how much mileage from front pads

After doing all the filter changes on my Passat I thought I would tackle the front pads today,, the car went to Shrewsbury VW for some warranty work (passenger door handle) about 8k miles ago & they offered to do pads then because they said they wouldnt last untill the next service.
So took wheels off & removed pins to find Pads with at least 10/12 mm of wear left on, still got 3mm till it hits the wear indicator then another 7mm,, not bad after 60063 miles on the clock. Cleaned put old pads back in & will do them in about 6k, such an easy job to do.
How many miles have you got out of pads.

Had nearly 100k out of front ones on my last Passat, and even then only replaced as dealer said they wouldn't last to the next service. However, I do mainly motorway miles so despite the higher miles the brakes haven't had much use - certainly not like a town car, no matter how gently its been driven.
Another of those questions if you ask ten people you'll get ten different answers. Totally depends on driving style, type of mileage etc.

Dealers will always tell you the pads are low, it's a way of making easy money from ppl who don't know, they will say you need new ones at 50% worn normally, looks worse in the caliper than out, I've changed a set one time and only put the new ones in because I'd bought them and the car was going within the next 12 mths.


Now, whose gonna be the clever chappy to invent a £20 tool that does the rear handbrake thing without destroying the caliper.

my first Passat had 11250 on the clock when i bought it, it had not had the 10,000 service so i had it done within a week of purchase. i was informed the front pads had 9,000 miles left. since the next service was not due for another 10,000 whey did they not replace?.

however the same report was given at 20k, 30k, 40k.....up to 80k when i sold it to my cousin. he is still running it today with 198k on the clock. last time i serviced it for him i thought they would need changing at 200k but we will see. he does all motorway miles like me. he lives in stafford and works in milton keynes so at least 200 miles every day...:approve::approve::approve:

I was advised by the VW specialist that my front pads were quite worn (at 40k) but that until I had the brake warning light appear, I shouldn't worry about them, because even then there's more than enough to get to a garage to have them changed.

Does this seem right to you, as I would expect the main dealer to say CHANGE THEM NOW!

As a matter of interest, how quickly do the rears wear down in relation to the front? I know they're electronically operated so aren't a straight forward change.

Thanks.

Just changed the fronts after 47,500. Advised to by the guy doing the MOT on the car as the inner pads were getting close to the wear indicators.
However they would probably have lasted another 10,000 I reckon.

Is the 'wear indicator' when it activates the brake warning light?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by patomlin76

Is the 'wear indicator' when it activates the brake warning light?

---

Yes, but remember that it is only the N/S that has a sensor so don't rely on the indicator to tell you when it's time to change the pads.:beerchug:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by patomlin76

As a matter of interest, how quickly do the rears wear down in relation to the front? I know they're electronically operated so aren't a straight forward change.

---

I changed mine at around 60,000/90,000, so that's 50% more, but I had a bit of wear left on both of them, but not sure how much.

Stop worrying! I once got a lift to work off a bird in a Honda Civic; first time she braked I heard metal on metal and told her she needed to get her pads changed, NOW!

About 4 months later she turned up late at work in a big huff. When asked what was the problem she admitted that her brakes had failed and some big round bits of metal had dropped out onto the road!