desmo907

2013 RX450h (115k miles)
I had the front brakes replaced ~85k miles. During last oil change the dealer gave me a quote for rear brakes but I wonder how they know they are needed without taking the wheel off. Maybe estimate by miles or peer through the wheel?
(They also quoted wiper blades and cabin filter that I replaced myself for a fraction

Curious how many miles folks are getting before replacing rear brakes? I understand this may vary by the type of driving, etc. (Mine might be half highway and half town.)

Thanks!

Droid13

If the vehicle is lifted, its not hard to see and estimate the brake pad depth without taking the wheel off. I would say 85K miles per brake change is very reasonable. I have 250,000km (155K miles) on mine and I've changed the back once and the front twice (latest just weeks ago). Funny thing is, the back brakes were replaced before the front brakes the first time they were changed, but the second time thru the front brakes needed to be replaced and still going on the back brakes. I guess it depends how often you have the brakes serviced (ie pins cleaned and greased up so the caliper's move smoothly)

salimshah

"Life expectancy of brake pads" It is a hard question to answer.

But if you rephrase the question to "What is the milage from brake pads that I should be concerned" then I would say 30K miles. Go through the list of dragging bakes [mechanical issues], driving habits, terrain, ebbs and flows of traffic and weight of the contents, pulling trailers, quality of pads etc. Once you address/resolve/live_with the issues you will form your life expectancy as it pertains to you and your vehicle.

Salim