Brakes - How long are yours lasting?

[Bob1984]

I have a 66 plate XC60 with almost 24,700 miles on the clock. I have recently replaced the rear pads and discs and now the front ones need doing?!

I took it in to Volvo and they road tested it and checked it out and said the front discs have warped? They said the reason for this is the car is not being used enough, which frankly I believe to be BS.

Has/is anyone else going through pads and discs this fast? The car is used as a family car and is not driven hard or hammering the brakes at all.

Thank you

[griston64]

I have covered 24,500 miles in my 2012 V70 D5 since new and the pads and discs are like brand new. Very low mileage but all motorway

[Welton]

I get probably at least 40K from pads overall, in fact I need to change my discs and pads all-round this year (after about 20K miles) because its taken me 4 years to do that mileage and the brakes have kinda 'gone off' like they've gone brittle and glazed-over.

There's lots of theories about 'warping' and some experts say the pulsing sensation under braking is due to the discs being contaminated by a transfer of brake pad material into the cast iron disc....allegedly caused by braking to a stop and then keeping the foot-brake pressed.

To be fair if you can do the work yourself I'd just change the discs and pads, do everything to the book, clean everything up, grease the sliding parts and copper slip the pad backings (or use whatever equivalent gunk is recommended on modern cars) and just treat the brakes normally in use from thereon.

[KerPLoD]

My Corsa just had its first replacement brake discs at 64,000 miles this year - but then that's a sub-900kg hatchback that never goes very fast anyway.

The rear drums did in fact warp on that Corsa as well, resulting in a very noticeable vibration under braking. I was told a possible cause could be emergency braking (heating the brakes up) and going through a puddle at the same time (rapidly cooling), which made sense seeing as it was only the passenger side drum that was warped, and it's usually the nearside where all the puddles are.

25,000 miles does sound like very low mileage, though. I'm told that newer cars wear out discs and pads much quicker due to a) increased weight and b) all the electronic driver aids on board that can apply braking force to individual wheels to keep the car straight and true without the driver even noticing. I've never heard of discs warping from lack of use, however. I've heard of them rusting and scaling up because of it, but a few hard blasts on the brakes should clear it off.

Of course, I could be talking complete bollocks, but if I were you, I'd at least get a second opinion from an independent garage. Discs and pads shouldn't be rocket science so if they do indeed need replacing, you'll likely save yourself a few hundred pounds versus a main dealer. If you're worried about using genuine parts you can still ask the indy garage to use genuine bits, too.

If in doubt you could always try taking a few photos close-up and posting them here, there's bound to be someone who knows what they're looking at.

[WABB]

17 reg XC60 (series 1) front pads just replaced at 29k miles - 3mm left so would prob have reached c35k miles safely. Discs all fine although ridging present on outer edge of all discs.

[DaveNP]

I can't really remember when I last changed brake pads but Checking the MOT advisories on the V70 I reckon it was at least 40k miles ago and on the wife's Kia I did them at 50k but the discs were still good.

But the big thing is how and where the car gets driven.
I went with my son to test drive a couple of cars on Monday, both Mazda2, one was base spec 65 reg but only 1700 miles, the other was the 'Sport' version 16 reg with 17000 miles. The base spec is a pretty good car comfortable and while it won't win races it's no slouch either, with only 1700 on the clock all the components are practically new. The brake discs do have some dark 'staining' from corrosion where it has had little use but it stops nicely in a straight line. By contrast the Sport version we could see the discs were worn to the extent that they had some lipping on the edges, when we took that out for a test drive within a couple of miles it became apparent that the front brakes were totally worn out with horrendous grinding noises every time we touched the brakes, I turned round and took it back (part of me thought I should just park it and let them come and get us). We assumed that the 'Sport' had been driven hard over those 17k and if the brakes had suffered that much the rest of the car probably had too.
He's picking up the low miles base spec one next week.

[Darlo 1]

My front pads have just passed the 37000 mile mark but i have no idea how long they have actually been fitted to the car, not been changed in my three and a half years of ownership but may have been done a few years prior to that. It was used by a doctor before me and he travelled from Manchester to Huddersfield and back 5 days a week. Had the mot done Monday and no mention of the brakes needing any work doing soon, took ownership at 169000 miles and now on 206000 miles.

[green van man]

Changed disks and pads at probably mid 50 thousand miles. Disks were above minthickness but would of not lasted the life of new pads.

So much of this is driving style and wether auto or manual. If one follows the current teaching that brakes are cheaper than gearboxes then they will not last long, if one is old school and uses the engine to assist the brakes and is smooth and mechanically sympathetic they they will last a lot longer. Just being observant and backing off before a limit change so that the car coasts to the limit at the sign rather than driving to the sign then braking makes a huge difference. Given the amount of comfort brakeing I observe prehaps I should buy shares in brake manufactures.

Paul.

[acshortt5]

You cannot judge by mileage alone. Someone might do a lot of motorway miles and therefore rarely use the brakes and they will last longer. The same mileage in city driving will clearly wear out the brakes faster... and track driving will wear them out even quicker.

It also depends on the pads you fit. I use the volvo police pads on the front which don't last as long as the standard volvo pads given the same amount/type of driving for example.

[galloot633]

For a heavy car my xc90 has been very kind to brakes and tyres , I bought the car with 84k miles , I changed the front and rear pads at about 120k miles and I've just had an advisory on front discs at 175 k miles
Dave