I haven't changed my brakes since I bought my car and I hear a squeaking noise. I hear that if your pads burn out the brake disc and pad can rub together and cause even more damage. How do I know if I have to replace both?

 

What you're hearing is the warning you that it's time to replace the brake pads. Unless you've been ignoring the squeeking for a while, you probably haven't gotten into the metal backing on the pads.

First, a rule of thumb: A brake rotor should normally last as long as two sets of brake pads. Unless you've worn the pads down to the metal backing and scored the discs. You can pretty much tell if you've done this by looking at the rotors, though.

Replace the rotors if:

1. You hear a grinding sound (as opposed to the squeeking you describe) when you brake.
2. The braking action is not linear. In other words, it kind of grabs in time with the rotation of the tires. Totally different behavior than ABS (if you have it). This indicates warped rotors.
3. The brake rotor is worn to the point that it is less than mimimum spec.

Given the choice between resurfacing a rotor and replacing it, I recommend replacing. the cost of a new rotor isn't that much more than the cost of the resurface job. And resurfacing makes the rotor thinner. Unless you've got slotted/drilled/gold plated rotors, that is. Garden variety Duralast rotors (or whatever the store brand is) aren't that expensive.

 

I've got 48,000 miles on my original brake pads and considered changing them last weekend, because they've started squeaking lately. But last time I had it at a dealership, they said it had plenty of pad left and when I checked last weekend there was indeed plenty of pad left. I figured maybe it had something to do with the weather, since it's randomly been raining a lot lately. Just check them yourself and see how much pad is left on there. Although I'm not sure if there's any "replace after XX years even if you haven't used them" sort of thing...maybe someone else can say for sure...?