What is the average life of the front brake pads? I had to replace mine at 19,600

Hi! Basically it depends on the driver, the type of driving, the type of vehicle and the brake pad material. If you are heavy on the brake, it'll decrease pad life. Highway driving is better for pad life, while stop and go isn't. Heavier vehicles like SUVs and 4X4's tend to go through brakes a little quicker. Organic brake pads tends to wear a little quicker because they don't contain metal fibers. Metallic pads tend to last a little longer although the trade off is sometimes noise and wear on the rotors.

19600 is decent life. I would say 25,000 miles is average for all cars. Like it was stated above heavy vehicles like SUV's go through them faster and it also depends on how you drive. Braking slowly for more time uses less pad than braking hard for a short period of time.

You're absolutely right about the kind of driver, traffic, etc...Most of the time after work, I have heavy traffic,(stop and go). So I guess this is normal wear.