I'm at 30k miles. Replaced the rear pads at 15K. Bought the car at 8K miles so I'm assuming the front pads are original.
Dealer says I'm at 3mm all around. Time to change the pads, for sure-- but they're recommending rotors as well. I don't drive (or brake) too hard, and have never tracked the car. I'm thinking that might be overkill. I'd like to get one more set of pads in before a full pads-and-rotors swap.
Thoughts?
(Also, any favorite indie shops/brake places in the NYC/Boston area? Jag dealer wants $2,000 for the job. Needless to say, I passed.)
Thanks as always...

 

Ask them for the thickness of the rotor friction surface and how it compares to the minimum dimension stamped on the rotor.

Your profile says you're Los Angeles.

 

My 1st impression was you had a decent miles on the pads and rotors but you got me on the fact that you have 15K miles on the car and you are on your 2nd set of rear pads. Considering you say you are not hard on brakes I would be concerned there is something wrong here. I do agree you should have the rotors check for thickness based on the spec. If on the low end you need to replace them. If you are in the middle of the range then I would just slap pads on. I just turned 20 K on my 12 and am on original pads and rotors. Just got the car inspected last month and dealer said I have 60% left on the front and 50% on the back. I expect a pad change around 50K.

 

Not correct. If the rotors are at or above the minimum thickness, they are suitable for (at least) one more set of pads. The dimension is the minimum allowable for re-entry into service.

 

Indeed LA-based. Drove across the country and am in NYC for another month.

 

Might not have been clear - vehicle has 30K miles. 15K on rear pads, and I'm assuming, as I bought the car used, that the front pads are original so they've got 30K. (and by 30K I mean 30,000 miles. I'm assuming that no one here is metric and is thinking kilometers...)

 

One other question - I wash the car pretty regularly and those front wheels are always chimney-soot black. Every week. Honestly, I thought those pads would go sooner given all the dust. Are there pads that will give me more life, less grime?

 

There are lower dust pads, few threads on them here.
I stuck with oem because they have a better feel- I wanted to preserve what engineers intended.

I put a ceramic coating on wheels, dust rinses itself off, and my coating has lasted 2 years! then again I dont use anything but mild soap.

Any place can do your rotors and pads, for a fraction of dealer. The price indicated what they are really after and its not your safety. The rotors and pads are very inexpensive for our car. Even tire rack sells them.

 

It sounds like there is something wrong with your rear brakes if you are only getting 15K miles on a set of pads, with only "normal" driving. I am on my 6th V8 Jag now. My XJR was the only one that ever needed new rear pads, and that was at 150K miles. I had over 125K miles on an XK8 coupe and XJ8 when I sold them.

The Jag spec for minimum pad thickness is 2mm so you have a little left.

Are the rotors warped? (What is the disc and face run out?) Are they below the minimum thickness? If not, why touch them? I know the shops like to turn or replace the rotors every time they change pads. It is easier for them to do that, and generates more revenue, than checking them.

Finally there is nothing magical about the brakes on your car. Any decent shop should be able to properly service your brakes for a fraction of what the dealer quoted you. Or, do it yourself. It is pretty easy and will take less time than driving to a shop and having them do it.

 

Which ceramic coating do you use on your wheels? richzak recommended the Pinnacle in one thread but I have not tried anything yet.

I love the look of my Caravelas but holy hell are they a pain to clean.

 

I thought the same. I'm at 37k miles with the same rotors and pads and my dealer recently inspected them and they are still in their "green" zone (yellow zone is still good but watch and red zone is replace).

 

You have to take into account what driving in Manhattan and LA is like.
The foot is like a Ferret on amphetamines, jumping between gas and brake.
Its the ultimate testing grounds for brakes. I say 3x the wear of other places.

Plus he is combining to different poisons. Outskirts of NYC and in LA, bunch of crazy hard braking, the kind that make you lose your coffee and ridding the brake in Manhattan stop and go. Dont know if that adds to his wear?

 

do this and you will never look back. Clean your wheels with a clay bar, yup its the only thing that will get the embedded iron. Assuming you have washed it with sulfur- the stuff that turns pink.

I applied cquartz UK (its not made for wheels) because I had some leftover. Now I wont use the stuff that cquartz makes specifically for wheels because I dont know if I will get this longevity I have got. 2+years! wow.

Here is a pic during clay bar of wheels.

 

Rather than deal with coatings and cleaning, why not just emilinate the dust?

For the past 17 years or so, I've used Porterfield R4S pads in every vehicle I've owned, and have never had a dusting problem from them. I've had them in everything from my current off road rig ('95 Land Cruiser) to commuters to barely street legal track day/weekend canyon blast cars. I've found them to last a minimum of 60,000 miles with one set in the commuter car going a tick over 120k. In addition to a lack of dust, they wear like iron (that is, last a very, very long time) and will provide you with better cold bite, better performance when hot, and an improvement in ability to modulate the brakes both at the limit and at the stop light. I know they make them for the X150, and if their pricing is in line with the other cars they make the pads for, they're about $100 or so for the fronts or rears.

I bought my XKR with new brakes all around and when the pads wear out, you can bet I'll be installing the R4S pads.

 

I used the Pinnacle on my Carelia's, and it did help, but then I switched to ceramic pads, and refinished Senta's (no Pinnacle), and they stay very clean.

 

I understand LA traffic. I lived in So. Cal. for more than 35 years. The rear brakes should not wear out 2X as fast as the fronts, unless he is driving in reverse all the time.

 

I will probably go to ceramics when I need new pads but that may be 3 or 4 years at my pace.

 

There was a thread here that discussed the rear brakes wearing faster by design. I may have misinterpreted.

 

No, I think you got it right, I recall reading it too.

 

Replacing the original pads at 15K = original owner beat on the car with excessive burnouts (the kind where you hold the brake down to get a standing burnout).

11 years ago, I bought a 2006 350Z with 5K miles on it. By 12K miles, I was told I needed new pads out back, but not front. Those pads were totally shot when they came off. When my friend beat on his dad's old Lexus GS, the same thing happened.

Edit: Just wanted to state that after replacing pads at 12K on my Z, I didn't need to replace them again until 45K, in NYC driving.