Not sure this is the place for this, but we are new to our area and I brought our car in for an inspection & the car shop said the front break pads were completely done & needed to be replaced. He showed me them after & idk anything about cars. Trying to determine if this guy is trustworthy or if we get robbed.
by jfizz08
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28 Comments
I think the standard recommendation is to replace brake pads when they get down to 3-4mm or less.
first and second picture, basically
third picture, no, has some life left
There is life in them still but not much. You could continued on depending on city vs highway driving but I personally would have replaced those too only because I’m a bit Anal about tires and brakes since one connects you to the road and one stops you.
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the far left one is pretty done.
you can’t just replace one side. It’s pretty common that they wear unevenly (slightly – because of the sliding pin design)
Might have been *slightly* early. But we’re talking maybe a month of light driving early.
the mechanic didn’t do you dirty
Super helpful thank you everyone! Feeling better about this
They aren’t really bad. But definitely bad enough that I would have replaced them. They don’t have much life left. You may have gone a little while longer before having them replaced anyway.
Yes
Close enough for sure.
Those pads are done. From some angles and on some parts of the pad, there might be just a little bit of meat left on the bone. But from other photo angles and on some parts of the pad, they look to be almost entirely gone (i.e. down to the last couple millimeters). That is not uncommon for pads to be a little uneven. You need some mass/thickness in pad material to distribute the heat generated from braking. It’s not solely the actual material to material contact. So once you get down to having only a couple mm of material, not only to do you burn through the last of it more quickly, you also don’t dissipate/distribute the heat as well just due to very little mass of braking material. It was time for those to go.
No, but those brake pads in your hand look close to end-of-life.
What did you pay extra to change them?
They are not /completely/ done, but they are in the “well if you are allready here, we change them” done, as they are cheap anyways.
Those few mm that are left on them would you get back into the shop in maybe 2 months.
Not done you dirty.
**BRAKE** *- to slow down*
**BREAK** *- to malfunction*
(And just in case, there is no such thing as a *bumber*.)
Yep
They did still have some miles in them before causing problems. How many miles is the part that nobody can say. You’d have to pull the wheels off and check them very frequently to be able to squeeze any more miles out of them without risking going metal on metal between the backing plate and the rotor.
If I had no money to my name and had to at least put food on the table, I’d start checking them at least once a month, if not more. In the meantime , I’d try to scrape together enough to replace them ASAP. If I had the money to replace them on a card or in an account, I would feel good about buying new brakes at this stage. You’ve gone through the vast majority of their useful life and now can have peace of mind knowing you’ll have reliable stopping power.
When that center slot is gone they need to be replaced immediately. If you were broke and it was new pads or rent/food I’d tell you to wait a month or two and brake lightly as possible. If you have a career your time is more valuable so just replace them while you’re there.
Brakes and tires are the most important safety devices on your car so never cheap out on replacements. These pads are ready for a change.
BRAKE PADS
And yes, I would say they needed to be replaced.
Brakes. They are a safety concern. I would recommend replacement of these myself.
Yes. Unless your a cheapskate that waits until they grind and then complains about the cost since it now wiped out your calipers because the pistons came to far out of their bore.
The one you finger is on is fucked, the rest will be fucked next month.
Pretty much. Yes.
BREAKIN!
Yes.
They should have showed you a new one as it would have made the difference apparent. 3 still have *some* useful lifetime but 1 is just about done. That automatically means you have to replace 2(as your vehicle has 2 pads per brake rotor) and it’s always recommended you replace them in pairs, especially the front that is responsible for most of your actual braking force. Uneven braking leads to all kinds of other issues and unpredictable handling.
Can’t say 100% your mechanic won’t ever try and screw you, but they’re not doing so here. You’re right to trust but verify and don’t ever feel dumb or wrong for doing so. The smartest people ask a lot of questions!
They will still work. But personally I’d have changed them if they got that low on my car.
It’s part of the system that stops you crashing into things.. Is it worth skimping for an extra few miles?
You need to replace brakes about this time. Think about how often you go to the shop: tech is looking to get you through the next six months of driving, so this is the right time to do these.
Brake*