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I am driving a 2004 Chevy Impala. When coming to a stop, I press the brake pedal, and I can feel the choppy vibration on the pedal. It's same regardless of weather. Should I get this checked out?

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up vote 8 down vote accepted

Yes your brake rotors are out of round. You can resurface them as long as they are not too thin.

enter image description here The rotor varies in thickness and as it turns when the brakes are applied causes the car to vibrate, and or pulse the brake petal.

It's not an emergency unless it's shaking the car or steering wheel a lot when you brake. I would put a priority on getting it repaired because it will get worse.

More information here Excessive lateral run-out (warping)

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Is this an urgent issue? What rotors are you talking about? –  Kim Jong Woo Mar 22 '11 at 4:22
@kim jong edited the question let me know if you need more infomation –  Larry Mar 22 '11 at 4:56
I always thought that resurfacing was kind of a bad deal since the difference in cost of resurfacing vs replacement never seemed that high. I guess it depends on the cost of the replacement part though. –  Greg Mar 22 '11 at 13:46
@greg Cost of the rotor is a factor, as well as the cost of resurfacing. One of the shops her will do it for $10 a rotor if you take them the rotors already off the car. Some of the repair shops are going to add between 0.8 and 1.5 hours labor to resurface the rotors even at $50 hour that's expensive. You can always negotiate the price with the repair facility. They make more money resurfacing than by selling you a part. So it's in their best interest to give you a discount on the resurface then to put new rotors on. –  Larry Mar 22 '11 at 13:52
Yeah, I had 2 rotors for my 1991 Caprice Classic turned for about $10 at Pep Boys back in 2001. (I carried both rotors in and carried them out. I was replacing the brake pads myself, as well as a balljoint, so that made it a no-brainer). –  NSGod Mar 25 '11 at 2:14

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