All modern cars and trucks use disc brakes on the front wheels, and many use them on the rear as well. Some vehicles, particularly light trucks and less costly cars, still use the cheaper drum brakes on rear wheels.
Some cars wear out brakes faster than others.
Hitting the brakes makes a car's weight shift forward, so the front brakes do about 80 percent of the work. Expect the front pads to wear out faster than the rear. With some car and pad combinations, front brakes last only about 15,000 miles. Because aftermarket pads typically come in at least two quality grades, the decision for the consumer is how much to pay. Below, a list of 1993 to 1996 cars with particularly troublesome brakes, based on our 1999 survey of owners.