Recently the design of multi-stage gear drive is being highly concerned. Until now, since the researches of gear drive are focused on the design for satisfying safety factor, the reliability evaluation of multi-stage gear drive is not included. In this paper, the life and reliability models of multi-stage gear drive are proposed using methods of probability and statistics. The life and reliability of the multi-stage gear drive have been evaluated, which is based on the life and reliability of each stage gear drive. The pinion and gear lives of each stage are calculated using the Lundberg-Palmgren theory and the Weibull failure distribution. These lives are combined using methods of probability and statistics to produce a life and reliability model of multi-stage gear drive.