My 05 has 16K miles and the brakes started squeaking...it sounds like it may need new pads but this cant be right...can it? What is the lifespan of our brake pads? If they are needed does warranty cover this?

I have 05, and mine has 17,500, brakes are squeaking as well. I think they made some crappy pads for that year G.

yeUP get used to it every morning or get new pads

Stock brakes and rotors are crap! When I got my 03 with 17,000 miles I has Hawk HPS pads installed to get rid of the dust and the rotors turned just enough to resurface. When this combo is toast the stock rotors will be replaced with good ones. Mechanic might be able to put anti-squeel lube behind the pads and help but if the pads or rotors are glazed, this won't do it.

The pads being used under warranty for 03/04s supposedly are upgraded.
I just got new front rotors/pads under the warranty. They seem fine.
My old ones, other than wearing out too fast and being very dirty with black brake dust, worked fine, and rarely squeaked.

Pads life depends mostly on the driver plus our cars are HEAVY. If you do alot of stop and go, it'll wear alot more then normal driving. The stock brakes are pretty good comparing to other cars in our class. If you drive a Mercedes, they will tell you how often they have to replace pads sensors and rotors every brake job because their stock rotors tends to wear out really quick. I work and live around DC so there are lot of stop and go traffic. i got a 05 6MT with almost 17k on it but still have almost 50%+ lining on the pads.

12.5K miles here and no squeeking from my brakes. Dealer wrote down 70% front and 65 % (weird huh? ... usually the front wears out faster) or something like that on the form when I had my oil changed.

mine were squeeling after my 2nd sheduled service. by the 3rd one it was gone. go figure. i have 12k mi now and i have a lot of pad life left.

Indeed front wears out much faster then the rear. Usually 2 to 1 ratio.

What do you guys recomend for pads? Hawk HPS? Where to get them?