Gery

Does the pedal sink slowly if you hold steady pressure at a red light, or is it just soft from the first press? And has the brake fluid ever been changed? Also curious what prices people have paid for front pads on a Patrol, since the range seems wide.

Since you said stopping distance has gotten longer, I’d get the car looked at before your next long drive. Don’t wait for a convenient slot, that’s a safety issue on a heavy SUV. Any decent workshop can check pedal feel and fluid in ten minutes while you wait.

Pads on a Patrol at 50k km in Abu Dhabi traffic sounds about right, but I wouldn’t rush it for “quick.” A proper job means cleaning the slides, checking the discs for thickness and runout, and bedding in. If a shop promises thirty minutes, I’d drive on.

Had a similar soft pedal on my old Land Cruiser and it turned out to be a leaking caliper seal, not the pads. Shop caught it because they checked fluid level and looked for wetness around the wheels. Ask them to inspect the whole system, not just swap pads.

A spongy pedal usually isn’t the pads. Worn pads normally give a longer pedal travel only near the end, but soft and spongy points to air in the lines or old fluid. If the fluid hasn’t been changed in a couple of years, get a flush done along with the pads.