Genii New Front Brakes After 3 Years/23K Miles

[cootuk]

Looks like I'm another with a rare front brake eating Prius.

Most of our driving is <50mph, in fact most is in 30/40mph limits - with the odd bit of heavy braking in neutral to scrub rust from the discs.

New front pads and discs fitted Nov 2011 by main dealer, Nov 2013 reported 70% worn after 15k miles, Nov 2014 reported 90% worn after 23k miles.

"They're all like that, Sir" is the stock dealer explanation.

I'm not impressed, but guess there's very little I can do apart from budget for new brakes in another 3 years?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

with the odd bit of heavy braking in neutral to scrub rust from the discs.

Why? This shouldn't need to be done, the brakes are applied every time you come to a complete stop to hold the car when in drive or reverse, this is enough to stop rust build up.

Have you asked for the old pads back? Sounds suspect to me. In my other cars I've always got over 40-50k off of a set of pads, and expect this to double with the Prius all being well.

[geoffatstanpit]

I once had a Volvo with steel wheels and hubcaps (which keep the rain off the brake discs) and never had to replace discs in 150000 miles. The problem is the current fashion for alloy wheels which expose the discs to rain and weather. I now have a Yaris hybrid and am seeing the same problem. Probably worse with a hybrid because the brakes don't get used at all unless you misjudge a junction. When that happens you get a horrible grinding noise until the pads get through the rust. One day I intend to try to get proper steel wheels with covers to stop this but until I get around to it I have the same problem as you. Why do they make it so hard to choose the sensible option?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Probably worse with a hybrid because the brakes don't get used at all unless you misjudge a junction.

But they do. They're used every time you come to a complete stop.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I'd be curious as I am HEAVY on my brakes and in the taxi job, in town 10 hours a day in start stop traffic, housing estates etc my brakes lasted 30k miles on the front. I was weary so had them double checked and they were indeed down to 1mm. The next set were pretty much due at 60k miles as were a set of front discs.

So you must have a fault or be harder on your brakes than me - and that's saying something.

Obviously it depends on use patterns. Drive along A roads and motorways and your brakes last forever - almost. When I quit taxiing and commuted to work I did 20k miles with barely any wear on the pads.

Saying all this, Bradford (and surroundings) has lots of steep hills and fast/stop traffic. Maybe that is the cause?

[crofter]

Not just heavy braking causes wear. I often follow vehicles that seem to brake ever time the road veers left or right, no matter how slight the variation even though the the car is capable of steering round without going through the hedge. Do the drivers even know they are doing it ?

I know I have spent more than a few years driving trucks so have had to learn to drive 100 yards ahead and anticipate, lifting the old right pedal and letting the engine slow me down for the bend and using the brakes if I had to.

Then there are the drivers who can be quarter a mile behind you and come steaming up to you and have to brake.

It all adds to the wear on the brakes

Old codgers rant over

Del

[JSHarris]

My Gen II, which was driven around 20,000 miles a year, needed new front discs at around 45,000 miles. The pads were fine, and looked at if they would last for 75,000 miles plus, but the very light use that the brake discs get resulted in corrosion damage that resulted in them getting corroded around the edge of the disc rims before they had appreciable wear.

IIRC, this wasn't that uncommon on low mileage Gen IIs, and was reported as potential problem a fair while ago. One way of mitigating it was a suggestion that doing at least one hard braking stop on every journey might help, but I can't say I aver bothered with this.

For some reason the Gen III seems better, as in four years of low mileage driving my Gen III didn't exhibit any brake disc problems.

[PeteB]

When my last Gen 1 "Classic" Prius had its 70k service, just 5% of the brake disc thickness had been worn away, and the pads were almost like new. My service manager and I both thought they would last the life of the car.

Then the other 95% of the usable thickness was lost in just 7,000 miles, because of the cycle of rusting, scoring off on the odd day the brakes were used (the A/C compressor also died through the seals drying out during this time despite being on all the [minimal] time the car was being driven). All this was down to leaving the car parked on my drive for 6 days a week for a year, while I drove a Prius taxi the rest of the week.

I was angry they didn't use a better mix of metals for the discs (which were not exactly cheap parts), such that they could be destroyed so rapidly.

In daily use, they can last 200-300,000 miles if the driver has a gentle right foot and good acceleration sense.

[timberwolf]

My car is six years old, and has for its entire life spent most its time every week sat on the drive. I drive a limited mileage, mostly at the weekends, and I brake lightly.

After the annual service this year, I noticed that the front brakes were squeaking mainly when reversing and I thought they were binding. According to the dealer my annual service this year only included a brake inspection.

The dealer wasn't sure of the cause, there was lots of life left on the pads and disc, my brakes were safe and they could only recommend that I pay to to have the brakes stripped down and cleaned, which I agreed to have done. As I don't drive much, I am now waiting to see if the squeak comes back, and if it does, I guess it will have to go back to the dealer.

[johalareewi]

My gen3 prius has its 100,000 mile service today and also gets the front pads and discs changed for the first time. The rear pads are another story...

[timberwolf]

My gen3 prius has its 100,000 mile service today and also gets the front pads and discs changed for the first time. The rear pads are another story...

With your high annual mileage, I would never have expected seized calipers? I think it is lack of maintenance and/or poor design.

[johalareewi]

My gen3 prius has its 100,000 mile service today and also gets the front pads and discs changed for the first time. The rear pads are another story...

With your high annual mileage, I would never have expected seized calipers? I think it is lack of maintenance and/or poor design.

It was always one of the rear pads that wore down quickly and it only started doing this after 60,000 miles. When on the third set of rear pads, MrT had a really good look and discovered a failing wheel bearing (on the same wheel as the fast wearing pad). This was replaced and the rear pads now seem to be wearing evenly.

[MLW2233]

At the 40k service my Toyota garage said my GEN 2 discs needed replacing soon. At the 50k service they said discs and pads had loads of meat on them?????

[timberwolf]

My gen3 prius has its 100,000 mile service today and also gets the front pads and discs changed for the first time. The rear pads are another story...

With your high annual mileage, I would never have expected seized calipers? I think it is lack of maintenance and/or poor design.

It was always one of the rear pads that wore down quickly and it only started doing this after 60,000 miles. When on the third set of rear pads, MrT had a really good look and discovered a failing wheel bearing (on the same wheel as the fast wearing pad). This was replaced and the rear pads now seem to be wearing evenly.

Interesting. I'll try to remember that one.

[timberwolf]

At the 40k service my Toyota garage said my GEN 2 discs needed replacing soon. At the 50k service they said discs and pads had loads of meat on them?????

Yeah, I have had that with the engine water pump. One service, the are keen to replace it and the next it isn't even an observation.

Curiously, I've also had similar with the dentist, one visit it is that something needs watching and the next it is even mentioned.