This condition is common and normal, as ridiculous as it is
Earlier in the year, I thought there was a serious problem with a friend's '08 Jetta when she told me she needed rear brakes as they were down to the steel at 27,000 miles! The front pads barely looked worn. Note that she has a long commute in the mornings and often sits in traffic travelling at low speeds. I was apalled, as I've never replaced drum brakes before 100,000 and rear discs around 50,000 to 75,000 depending on the car. But after doing some research I discovered a few things. The main one is the advent of EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution). This (relatively) new phenomenon in the auto world (which is on many cars, not just VW brands) helps you attain a smooth stop with minimal "nose dive" as you come to a stop. It achieves this by applying the rear brakes harder at slower speeds as you're coming to a stop while releasing the front brakes. This is how you're rear brakes are being worn "prematurely". The easier you are during your braking, the longer you permit the EBD to function and the more you wear you're (rear) brakes out. It's that simple. If you drive like a maniac and slam on the brakes at every stop, you'll probably replace your rears and your fronts together maybe around 45k or more miles. The main issue with what they did was that they didnt beef up rear pads at all. If you're gonna use the rear brakes more during braking, that's all well and good, but beef up the pads so you can go the distance. A thicker pad will also absorb and dissipate heat better anyway, and its not like they dont have room back there. I suggest learning how to replace you're rear pads and getting the PROPER TOOLS so you dont have to shell out big bucks replacing them, bc you're gonna be in and out of that shop pretty often depending how much you drive. It's an easy job and pads are cheap, and if you know what your doing, you can clean, adjust and grease better than any dealer or repair shop because its you're car and you're paying attention to detail. (not to take anything away from shops but you're gonna be more attentive) AND KEEP IN MIND THAT MOST CARS TODAY WITH EBD WILL NEED REAR BRAKES EARLIER THAN TRADITIONAL! DON'T GET YOUR DEPOSIT BACK ON THAT 2011 VW BECAUSE YOU THINK THERES SOMETHING WRONG! (and no I dont work for VW!) But keep in mind that if you dont brake softly or sit in a lot of traffic I would definitely expect more than 20,000 miles from the pads, so in JSWTDIFAN's case there may be an underlying issue, I have a '10 golf TDI and I put a lot of miles on and frequently sit in traffic, I'll definitely post here when my brakes are replaced.