How Often Should You Replace Your Altima Brake Pads?

Understanding the best time frame for your Altima’s maintenance routine is one of the keys to keeping your car in shape without overspending, and brakes can be one of the toughest items to figure out.

Most of your valves and fluids have replacement windows that are clear about the time or mileage that the part is rated for. Brakes, on the other hand, tend to have recommendations for inspections every so often, and the exact mileage changes from model to model and year to year.

Regardless of the recommendation in your owner’s manual for your model year, it’s a good idea to have your Altima’s brakes inspected every 15-20,000 miles. If you’re using a 5000-mile oil, that means about every 3 or 4 oil changes.

Brake Replacement Costs

Brakes are rated to a certain thickness on the brake pad, rather than a certain mileage. That’s because the way you drive has more impact on the life of your brakes than it does on most other parts for your car. More aggressive use of the brakes at higher speeds means you’re wearing the pads down sooner.

Operating temperature and road conditions play a big role in the amount of wear your brakes see, too, so the environment matters almost as much as how you drive. That means one driver could need new pads every other inspection while someone else might only need them every five years or so.

The size of your brake job quote can vary a lot, too. The factors that make it larger or smaller include:

• Performance vs. OEM part choices
• Pad-only replacement vs. full replacements that include new rotors and/or calipers
• DIY vs. auto shop labor
• Sales and specials

You can get a better idea about the range of costs you might face for your next brake job if you check out parts sites that use a VIN lookup free tool to show you just the parts that work for your vehicle. It can also help you pick between performance options and OEM brakes before you sit down to get the work done.

Benefits of Early Replacement

The best Nissan Altima brake pads you can find will be the ones that fit your budget because the benefits of a longer brake life are limited by the extra cost it takes to access the pads.

If you’re a heavy-handed driver, the performance option is probably a better deal for you, but the real money-saver is remembering to do those regular inspections. If you know it’s about time to replace your brakes, you can plan for the job a little early before your brakes fall out of spec for daily operation.

This, in turn, often leads to fewer caliper and rotor replacements over the life of a car, saving you a lot of money over the long haul. That can be a better saving than either a performance upgrade or a good sale on your brake pads. Another great way to save is to work with a parts store that has a shop attached, so you can easily pivot between DIY advice and service from professionals as you need.