I've got a '93 GS300 with only about 80K miles. When I bought the car a few years ago, I was told that the brakes might need replacing in a while.
Well, they still work fine, but partly because I downshift when going down steep hills rather than brake. Some people have told me that this is hard on the tranny (which is working fine so far), and the tranny is a lot more expensive to repair.
I've kept downshifting so far because I live at the top of a long fairly steep hill, and the owner's manual discusses downshifting. I downshift to 2nd to maintain a speed of about 50-55, and it doesn't over-rev.
I look forward to your comments, especialy those based on actual experience/knowledge
Thanks,
Randy