Q: Brake Pad Replacement

Hello. I will be glad to answer your question about your 2012 Acura. Brake pads are replaced when the friction material is worn down to 1-2 mm. There is no published, or perhaps even known, "average" amount of mileage that will elapse before that point is reached. The reason for this is, excepting a malfunction that accelerates wear, brake pad wear is solely of function of "how often you use the brakes".

To illustrate, if all you do is drive in New York City traffic, constantly applying the brakes, overheating them, and so forth, the pads could easily wear out in the low tens of thousands of miles. However, if you drive mainly on the interstates, thus rarely applying the brakes for perhaps hundreds of miles, you could easily get 80,000 miles or more out of a pair of brake pads.

Consequently, in your case, the only thing to be monitoring, or concerned about, is the point at which you see that only 1-2 mm of pad material remains.

When you do have your brakes replaced, keep in mind that changing the pads is merely the beginning of what must be accomplished if your brakes are to operate optimally. The brake rotor must either be turned or replaced and the caliper and torque plate have to be inspected.

My general advice is just simply replace the caliper/torque plate assembly with rebuilt units (from a reputable vendor such as the OEM dealer or AC Delco which stocks many makes) especially if they have been in service for more than 5 or 6 years.

There are other technical considerations as well, all of which a mobile Mechanic from YourMechanic is well equipped to explain in detail. One of our certified technicians will be able to come to your home or office and service your brake pads and address any other conerns as necessary. Thanks again for your interesting question.