacements. it was a special left hand drive that they said was made to deliver mail

That sounds like a stuck caliper, which was a potential issue on the Subaru's I worked on.

Sounds more like a rural mail carrier making 500+ stop/day 5 days a week. Just ran into the lady who was our carrier for the past 15 or so years--she just transferred to a different rural route that gets issued a USPS vehicle. She said the cost to drive her own was well over the reimbursments she got for doing so, hence the change in routes that she otherwise didn't want to make. She was awesome--and was great delivering flat rate boxes full of wood!!

[mike stenson]

Sounds more like a rural mail carrier making 500+ stop/day 5 days a week. Just ran into the lady who was our carrier for the past 15 or so years--she just transferred to a different rural route that gets issued a USPS vehicle. She said the cost to drive her own was well over the reimbursments she got for doing so, hence the change in routes that she otherwise didn't want to make. She was awesome--and was great delivering flat rate boxes full of wood!!

My wife wasn't a rural carrier, nor was a friend of ours. Both had that issue on 2010ish Subarus. I remain unimpressed with them in general.

[Brian Elfert]

You can wait until it starts to squeal, if that's your preference. At 90k you're going to need the rotors resurfaced anyway for the new pads.
Please keep in mind, that brakes are not something to put off too far or go cheap on. They are the main safety system in your car.

The rotors are so thin from new on my car that there is no resurfacing them. I doubt they are over 1/2" thick. They don't have the vents between the two sides like a lot of rotors. They are just a flat disk with a bump out in the center to go over the hub.

I spent a pretty penny on brake parts for just the rear brakes on my car. I spent around $500 (with shipping and tax) on pads, rotors, and calipers. I did the work myself with some help from a neighbor.

[Paul F Franklin]

Curious how many of you flush and replace brake fluid per recommended maintenance interval (often every 30k miles)?

[Jim Becker]

Curious how many of you flush and replace brake fluid per recommended maintenance interval (often every 30k miles)?

It's on my vehicle's published maintenance schedule at 30K intervals and yes, I get it performed. Brake fluid does tend to absorb moisture, so that change interval helps deal with it. For folks who drive much lower miles per year, this one is probably a good idea to do at the "time" interval rather than the miles interval on the published schedule. It's not a real expensive service, either, for all of us that do not "wrench".

[Alan Lightstone]

Just replaced them on my wife's E43AMG Mercedes after 21K miles. Crazy low mileage. Cost $3K. In every Lexus or Tesla I ever owned they lasted the life of the car for me (~100K miles).

[Rob Luter]

All of them. Seriously though, between 60k and 80k on the last few vehicles. When I was a kid it was every 20k. Of course when I was a kid a car with 80k miles was in the scrapyard (rust belt resident).

[John Lifer]

Have a friend who drives really REALLY conservative. He's gotten over 150K on original brakes on a couple of vehicles. But it depends upon your terrain.

[Paul F Franklin]

Have a friend who drives really REALLY conservative. He's gotten over 150K on original brakes on a couple of vehicles. But it depends upon your terrain.

Pretty sure I've been behind him a few times