Does having to replace the front-brakes symptomatic of something worse?

I'd say that understanding is overstated. The brakes normally last a darned long time. But then, a 2007 Prius has been around for a darned long time, and you haven't said how many miles are on it.

The actual rate of wearing down the pad linings through normal braking can be very slow, because of regen. But that just isn't the only thing that happens to brakes.

Other things that can happen include:

• The rotors rusting. Light rust gets scrubbed off the next time the brakes are used, if the car is driven often enough. If it stays long enough to become heavier rust, it acts like a grinding wheel and eats away the pads.
• The fitting kit (slippery spring clips holding the ears of the pads) loses its dry Teflon-like coating, the pads don't easily slip away from the rotors when you're not braking, and the pads wear away faster.
• The same thing happens if the caliper slide pins bind up or the piston rubber seal (not the rubber boot you can see, an internal seal that you can't) loses its pliability and stops pulling the piston back when you aren't braking. Again, the pads wear away faster.
• Rubber boots on the slide pins or piston become nicked or torn, water gets in there and rusts up the pins or piston. Brakes bind and wear out extra fast.
• ...

These are all things that are easy to catch in a moderately thorough brake inspection, which, according to Toyota's scheduled maintenance guide, ought to be done at least every few years, 36,000 miles or so; I do mine every time I rotate tires because it's easy to do then. Again, simple inspection, most often no parts or repairs required. If I see any issue developing, I typically just put things back together and make a shopping list to do the work at my next tire rotation. Those are frequent enough it usually won't be a big deal to wait that long. My most common shopping list won't have anything but a new fitting kit on it, and will cost around $16.

So Prius brakes can last a really, really long time, given reasonably regular inspection. But any of the simple problems an inspection might reveal can eat things up very early in the car's life, if not promptly recognized.

 

I have 265,000 miles on my front brakes, all original. Driving habits make a difference. If you often hit the brakes fairly hard or wait as long as possible before slowing down, the friction brakes are used more. A lot of city stop and go traffic will do it as well.

Just don't make the mistake of replacing them with cheap parts which have no chance to last as long and are more likely to include rotors which warp quickly,

 

So, one important question is........why? What symptoms or evidence is being used as a reason the brakes need to be replaced? And, is that reason legitimate?

I have to replace the front brakes on my 2007 Prius.

 

I do all this generally about every five to seven years on these cars and way before that on regular cars The material and all of that breaks down gets heated cracks all kinds of things happen whether they're bonded or riveted to the backing plate makes a difference etc etc etc. So it's just best to put a set on in like those spans I found. And of course while all that's off like Chapman said you do depends clean all that stuff buff it up new rubbers if that's in order grease etc. I'll do all this on the '09 daily driven vehicle when I have the struts in hand and the front wheel bearings All of that will go on at the same time I do the brakes and all that makes it a one time apart deal.

 

Regen breaking isn't used at speeds below 6mph, so if the vehicle spent a large amount of its use at speeds lower than 6mph the brakes would wear out quickly. We've had rural US mail delivery folks on here who have had to replace their brakes more than twice because that level of starting and stopping all day long requires a much more heavy duty braking system than a high MPG hybrid car provides.

 

I imagine that a gen 2 which is driven a lot on hills would need front brakes more often than ones driven only on the flat. Possibly not the rear brakes though.

Approaching a stop sign when traveling uphill it is often possible to make the car slow down to a near stop at the needed position by releasing the accelerator at an appropriate distance, and sometimes also shifting to B. However, going downhill that would not generate enough braking and the physical brakes are needed. Since it is downhill the weight is going to shift forward substantially, and most of the braking force will come from the front brakes.

 

you need a complete brake inspection by a qualified mech