how long did it take until you (anyone out there) to get new brake pads...and how much did you pay for them??

 

My car's front pads lasted about 50k miles. My car's rear shoes (it has drum brakes) are original and still have significant thickness left at ~77k miles- I just inspected them a few weeks ago. At their current wear rate, I think they're going to last 120k miles.

I bought generic parts store semi-metallic pads (I was being cheap at the time) that cost ~$25 USD. I'm actually pretty happy with their stopping power, but they're kinda noisy- next time, I will probably buy Hawk HPS pads. I suspect that my car will also need new rotors at the next pad change- they were close to the wear limit last time, and Jap rotors generally aren't good for more than one pad change anyway.

 

If you purchase Mazda Factory pads now they are LIFETIME warranteed. The only catch is they must be dealer installed. I work for the dealer so now I have free pads on my P5 for as long as I own it. They were a little exspensive at $59 but its ok.

Kyle Lancaster

 

This seems pointless IMHO unless the warranty covers labor also. At dealer labor rates ($80/hour, usually 1 hour minimum) and full, non-discounted parts costs, you're looking at $150+ the first time and $80+ for each subsequent change. It's fairly easy to obtain discounted OEM Mazda parts, and even at a small discount, you will still come out ahead doing it yourself.