Was a brake pad snob until I saw a $40 set last 60k miles on a fleet van

I always bought ceramic pads for my own car, thinking they were the only way to go. Watched a buddy's work van rack up 60k miles on cheap semi-metallics with zero issues. Anyone else find certain budget parts actually hold up in specific applications?

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dakota_singh393mo ago

Does that mean you'd trust them for daily driving or strictly fleet use?

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henry_moore553mo ago

Honestly, you said "fleet use" like it's this totally different world from daily driving. But a fleet van is still just a van that gets driven every day, sometimes harder than a personal car. The difference is fleet managers care about cost per mile, not brake dust or noise. Those cheap semi-metallics actually stop better when they're cold and they don't fade as fast under heavy loads. For a regular commuter car that doesn't tow or haul, they'd probably last even longer since you're not beating on them. Tbh, the real trick is matching the pad compound to how you actually drive, not just buying the most expensive option.

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