Other brake problem on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala
6 crashes 6 of the 19 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other brake problem gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Chevrolet Impala report other brake problem at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 15 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 150,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 139,892 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
33% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,108 miles | 29,275 miles | 76,000 miles | 110,000 miles | 152,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 6 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 19 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2007, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2014 carries the most reports, with 47; the 2006 has 19. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet impala. While driving in rainy weather conditions at any speed, the brake system intermittently pulsated, and caused the vehicle to abnormally vibrate. Secondly, while applying pressure to the brake pedal, the vehicle would not stop. The failure was accompanied by a loud grinding noise. The dealer stated that if the brake pads are exposed to moisture, they could fail. They further stated that they would only replace the brake pads if the wear was less than 3mm, and repair or resurface the brake rotors. The brake pads were measured at 5mm. The manufacturer stated that although her vehicle was experiencing severe symptoms, they would not repair the vehicle until it displayed the minimum requirement for repair. The failure mileage was 12,269 and current mileage was 12,412.
I have a 2006 chevrolet impala which required the front brakes to have the rotors machined and replaced 3 times in the first 33,000 miles. I was told that this was caused by the use of inferior metal for the rotors which could not withstand the heat generated by braking, especially when exiting from a highway. Additionally, the front outer tie rods required replacement in the first 65,000 miles of driving because they had become worn out which caused the front tires to be loose or "wobbly." *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet impala. While driving approximately 45 MPH downhill, the steering wheel vibrated excessively when the brake pedal was depressed. The driver experienced difficulty steering the vehicle. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for inspection and they stated that the failure was related to the brake rotors. The technician resurfaced the front brake rotors, but the failure recurred. The vehicle has not been repaired properly. The failure mileage was 12,000 and current mileage was 26,500. Updated 12/08/09. *lj the consumer stated the brakes pulsated when they were applied. Updated 12/10/09
Also reported on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala
Other steering problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Other engine problem
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Water pump failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 19 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other brake problem happen on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 15 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other brake problem on the 2006 Chevrolet Impala?
19 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed