While I was heading to work this morning I had a brake failure which got me into an accident. The back story of this issue is that 4 years ago I had a similar issue where my brakes failed, and I ended up screeching through a red light. At that time, I had repeatedly asked the dealer to check my brakes and they repeatedly told me "they look fine". Yet, when they finally took them off, there was little to no brakes left.. I should've pressed on and sued them, but due to the dealership being a family friend, my parents wouldn't allow me to do so. My parents were also part of the issue, by feeding doubt to the dealership as to if I actually had an issue (aka "just tell him they are fine".. ).

My issues with the brakes now is that they STILL feel as if they're grinding and trying to "catch" on the mechanism in order to brake. Occasionally it will brake accordingly, making me feel ensured again, but its a rarity when they do.

Today, about an hour ago, I was going through a traffic light when the guy 2 cars up slammed on his brakes. The car in front of me did the same, and I had attempted to brake as well (given the 50-75ft or 1 1/2 car lengths away). The attempt didn't work, my brakes screeched, I slowed a bit, but there was simply no stop until impact. My car, although not entirely damaged (only to bumper frame and around headlights) was still in good shape, and the Mercedes Benz's bumper nearly just popped out of frame.. the collision more or less could've been avoided if my brakes worked.

Now, I could makes the excuses that "my tires needed air" or "I should've paid better attention" etc.. but, the issue at hand is that I don't feel 100% assured that my brakes will work if I need to abruptly stop. I love my car, don't get me wrong.. but, I just wish my brakes worked. Perplexing as well, is that I JUST had a 75,000 mile maintenance done from the same dealership that screwed me over last time. I'll be going to a Geico claims adjuster and shop on Friday, and I'm going to insist that they check up on my brakes. I'm doubtful if the problem was even properly fixed the first time..

If anyone has any information that could help me in this situation, please contact me!

Update from Aug 29, 2014: Hopefully My car will be done by wednesday. Adjuster said it will be $1,327.31 to fix the damages to my front bumper, grill, foam bumper absorber and portions of my frame.

*Note I put that the problem occurred on Friday, but truth is I'm not sure when it started. I have been having issues with this for about a year I'd say, but most significantly worth noting was Friday and Sunday's incident.

Currently when I brake either abruptly, on an incline/decline, or even slowing down, I notice that it seems like my brakes are "grinding". By that I mean, its the feeling as if your brakes are searching for gears to stop, or that there isn't the fiction for them to. I can feel it through the brake pad that something isn't right. To further explain the feeling, its the equivalent to having that "skidding on ice" feel. Where you brake, then your brakes are locking or trying to finding the gear to help it stop. (I use the term "gear" a lot because I don't know what the inner-works of the vehicle are, but this is how i can describe the feeling I'm experiencing.)

Most recently like I note on Friday July 29th, 2010, I had to make an abrupt stop at a traffic light on a decline. When braking, my car skidded through the light and stopped 3/4th of the way through the light itself. Thankfully there was no one in front of me, nor anyone in the intersection. While trying to stop my brake pad felt slightly locked, and my brake pads weren't able to find the traction on the rotor. To make things even worse, my car screeched through the intersection. After my car stopped, i decided to just go through the light, my car screeched on accelerating as well.

Please note that the screeching could be due in part by the low air pressure in my tires, but the main issue of the brakes and stopping/skidding in general has been a known issue for me regardless of the low pressure.

Another issue for me is when i back out of my driveway or drive in general, sometimes my brake pedal squeaks.

The main thing that has been bothering me is the poor service in which my local Chevy dealership has been granting me. On a side note, I had my windshield whippers replaced 3 times or said to have been "replaced" 3 times before it actually worked. The first time they never replaced them, and the 2nd and 3rd time I don't think they even checked. I once brought in my car with a few bugs on the windshield (any other car I'm in will clear the windshield if you press the cleaning button.) but on my Cobalt, the whippers don't clean it, and just remain giving streaks. So, the dealership claims to have "replaced" them or "checked" out the issue.. but can someone tell me why my windshield was in the same condition at which i brought it in? I could tell that they didn't check anything but claimed they had. Which in turn is what they did with my brakes. I have asked them at least 2 other times to check my brakes.

My car is 5 years old with 33,000 miles on it, and my brakes have NEVER been replaced. Nor have they replaced my rotors. So, up to 2 times prior they claim to have checked my brakes and everything appears to be fine. If that was the case... then why is it, that I'm still having the issues?

So, as of today.. I have brought my car into the dealership and currently I await for the update of my car. The most upsetting of the matters is that the dealership is owned by a family friend. So, the fact that I have been getting mistreated in such a way, I'm hoping that they call me to say "there is no issue with your brakes". In this case, I will be making quite an intense phone call to this said "friend" about the way his dealership is being run.. also with demands of all the brakes/rotors replaced. This would also be reason enough to stop taking my car to the dealership for maintenance and go to my friends auto body shop instead.

Update from Aug 15, 2010: Ok, so i forgot to update everyone on the issues about what happened. Turns out at first they claimed to have "test drove" my car and everything was fine... but how can you "test drive" the vehicle and claim the brakes are fine over someone who has driven the vehicle daily? Also, they claimed to have been very busy that day, so "worst case scenario you won't get your car until tomorrow". So my dad had asked how much would it could to change the whole braking system? they said about $300. So, finally the next day we heard from them around 4 or 5pm, and they said "yea.. the brakes are wore down." See, the frustrating thing about this situation is that it could have been solved 3 months ago or longer but my parents are very timid when it comes to demanding things from the dealership or even calling our friend. They just think that the dealership knows everything, and the situation will be fine.. and I'm the one that ends up taking the heat from what the dealership should be at hand for.. So, the breaks and rotors were replaced, plus tire rotation, and air filled up equaled about $300 as they said. Though i still believe that they dealership should have paid for this issue themselves. My parents response to this being solved is "in a few years will get you away from Chevy cars, maybe into honda or something a little more reliable". My response is every car has a portion of unreliability, but its how you and the mechanic you take it to handle the situation that makes the outcome.

All in all, the car for the most part is fixed as far as the braking issue goes.. but for some reason my car still screeches when i take some turns... granted some turns i take quickly or a little too fast.. but my car didn't do this a year ago.. maybe I'm just being paranoid because since this how predicament i feel as if my car should be 100% perfect.