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How fast have your brakes worn?

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Philth

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
As the title states, looking to get a feel of what mileage people received the "Break Wear" warning.

Mine popped up this morning and I haven't even logged 23,000 miles on it yet. I've towed once, and it was an extremely light load.
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#3 ·
That's too quick. Agree on checking sensor. I went over 90k on original pads.


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#4 ·
I went 77,000 on original pads also.
 
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#5 ·
I have read that they go through pads pretty quickly. I'm not surprised though. The Touareg is a bit of a pig and takes a lot to stop so it used the pads a lot. Also I know companies like BMW and VW use pads that stop great but are not great for life and break dust.
 
#6 ·
This question has been raised many times in many brake threads and the lifetime expectation varies according to each post therein!

It depends on so many factors including crap driving habits!

However, after observing all the posts in all the threads over nearly a decade, if someone asked me what is the likely lifespan given all things being relatively equal, then I would say anything under 60,000 miles is disappointing and anything over is your bank balance's good fortune.

23,000 is very poor and may indicate a problem either with a sensor or a caliper perhaps.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
It HAS been pulling right ever since I bought it. Hmm. Okay. I'll pull the wheels tonight and take a pic of the pads.

Which ones are more prone to wear first? Fronts or rear? I saw the rear go first on my Jetta.

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#11 ·
Xeno555 said:
VW does 70% bias to rear, to prevent nose dip.
Click to expand...
At 79K I still have the original rear pads on mine and have done two sets of fronts. Second set of fronts I did pads only and I believe that to be a bad move since they wore too quickly. The third set got a new set of rotors. I plan to do the complete rear when the sensor finally goes off.
 
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Discussion starter · #12 ·
Took a look at the pads. I didn't take them out but they look worn, but not the 4mm required to set off the wear sensors? Thoughts. Pics are posted left front right front and left rear.
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#13 ·
My 2016 has just ticked over 30,000km (just under 20K miles).
I was really surprised to find my rear pads were worn down to around 5mm!
I replaced my fronts with Bendix after about 15,000km just to get rid of the dust and the fronts were barely worn at the time. They're down to about 10mm at the moment.
I previously had a Gen 1 cayenne (same as a 7L touareg) and only replaced the rear pads about 3 times (and the rotors once) in about 280,000km, so this is a real surprise.
I do a reasonable bit of towing, so it'll be interesting to see how the bendix hold up.
I've used the Bendix on my old Cayenne and they were fine, much less dust and similar stopping, not quite as "bitey" as the OEM pads.
BTW the stealer told me I had to also replace the rear discs, I told them forget it, they haven't even worn 1 mm yet. wanted $1,100 for the whole job. $500 for the pads. Got the bendix rear pads for $140.
They outright rejected this as a warranty item also. The aussie warranty specifically excludes these wear items.
 
#14 ·
That's all fine aout the front/rear bias but most of them wear the fronts more than the rears. Usually get 20-30% more life from the rear set than the front. Pad limit (how much friction material left on the pad) is 2mm or about 3/32" and considering the average new thickness of pad is 12mm (varies a bit beween models) giving you 10mm to wear then if say you have 6mm left you have used 60% of your brake life so far. John
 
#15 ·
Philth said:
Took a look at the pads. I didn't take them out but they look worn, but not the 4mm required to set off the wear sensors? Thoughts. Pics are posted left front right front and left rear.
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Hard to really tell from the pics but your rear brake looks OK for a bit (quite a bit of chamfer left on that pad). Your fronts look like there's only a couple mm left before they hit the squeal tab. Don't know anything about your driving habits, but at the rate you've burned through these you should replace all four corners sooner rather than later. And since this thread will get there eventually, I replaced with Raybestos pads, which wear slower but require a little more initial effort. Search the forum for brake threads and you'll see every kind of pad tried and argued, then make your own choice.

When I replaced my brakes (2010 TDI), the rears had more pad left, the fronts tripped the sensors. Fronts definitely wore faster than the rear, and there was a much deeper lip on the front rotors. I got 77,000 miles out of mine with lots of mountain driving, but I have a diesel and they're usually a bit easier on the brakes unless towing frequently.
 
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Discussion starter · #17 ·
Brief update.

The wear indicator didn't pop up yesterday as I started my engine to go home and it's been off ever since. I have an appt scheduled for tomorrow for the dealer to look at since it's still under warranty.


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#18 ·
Gouge alert!

Gouge alert!

DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Haha. I'm ready to have them explain to me why a sensor would trigger, then go off, but my brakes are bad. I'll be changing them myself if they actually show me that they are worn close to the 2 mm limit.


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#20 ·
Hey Philth, from the pics the rear has hardly got any wear but the fronts are probably about 2/3rds worn which seems too much but as people say it depends on driving habits and topography. Lots of hills or towing means more wear. Probably get the front callipers checked to se if they are binding at all id you think driving habits didn't cause this amount of wear although from the rear wear it seems it isn't you. JOhn
 
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