I am guessing that brake adjustments have been "automated," cause I was just thinking today it has been hmm, there was a phrase I was going to use, but it probably no longer PC. Anyway, long time since I thought about having brakes adjusted. But today, I applied brakes on my four-year-old Outback and thought I detected pulling, then realized I was on pavement that was kind of squirrely. Once back on "normal" terra firm, no issue.
Disk brake calipers are pretty much self-adjusting. The magic is all in the square-cut rubber seal around the piston. If you have the 2008 Prius mentioned in your profile, those rear drum brakes are also self-adjusting, with a little more complicated mechanism. They are self-adjusting as long as that mechanism isn't gummed up, it hasn't been swapped left for right, and you use the parking brake often enough.
Thanks! The 2008 Prius went away two years ago in a hot and heavy bidding war. Wifey was scared of the traction battery dying. I told her no big deal. She said "big deal" and bought a Subaru Crosstrek and told me to sell the Prius. The thing was cherry. She was the only one driving it and the interior and exterior were next to perfect. No issues, but she was scared of the battery. Sold it at 165k for $8700 in a couple of hours. Oh, I guess there was one issue, it had the infamous hatch leak. I fixed it but my sealant job was a bit sloppy.
Too bad. Ida paid 8800 for it..... She'll be happier with the Subie, and the people that bought the G2 will be happy with a car that was meticulously maintained. Winner-winner. @Brake adjustments: Never done them. Not sure these days what one would 'adjust.' Constant Reader: If your idea of 'regular maintenance' is taking your car into the shop whenever the car tells you to do so, then you can use brake adjustments to your advantage. If your dealership bills you for a brake adjustment, change dealers.
