I was driving approximately 30 miles per hour along slightly snow-covered road towards stopped traffic at red light on a slight downgrade. I stepped on the brakes gentle, as required by the conditions, but the ABS system started to shudder and the vehicle did not brake at all. I hit a stopped vehicle at the intersection and even with a relatively slow speed impact, our vehicle was written off and the other was towed away because it could not be driven. Our van was drivable, but just barely, and was subsequently written off by the insurance company. I was charged with careless driving which was absolutely not the case. We have another vehicle of the same year and similar model and it does the same thing occasionally but so far this has not resulted in any further collisions. We have owned Astro vans since they were first marketed in 1985 and this is the first one to act like this. We purchased 1985, 1992, 1998, and 2003 models (2). I am asking my wife, rose, who is also the registered owner of the vehicle to submit this report on my behalf. Please respond to her with any resolutions. We purchased the salvage from the insurance company so it is still in our possession although not on the road.

- Mount Albert, 00, USA

Vehicle: 2003 Chevy Astro van defect summary: Factory design directs leaked battery acid to drip down on a steel brake line. Details: The (+) battery terminal spontaneously broke off this vehicle's oem delco battery. The breakage was due to either: 1) cable connector being over-torqued at the GM factory, or 2) an integral fault within the battery. The design of this year-model of Astro is such that the natural path for acid drip-page is on to a steel brake line located below, and in front, of the battery. I am going to have the brake line replaced by a local certified mechanic because the line is severely corroded due to the acid exposure. Because of the inaccessibility of the brake line and its connections, the repair cost will not be cheap. Please note that the battery and cable have not been exposed to any post-manufacture misuse or disturbance. The problem is solely due to poor placement of the hydraulic line, coupled with the factory induced battery breakage. I have digital photographs for your inspection of the broken battery terminal, the geometry of the battery compartment, the (brake) hydraulic line, and the resulting corrosion.

- Painted Post, NY, USA

The brake line rubbed up against the power steering pump, eventually rubbing through. I lost braking power and nearly caused an accident. Within minutes, I went from having brakes to having to push the brake peddle to the floor to stop. I had a local mechanic fix the problem at a substantial cost.

- Billings, MT, USA

On several occasions over the past few months, the ABS light on my van has been coming on and when I apply the brakes, the van jerks around on the road and pulls to the left. I have almost hit other cars on many of these occasions. I had my mechanic look at it recently and he said he checked out the braking system and can see no visible reason for this happening.

- Stanley, NC, USA

My wife and I were driving along when the brake system went completely out. We had just purchased the van about 4-5 months before it happened. I had the van looked at by james martin Chevrolet in detroit Michigan. The repairs came up to $1400. The van only had about 40,000 miles on it.

- Lansing, MI, USA

After ball joint recall, I have had nothing but problems with steering, braking and suspension. Front left side continually pops and grinds, shock boot was replaced twice, the shocks have been replaced 3 times. The third time may have fixed it, just got the van back today. Brakes are intermittent. Heard loud bang from rear end, dealership tightened backing plate. Transmission slips, shudder is felt from rear end at 30+ mph. Dealership put balances on torque converter and the drive shaft, had to cut the rear springs to do this. Service manager stated the problem was not gone, but livable. Vehicle runs rough at idle, almost stalling, service manager experienced the problem as well. Said fuel injector port was fill with carbon, but cleaning it did not fix the problem. Check engine light came on during a trip, stayed on for the 6 hour drive home, there was no heat at all, service manager said he could not get the computer to reproduce the code, but replaced the thermostat, water pump and two clamps.

- Bridgewater, ME, USA