08-18-2013, 02:27 PM
Probably all of the above. Most minivans nowadays clock in at nearly 4000 lbs. The manual transmission cars you're used to are probably much less than that.
Also, 25-30k is unusually frequent. Maybe they were suckered into brake jobs when they didn't need to, I don't know. Maybe they went to a grease monkey in-and-out joint and they use cheap pads. But a quality brake job with quality pads and rotors should last much longer than that, despite the factors above. If it appears that all four corners were replaced after 30k miles, all 4 at a time, then that would indicate to me the previous owner just did it as a preventative measure. Having rear pads worn to the point of replacement after 30k is highly unusual to me.
As for downshifting instead of braking, just know that that puts additional stress on the motor, the transmission, and increases fuel economy, versus braking. It's not a huge stress but as with anything on the car, it is cumulative. Brakes are easy to replace. Clutch - not so much. I'd rather have brakes wear faster than my clutch wear faster.
That's for daily driving where you know you're going to stop, if you know you're going to need the extra torque to exit a curve but you need to slow for example, then by all means downshift. I just wouldn't do it as a pseudo-replacement for braking.
Also, 25-30k is unusually frequent. Maybe they were suckered into brake jobs when they didn't need to, I don't know. Maybe they went to a grease monkey in-and-out joint and they use cheap pads. But a quality brake job with quality pads and rotors should last much longer than that, despite the factors above. If it appears that all four corners were replaced after 30k miles, all 4 at a time, then that would indicate to me the previous owner just did it as a preventative measure. Having rear pads worn to the point of replacement after 30k is highly unusual to me.
As for downshifting instead of braking, just know that that puts additional stress on the motor, the transmission, and increases fuel economy, versus braking. It's not a huge stress but as with anything on the car, it is cumulative. Brakes are easy to replace. Clutch - not so much. I'd rather have brakes wear faster than my clutch wear faster.
That's for daily driving where you know you're going to stop, if you know you're going to need the extra torque to exit a curve but you need to slow for example, then by all means downshift. I just wouldn't do it as a pseudo-replacement for braking.