GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello All, I am going on 65K with my original brakes, how far has everybody else gone on the originals?

I have almost 185,000 kms on my original '03 brake pads. Still brakes like a 2-year old car. My car will be coming up on 9 years old this spring :-)EDIT: that's at least 85% city driving too.

Wow, I am all highway pretty much maybe I can go another 65K before I change them out !!

Quote, originally posted by rob12345 »Wow, I am all highway pretty much maybe I can go another 65K before I change them out !! I'm willing to bet you could. I'm approaching 60k, and my car still brakes like a champ. You can extend the life of them with your driving style, too. I'd like to think that's why mine are still in great shape, but I honestly believe they are a better quality pad from the start. Worst comes to worst, even if you have to change them, it's just about the easiest thing to swap on the vehicle when the time comes. If you don't mind taking the rims and a caliper bolt off, that is.

Quote, originally posted by jkm311 »You can extend the life of them with your driving style, too. I'd like to think that's why mine are still in great shape, but I honestly believe they are a better quality pad from the start. For sure... I constantly watch the traffic ahead, watch for flashing crosswalks, and use the throttle or coasting to control my speed whenever I can. I honestly can't remember when the last time I applied more than 50% pressure to my brakes would be...it rarely happens.Tires, on the other hand...I like to consume

I'm at 40k and the last inspection the guys said the same thing they have been saying every year, "did you just put on new brakes?" I use a lot of engine braking and coasting. According to them the pads and shoes are barely broken in.... I suspect if I don't change them they would last me 150-175k.However, once the turbo goes in new upgraded front rotors and pads go in.

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »However, once the turbo goes in new upgraded front rotors and pads go in.Dibs on your OEMs! Take PayPal?

I had about 80,000 miles when I changed my pads out. There was almost no evidence of wear on them at all.

108K here & still original.

8 years and 70k.I have some pads and rotors for it but haven't changed them out yet. Haven't actually looked at them yet to see how much is left.

Ok guys....here goes: 9 years old....159,000 miles and STILL the original brake pads! I will say though....I do need to look at changing them soon. I'll probably just go ahead and replace the rotors as well as the pads all the way around. I still have the original shoes on the parking brake as well.Jim

Let me start off by saying I was an idiot and I did it all wrong...I replaced mine at 100,000 miles, and my pads were gone. I might have had 1mm of material left on one side, and the other was down to the backing plate. I originally looked at them because the brakes were making odd noises when braking gently. When I saw how bad they were I immediately replaced them, and apparently I got super-duper-idiot lucky because my rotors weren't destroyed...Please check your brakes more often than I did.

Original everything on both of our Vibes here. 57K on mine, 55K on hers. I'm not sure about my dad or my sister's Vibes though.

I have 69k miles on my 09 so its alot of freeway. Original brakes.

I believe I got around 75k on my front pads. Unfortunately in the long morning commute I deal with heavy traffic so aggresive braking is hard to avoid. I just did my second set at 127,000 miles. I had Hawk HPS on it before. Stopping power was great but they wore faster, ate the rotors up more and had a lot more brake dust. In time we will see how the brakeperformance.com slotted rotors and premium semi-metalics do. So far so good.

I swapped out my factory pads for ceramic ones at ~45K miles. It wasn't that the OEM's were worn out (in fact, I was surprised how much meat was still left); rather, the occasional grinding and squeaking drove me nuts. No such problems w/the ceramics, though I'm sure the lifespan of the rotors will be shortened.

Had a (very) slight pulse in pedal when breaking heavily at higher speeds... Not that I do that a lot, BUT it wasn't normal! So I finally guilted my hubby into looking at/working on my brakes. First brake maintanence: 72,500miles in 5 years & 3 months. Rear drums are like new! Just got a cleaning and slapped back on. Front pads showed a decent amount of wear (IMO, I probably could have gone another 15k). But hubby replaced front pads and rotors (showed very slight warping). But it's done! Everything feels soooo much better in all braking situations! (and that "clunk" people keep posting about: mine started at about 68k, but now- it's gone!)

I can't remember how many miles on the Vibe, low 70k range I believe. Car was built in 10/02, so that's not bad.Man, they were toast! The brake fluid was almost at MIN from the calipers extended out so far.

Attached files

125K here on original pads....

I put about 90K on mine.

changed mine out at 100k miles. still had about 40% life in them.my 07 that i sold with over 100k miles that i bought new, i never changed the pads and they always worked fine. A shot of lube on the backing plates will help any that dry out over time and squeak.

75 K on my '08 (manuf 10/07). Just replaced today.