i don't know if its my brakes or if i'm doing something wrong, but there has been a couple of times that my car acted like it didn't want to stop. i'll be in my car w/ my friend and she's like, "LaDonna, what are you doing?" i actually thought that i was going to hit a couple of cars. i also have been experiencing the shakey wheel while braking. i just need to take my car in and have it looked at. btw...i only had my car for like 1 year, 1 month

 

For the shaking, you have deposits built up on the rotor and pad surface. This most likely is also contributing to your poor brake performance. Switch to fresh brake pads and follow a proper procedure to bed the pads to the rotor surface. In doing so, you'll also sweep the rotor clear of many of the deposits. It should help improve your braking.

Also, consider having your brake fluid checked.

 

how often should you get brakes placed on your car???

 

I had the same problem with my TSX almost 8 months after I bought it. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the rotors and pads under warrantee. You can do a search for brakes or warped rotors and find people who had similar situations. Good luck!

 

Brakes vary depending on driving habits, type of driving, and how hard you use them. In this case, I don't think that brake pads are necessarily worn down, but rather glazed beyond saving. Most people are too gentle on their brakes and, as a result, cause them to glaze, which severely reduces the braking performance.

How many miles do you have on your car so far?

 

its around 18,800

 

Okay, so with nearly 19k miles, if you drove the whole time being too gentle on the brakes, then it's very likely that you need fresh brake pads.

 

Average pads + average useage = about 25K-30K miles. By 19K miles they definitely need to be checked and possibly replaced. A great deal depends on your driving style.

 

Do yourself a favour and if you do need new pads, ditch the OEM's for some Axxis, Hawk, or other performance-oriented ones, because the OEM ones are pretty shitty to begin with.

 

Mmmm... glazed brakes... I also like 'em chocolate frosted...
Seriously though, what do you mean by brakes getting glazed, please explain.

 

Brake pads are a composite of materials held together by a bonding agent. The heat of minimal contact against the hot surface against a rotor surface can result in some of the materials melting and rehardening into a slick surface on the pad surface. This will reduce the effectiveness of the brakes.

To prevent this, avoid "riding" your brakes, and make sure to apply firm, steady pressure while braking instead of just lightly resting your foot on the brake pedal and dragging out your stopping distances.