7 Signs You Need New Brake Pads (Don't Ignore #3)

This is the most common early warning sign — and it's intentional. Every brake pad has a small metal tab called a wear indicator built into it. When the pad wears down to roughly 2mm of friction material remaining, this tab starts contacting the rotor and makes a high-pitched squeal specifically designed to get your attention.

The squeal is a deliberate alarm, not a random noise. It means you have a limited window before pads go metal-on-metal. At 2mm remaining, most drivers have 3,000–6,000 miles of driving left. At city driving rates, that's 2–6 weeks.

Note: Light squealing after the car sits overnight or in wet weather is normal — surface rust burns off after a few stops. Consistent squealing every time you press the brake pedal is the indicator.

If squealing is a warning, grinding is the alarm going off. This deep, metallic growl or grinding sound means the brake pads are completely gone — you're now hearing the metal backing plate scraping directly against your rotor with every stop.

Every mile you drive at this stage is carving grooves into your rotor surface. What would have been a pad-only job is now a pads-and-rotors job. The longer you go, the deeper the scoring — and eventually, enough heat builds up to damage the caliper too.

Grinding that's accompanied by the car pulling to one side points to one brake working harder than the other — usually a stuck caliper. See sign #3.

This is the sign most people overlook or dismiss — and it's one of the most serious on this list. When you press the brake and the car steers itself toward one side, it means the brakes on one side of the axle are applying significantly more force than the other.

The most common cause isn't just uneven pad wear — it's a stuck or seized brake caliper. When a caliper sticks, it stays partially engaged even when you're not braking. That side drags constantly, which means it's generating heat, wearing the pad faster, and eventually locking up.

Pulling while braking is a legitimate safety issue. In a hard stop, asymmetric braking force can cause you to lose directional control. This doesn't fix itself — it gets worse until the caliper fully seizes. For a full breakdown, read our guide on car shaking and pulling when braking.

A normal brake pedal should feel firm and responsive well before it reaches the floor. If your pedal feels soft, spongy, or sinks further than usual before braking engages, you have a hydraulic system problem — not just worn pads.

The most common cause is air in the brake lines or a fluid leak — often from a caliper seal that's been compromised by heat from metal-on-metal contact. Brake fluid is what transmits the pressure from your foot to the calipers. When that circuit has a leak or air pocket, pressure drops and the pedal loses firmness.

If the pedal goes to the floor, do not drive this vehicle. That's a brake failure condition. Call for mobile service or a tow. A soft pedal that gradually got worse over days is urgent but may allow very short, slow travel. A pedal that suddenly went soft is a do-not-drive situation.

A pulsing or vibrating sensation through the pedal when you brake — or shaking in the steering wheel — almost always means warped rotors. The rotor surface isn't perfectly flat, so as the pads press against it, you feel that unevenness as a rhythmic pulsing.

Rotors warp from heat cycling — usually from sustained heavy braking (like riding the brakes downhill) or from pads that sat metal-on-metal long enough to heat the rotor unevenly. New pads pressed against a warped rotor will themselves wear unevenly, shortening their life significantly.

The fix is rotor replacement along with new pads. Attempting to resurface modern thin rotors is rarely practical. For a full breakdown of shaking and vibration when braking, see our dedicated guide.

Your dashboard has two brake-related warning lights. The red brake light indicates a system-level issue — low brake fluid (which drops as pads wear), a detected pressure loss, or an engaged parking brake. The amber ABS light indicates an ABS sensor or module fault, which doesn't affect normal braking but disables your anti-lock system.

If the red brake light came on while driving and your parking brake is fully released, assume it's low brake fluid until proven otherwise. Fluid drops as pads wear because the caliper pistons extend further to compensate — so a low fluid warning is often the first electronic signal that pads are well into the worn range.

Read our full guide on what each brake warning light means for a complete breakdown by light type.

You can check your brake pad thickness right now without any tools. Look through the spokes of your wheel at the rotor — you'll see the brake caliper wrapped around it. The brake pad is the dark material sandwiched between the caliper and the rotor face.

If the pad looks thinner than a pencil eraser (roughly 3mm), it's time to schedule service. If you can barely see any friction material — or only see the metal backing plate — it's urgent. For reference: a new pad is about 10–12mm thick. At 3mm, replacement is recommended. Below 2mm is the warning zone.

Some vehicles have electronic pad wear sensors that trigger before the indicator tab, giving you a dashboard notification directly. If your car has this feature and it triggers, treat it the same as sign #6.