I had some questions about the brakes of my 2007 saturn ion 3.
When i had my oil stuff done recently i asked them to give me the measurement of the brakes. I know its been a little while and i wanted to check in on it. They said 'Front brakes 10/32' and 'rear brakes 6/32'
I had read that front brakes in an ion generally wear faster then rear, being front wheel drive. So that difference in measurement struck me as odd because both front and rear were replaced at the same time.
So i looked through the records. They were replaced on 10-09-2021 at 125,582miles. As of 12/12/25 it was 139,007miles. So its been 4 years, 13,425 miles. Im honestly not sure how long brakes can last roughly; part of why i was looking into this.

I was looking at the receipt for when they were replaced back in 2021. I was going to call them to see what the measurement of those brakes are when new in order to see exactly the amount each has worn down. But i noticed it said Front brake PADS for the front and Rear brake SHOES for the rear. - I honestly didnt know there was two different types. Much less that both types were used in one car.

So i wanted to check here and ask if its true that the saturn ion 3 has both front brake pads and rear brake shoes.

If that is true, then it raises some other questions.
As i said, i read that the front wheel drive of the ion 3 means the front brakes would wear faster. I also read that PADS, which is the front brakes (if true) wear faster then shoes in the rear. So that combined sounds like the front breaks would wear a lot faster then the rear ones. Yet despite both being replaced at the same time, the current measurements read at front 10/32 and rear 6/32. So.. my rear brakes are wearing faster? How is that so?

 

Shoes are thinner when new. You will never have to replace your rear shoes unless you drive another 200,000 miles. Your front brake pads should last 40-50,000 miles.

 

^^^^^^^^

 

Sry for bumping this thread. I had one more question of a similar nature. How often should the rotors be replaced, roughly? (Hoping im remember the part name correctly.)
When i was getting my oil changed last, i asked the cost for new front brake pads, just to start planning ahead. The guy said front brake pads and new rotors would be around $400. Which is certainly a lot. Granted, that place always charged high amounts for actual work. But i was so damn tired, that i wasnt thinking to well and didnt follow up with the question. - But i was wondering how often, or when, roughly, rotors should be replaced. (Just for plannings sake.)

I want to know this for future plannings sake, as well as to have the knowledge. But as for current reality, i looked into symptoms of rotors having issues, and i show no signs of any of them. I dont have any current issues with them that i know about. So they should be good for a while still (hopefully.) But at the same time, i dont specifically recall ever replacing them before. I might have, but i dont remember. Pretty sure it wasnt in the last decade at the least. Iv gotten new brake pads/shoes before but i dont think i did the rotors. - So im basically just looking for information on this on my 2007 saturn ion3 2.2l .

 

Really depends on rotor condition. If you live in the rust belt then your rotors might need to be replaced due to corrosion rather than wear. Out here on the West coast rotors only get replaced if they are warped or show measurable wear. There is a minimum thickness stamped on the rotors. It really isn’t cost effective to turn rotors any more due to labor costs versus replacement rotor cost.