Been a while since I posted but.....
I just felt I needed to follow up. After seeing more and more references to having to replace brakes more frequently, it's really got me wondering what the issue is. It must be driving styles, traffic patterns (jams, etc.)., and possibly towing habits if any. Several months ago, I literally got into an argument with another poster here about whether or not he was full of BS when he insisted LR4 breaks only last 10k to 12K miles. When I told him my experience with our 2010 LR4, he basically in turn told me I'm nuts and that brakes just don't last that long (on any vehicle). Here's the reality of my situation. Our 2010 LR4 LUX/PLUS is not used for towing but I have a larger family and we load our LR4 down regularly. I live in a moderately congested area, with some traffic congestion during rush hour. We do a mix of about 50/50 from hwy to city. Our LR4 has 38k miles on it now, and we did replace the rear brakes at 25K (within 1K of 25K if memory serves me correctly). At that time, we had our vehicle in for it's annual check up (2nd year). They said we had a "little" life left in the rears, but not much. They recommended I get them done while they had the vehicle, and they included a 10% discount off their service fee. I think it was around $630 or so after tax and so on. They said the front's were "excellent" still, so we did nothing. I recently had to take our vehicle in for a warranty fix (small plastic surround for the license plate illumination shroud). At that time I had them check my front brakes again and they came back and said my fronts were at 5.5mm and my rears were at 6mm. They said that was still within good working tolerances. Why that is important to me, is that our LR4 is leased and I'm not sure if we are going to be buying it out, or turning it in and getting another (or a RRS, or pre-owned, certified RR). Before I sink $1k or more (possibly might need tires at that time too), I'm going to figure out if I'm keeping it. That date (July 20th) is approaching rapidly. Bottom line is that I'll probably have around 42K/43K miles on her at that time, and I doubt I'll have to have preformed any additional brake work prior to that time. While I think the breaks on the LR4 have to work pretty hard to stop the 6k pound beast with authority, I feel like they are engineered correctly and that I've personally got my moneys worth out of them. Sorry for the long speech, but it's my experience so far, and one that has me pretty satisfied.
What does seem odd to me is that the rears seem to wear out more then the fronts. I always thought that the front brakes do the "lions share" of the work in stopping a vehicle. Must not me true for the LR4.
Cheers,
Joe
I have no idea how some people on this board are getting so much life out of their brakes - I'm at 26k miles on my 2011 LR4 and probably heading pretty soon toward my second set of front and rear brake pads and rotors. It was recommended (although not required) by both the dealer and a local shop to change out the rotors as well each time I change the pads (something about them not being able to cut the rotors like they do on domestic cars due to the 'lip' that forms), although I'm thinking of trying to change just the pads this time around, since that will save me about $600 in parts and labor. Thoughts/suggestions?
I just felt I needed to follow up. After seeing more and more references to having to replace brakes more frequently, it's really got me wondering what the issue is. It must be driving styles, traffic patterns (jams, etc.)., and possibly towing habits if any. Several months ago, I literally got into an argument with another poster here about whether or not he was full of BS when he insisted LR4 breaks only last 10k to 12K miles. When I told him my experience with our 2010 LR4, he basically in turn told me I'm nuts and that brakes just don't last that long (on any vehicle). Here's the reality of my situation. Our 2010 LR4 LUX/PLUS is not used for towing but I have a larger family and we load our LR4 down regularly. I live in a moderately congested area, with some traffic congestion during rush hour. We do a mix of about 50/50 from hwy to city. Our LR4 has 38k miles on it now, and we did replace the rear brakes at 25K (within 1K of 25K if memory serves me correctly). At that time, we had our vehicle in for it's annual check up (2nd year). They said we had a "little" life left in the rears, but not much. They recommended I get them done while they had the vehicle, and they included a 10% discount off their service fee. I think it was around $630 or so after tax and so on. They said the front's were "excellent" still, so we did nothing. I recently had to take our vehicle in for a warranty fix (small plastic surround for the license plate illumination shroud). At that time I had them check my front brakes again and they came back and said my fronts were at 5.5mm and my rears were at 6mm. They said that was still within good working tolerances. Why that is important to me, is that our LR4 is leased and I'm not sure if we are going to be buying it out, or turning it in and getting another (or a RRS, or pre-owned, certified RR). Before I sink $1k or more (possibly might need tires at that time too), I'm going to figure out if I'm keeping it. That date (July 20th) is approaching rapidly. Bottom line is that I'll probably have around 42K/43K miles on her at that time, and I doubt I'll have to have preformed any additional brake work prior to that time. While I think the breaks on the LR4 have to work pretty hard to stop the 6k pound beast with authority, I feel like they are engineered correctly and that I've personally got my moneys worth out of them. Sorry for the long speech, but it's my experience so far, and one that has me pretty satisfied.
What does seem odd to me is that the rears seem to wear out more then the fronts. I always thought that the front brakes do the "lions share" of the work in stopping a vehicle. Must not me true for the LR4.
Cheers,
Joe