If it's a hybrid it WILL have regenerative braking - which will make the pads/disks last much LONGER.

It’ll have a ‘B’ mode on the drive selector which increases the level of regeneration and slows the car equivalent to light braking. Brake wear is, as above, lower than a non-hybrid ICE.

Presumably that's more to do with the brakes discs not warping (which may well cause uneven or excessive brake pad wear) or calipers binding due to periods of inactivity / low usage?

If an equivalent ICE car is used reasonably frequently, would the above issues not occur, and thus the parts last longer?

Admitedly the former seems to benefit a usage pattern similar to mine - less used for reasonable length trips (my Mazda3 has needed replacement discs on occasion despite me being light on the brakes), so perhaps an auto hybrid would suit me next time.

It’ll have a ‘B’ mode on the drive selector which increases the level of regeneration and slows the car equivalent to light braking. Brake wear is, as above, lower than a non-hybrid ICE.

Presumably that's more to do with the brakes discs not warping (which may well cause uneven or excessive brake pad wear) or calipers binding due to periods of inactivity / low usage?

If an equivalent ICE car is used reasonably frequently, would the above issues not occur, and thus the parts last longer?

Admitedly the former seems to benefit a usage pattern similar to mine - less used for reasonable length trips (my Mazda3 has needed replacement discs on occasion despite me being light on the brakes), so perhaps an auto hybrid would suit me next time.

Can see why little used calipers might bind, but cant see why little used disks would warp.

I recalled some thread here about that (can't remember which though) - possibly a side effect of the brake binding then using it. When that happened to my car, I could hear something 'scuffing' on the break disc, but once per rotation at lower speeds.

It may have been surface rust (car sitting outside in all weathers for a week+ at a time), but perhaps the then difference in part of the disc translated ino uneven wear?

The "B" mode on Toyota CVTs is most definitely an engine brake, though more aggressive than most people would do with a manual gearbox - the engine revs go up somewhere near the red line on a steep hill!!

In normal mode, the electric regeneration when you lift off the accelerator slows the car about the same as engine braking at about 3000rpm I'd guess from how mine behaves, which is more slowing without the brakes than most drivers would do. I've only used "B" mode on properly steep long downhill sections such as when coming down Sutton Bank and some of the roads in the Scottish mountains, its not needed to control speed on more normal hills.

In town, if you drive gently, it only uses the friction brakes to stop for the last few mph. Gently pressing the brake pedal increases the regeneration level first (if there is capacity left to charge in the battery) before applying the brakes as you press the pedal harder.

Toyota strip and service brakes correctly on every major service

Sorry Gordon, I don't know what planet you're on, but I wouldn't trust them, having had their experience.