Brake pads on the AT: the 25,000 to 30,000 km window I watch

Mine's an AT diesel, Platinum White Pearl, and the one thing I keep an eye on that the MT owners in the club rarely mention is how much harder the torque converter and auto gearbox lean on the brakes in city crawl. A cost breakdown I read on Cars24 puts automatic Fortuner pad wear at roughly 25,000 to 30,000 km before they need replacing, noticeably sooner than most manual owners report. That same piece lists brake fluid as a line item at the 20,000 km service, separate from the bigger 40,000 km flush.

I ask my service advisor to actually measure pad thickness at every visit rather than just eyeball it through the caliper. On an AT, by the time you hear squeal you've probably already eaten into the rotor a bit. What's your pad life been like on yours?

https://www.cars24.com/article/toyota-fortuner-running-cost/