Brake sensor light came on, which surprised me as it's only 31k miles since I replaced them. I checked out the brake fluid level, and that was fine. I took off the front wheel and it looked like it had 3-4mm left. I guess that is about right then for the light to come on.

most of my driving is motorway, so I am surprised the pads don't last longer. Currently I have PBR metal master brake pads.

Any ideas on longer lasting brake pads?

Is the premature brake pad wear indicating some other underlying problem?

 

31K on the brake pads??

I easily get over 60K on front pads and almost double that on the rear as long as the slides are free. I don't know what PBR metal masters are but don't use anything special - just wahtever as long as they have the sensor.

I suspect your calipers/slides are hanging up!

 

It's not just miles and mechanicals, but also how you drive. That seems a little low, but if you brake hard and rarely coast to lights, they will wear faster. I got 42k out of my oem set, then 60k, and am currently at almost 60k on set 3. But I have a stick and I always back off the gas when a light ahead of me turns red. I also do a lot of highway driving. I think my shop used Centrex pads rated for low dust. They were not performance pads (like ceramics) since I don't race it. You know that the front takes 60-80% of the braking force and we have heavy cars.

 

If you are driving on city highways, then that could account for a lower bake pad life. Try not to burn the pads the Prius way. Apparently, Prius drivers get even less brake pad life. Prius brake pads may fail before the car stops. A Prius could eat 3mm of brake pad, go brakeless, crash in to a traffic jam going 90 MPH and it would just be "driver error".

 

My lady's mother drives a prius and tries to sell everyone she meets on them. Last time she flew out she tried to sell me and I just said "Misses, I'm sorry but I drive a real car. Do you think the blizzard I drove through to pick you up would part for me if I was driving a prius? I think you should drive my car sometime."

 

When I get to changing the pads, I will look more closely at the calipers. I hope they are not sticking for any reason.

 

Ya.. make sure your your clipers are sliding freely. I'd completly change the fluid out too incase theres some contamination causing the check valves to stick. Also, if you changed the rotors, make sure they arent alittle too thick.