Go out to your car, wipe your finger on the front wheel. If you have dark brown dust on your finger then Bingo! you have just discovered brake dust.

 

I didn't drive like that either, I don't "stomp the $hit out of my brakes", and only got 15k, it's not us, it's the brakes, I always have gotten at least 38-40k out of my front pads except on the '04! The brakes on the '05 are much more like previous cars I have driven, they allow you to stop gradually, not grab the rotor as soon as you touch the pedal! And you really didn't have to sound so condescending to g35Dreamcar about the dust IMO!

 

Yes, there is a tremendous amount of difference in the brakes, these '05 brakes are not grabby at all, and there is almost no brake dust. The parts manager at my dealer told me that they have not had one brake issue on an '05 so far, and the brake problems with the '03-'04's began showing up right away on those cars!

 

Nor do I so I must be making twice as many stops as you.

 

Stomp the $hit out of them, hopefully getting new (2nd set) brakes at 35.9k miles.

Brake dust is the crap that make your front wheels dirty.

Brake not "break".

Are we saying the 05's have better pads than earlier '04 & '03 verisions.

Brake life, of course, is how hard you use them. It's not 'gee, mine didn't wear out. Why did yours?'. Guys (& gals) that drive these cars hard will use up the brakes in less miles. What's the mystery?

 

10K on my 04 and a combination of city and freeway miles. Last check the brake pads measured 8/32 and 7/32 respectively for wear. I get a fair amount of break dust on my wheels, but thank god for wheel wax it just wipes off very easily.

 

Man your right, I went back an re-read his question. I have no idea what break dust is either.

 

Given this some more thought and I think those with 6mt may be getting better mileage out of their brakes because they use engine braking. Also, I've got an extra 350lbs. on the G35X which would account for a 10% increase in brake wear.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

 

FWIW I got 20k out of my fronts (automatic sedan). Surely the pad life would be better with 6MTs. I like others have always gotten much better pad life in other cars I've owned - but realistically my driving habits have changed a bit since I got this car I think. I'd be satisfied with them lasting 30k. At this point I'm faced with having to replace them again just after warranty unless a) I stomp the crap out of them, which I do not want to do or b) the dealer is good to me, which is a possibility because they've always treated me very well.

I will definitely schedule some minor maintenance at 35,900 to give myself a chance

 

I don't know if you're saying it, but I am. Not just the pads either. The rotors, calipers, and (possibly) the master cylinder and vacuum booster were redesigned and improved. The feel is much more progressive. The annoying grabbiness that sent my wife's head bobbing in the '04 5AT loaner we had drove last year is gone. I remember the wheels on that car being coated with a thick layer of brake dust when I handed the car back to them after just one day of driving around town. They were relatively clean when we picked the car up. It was nutty.
No mystery. Crappy design and product placement is the issue here. Getting 10K to 15K out of a set of pads and rotors might be acceptable in an all-out, *****-to-the-wall sports car like a C6. But a sporty little sedan bought by people trading in Camrys who are used to getting 50K out of a set of front pads and 100K out of the rears? Nissan should've known better. The company got its butt spanked in Florida with a class-action lawsuit and learned its lesson the hard way.

'05 owners like me just reaped the benefit. If only they'd retooled the weak-sister clutch too. But I knew going in these problems existed and still plunked down my money, so caveat emptor.

 

Did that lawsuit actually go anywhere? I never heard anything else about it. I didn't know the redesigned brakes were that extensive, that sure explains the much different feel on my '05!

 

For what it's worth.. at my 10 or 11k oil change, my rear brake pads were swapped, and now @ 12500-13k my fronts were also swapped. Of note, the service manager said they were using a "new" pad for the rear (didn't ask about fronts) so it's entirely possible they swapped to the 05 pads for the back, because my rear rims have very little brake dust. The fronts, even with my new pads, are horrid!

 

10K on mine and ZERO DUST! I was told by the dealer (engage BS filter) that the new brakes are better than the old Brembos and don't cost as much to repair.

BTW, I found a great way to help my dumb a$$, Google now has a spell check on the "Google tool bar". It will check ANYTHING you are working on! Down load the latest version and give it a try.

 

I'm not sure where it's at either. A brief summary, dated October of last year, is here:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...an_brakes.html

I know that class-action suits that actually involve merit (which could indeed describe this situation) give corporations a serious case of the screaming heebie-jeebies. You can bet some heads rolled internally at Nissan/Infiniti over the '03/'04 brake design. Inexcusable.

 

Rotors, Calipers, and pads are the only thing that changed. Master Cylinder is the same part # as 03.

The pads are the reason you had grabbiness.