Poor brake power on my Mazda5
 

I have driven many regular cars in the past, except my friend's Ford Tempo, never encounter poor brake power. When it comes to a stop, I depress the brake pedal and feel the pads are gripping the rotors, but it won't come to a complete stop unless I press the pedal mucher harder.

The mechanic said my front pads have 70% and 50% at the back. So I recently replaced the rear pads and I can't tell the brake power improved. The mazda guys said oem brake system is quite good, so wonder if it is my car problems?

What should I check/do next?
- new front brake pads
- brake fluid flush
- check brake booster

When was the last time you bled the brakes? I'd start with that as it's cheap/easy to do.

The car has 64,000km when I bought it in March, not sure about the maintenance history, but my mechanic said the brake fluid level and colour are normal.

check the rotors to see if you can see your reflection, your pads are probably good but your rotors might be glazed causing the pads not to bite properly

I'd flush the fluid first. It's hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture. It can look new and still be bad.

Flush the fluid first and go from there

Mazda 5 owner here. Just the way it is with this car. I brought a 2014 brand new back then and the brake is weak from factory. I guess it use the same brake from mazda 3 but carrying all the extra weight for the 5

IIRC it's possible for the brake fluid level to be normal when you look from reservoir but still have air pockets in the actual brake lines. I would bleed it first if it was up to me. I usually bleed every year or 2 years.

will try front pad + front rotor + bleed the fluid all at once.

Definitely flush the brake fluid first.

Some cars just have super mushy brakes. My wife's Lexus es350 is exactly this. You gotta really stomp on it to get any decent braking performance.