I have a 2005 LS430 and when taking it in at 22,500 miles the dealer says it needs new brakes front and back -cost of $360.00 per axle and I should it do it before the light comes on because that will cost another $200.
Is this a typical experience for a Lexus - seems like the brakes should last longer than this??

 

Ok, here is the deal. Your car is equipped with brake wear sensors front and rear. They are on the right side of the vehicle only. They are little plastic sensors which attach to your brake pads and are inbetween the pads and rotors. When your brakes get too low, the rotor will cut through the plastic part of the sensor. At this time you are still ok. But about halfway through the sensor, there is a thin metal wire, once this is cut there will be a warning light come on your display. Congratulations, you just bought a new sensor. They are usually only about $70-$100 each and your car is equipped with 1 front and 1 rear. Now comes the contraversary. The average brake pad on an LS430 is about 9-10mm thick (lets say 10 for ease). the sensor is an average of 4mm thick and the wire is about 2mm inside of the sensor. That said, what I have seen, unfortunately is the local mechanic or whoever, removes the wheel for a rotation, notices that the sensor is almost touching the rotor, maybe 1-2mm from the rotor. Oh, look this guy'sbrakesare almost touching the sensors, he needs brakes now sohe won't have to buy sensors. Wrong Wrong Wrong. (I hope I'm not rambling too much) OK here we go. The average pad is 10mm, the average sensor is 4mm with the wire being at 2mm. You have 6mm of usuable pad before touching the sensor and 8mm before the light comes on. If your mechanic quotes you brakes with 2mm between the sensor and the rotor, you still have 6mm or 60% of pad left. Unless the rotor is touching the pad, do not replace, unless you like spending money. Ask to see your brakes. If they won't take you into the shop to show you, what does that tell you? The 04-06 LS430s usually, under normal driving, get 40,000ish or more to a set of brakes. If you can't tell, this is a sore subject with me. I will step down from my soapbox now. Hope this helps.