This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving on a highway at 55mph, I pressed on the brake to slow my speed as I was entering a congested area nearing a town. The pedal went to the floor. I geared it down manually with my gearshift and turned off the highway into a self-car wash. After looking under vehicle, I noticed brake fluid all around drivers side rear wheel. After further detailed inspection, the brake line that runs from the master cyl to rear of vehicle to a union mounted on frame that converts solid line to flex hose type had corroded and cracked. Truck was just inspected 6 months prior at dealer. In my 45 years of driving professionally, I have never had a brake line fail for no reason, as it was untouched and secured just as it was when it left factory. Its obvious to me and everyone I talk to that the break line is made of a lower quality steel or not as thick as ones produced in the past by GM. I have heard that thru the grapevine that a certain someone who decides faults in these cases suggested that salt put on the roads in the winter could have caused this if the trucks underside were not washed off after winter driving to remove the corrosive salt. While I would agree to that to some extent, because I am one who does take pride in my $ 32,000 vehicle, I not only power wash the underside several times a winter, but also undercoat it as well. What makes this so dangerous, is that brake fluid that leaks causes major damage to everything it comes in contact with. My fuel tank, wiring, insulation around wire, paint that peels off everything which means frame rust now. The worst and most dangerous of all is that the leaking brake fluid turns pavement made with asphalt into a oil slick on the road that is not noticed by the everyday driver. And there is no stopping whatsoever when you start to slide. I want GM to fix and install the safe and correct ones, stainless steel. Thank you
I was going down my driveway, pulling a 16 ft stock trailer and the brake line to the rear passenger side wheel ruptured. I was able to stop, but could not have if I'd been at highway speed. The electric brakes on the trailer helped. Took to Chevy service and all brake lines were corroded and eaten through. Pistons corroded and stuck on both front calipers. All lines were replaced along with the calipers. Total cost was $1647.94 parts were $484, the rest was labor. Truck had to be towed to dealer. They wanted to replace rear pads and drums because they were exposed to brake fluid, but we can't afford that right now.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. While driving approximately 45 mph, the brake pedal was depressed but the brakes failed to operate. The contact crashed into a ditch. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
On July 23rd I was driving on a local highway at 55 mph. When I attempted to break for a turn the peddle went all the way to the floor. I had to coast to a stop. A rusty break line blew out in the engine compartment on the drivers side. I am lucky no other vehicles were on the road with me.
Brake pedal goes all the way to the floor no pressure. Lost all pressure during snowstorm. Lucky to pull over into drifted snow to prevent crash. 61000 miles and well maintained. Maryland area. Upon inspection all brake supply lines are rusted and blown out. Very difficult to repair oneself. Very costly repair at dealership. This should be a sfety recall. Ridiculous!
- Linthicum, MD, USA
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Brake pedal went all the way to the floor when applied. The pickup has about 62000 miles on it is well maintained. Located in Virginia and during the winter I take the pickup to the carwash several time purposely to have the undercarriage washed. When my mechanic checked it out his response was "I have never seen anything like this. The brake and fuel lines are paper thin from rust. I am fortunate in no one was hurt when this happened as I was traveling down the a country road about 45 miles per hour.
The vehicles brakes are corroding and failed almost causing an accident on 2/09/2016 when the vehicle was in motion (at the intersection of il route 34 and wolfs crossing)
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. After a recent trip, the contact noticed that the brake line had blown out. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer and the brake lines were replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000. Updated 02/12/16 updated 05/09/18
Break lines corroded through to failure. The failure occurred just after exiting a highway. ABS engaged due to icy conditions the next time I depressed the break peddle it went to the floor without the breaks engaging. To the best of my knowledge no warning light was present on the dashboard. The breaks failed while driving and resulted in me running a red light. Luckily it was early in the morning and no accident occurred.
Sitting at burger king drive thru when brake pedal went to the floor. Brake lines had ruptured due to corrosion. Vehicle only 10 years old and 130,000 miles. Had brakes checked often at service centers, no mention of problem. Glad this didn't happen last month when I was barreling down the Tennessee highway with a full load in the back of my truck. NHTSA and GM should be ashamed for allowing this to continue. I am sure people are dying due to this negligence and faulty materials being used.
Rusting brake lines in hard to reach areas of the vehicle that normal washing doesn't clean. I was slowing down for traffic getting of the highway when my brake pedal went to the floor. I used the E-brake to get home and when I arrived home I crawled underneath the truck and found where the hard line goes to the flex line over the rear end it had split. I repaired that and now right next to the gas tank in split again 3 weeks later pulling into the driveway at my home.
Sudden loss of braking power due to brake line rupture while on the exit ramp of the freeway. Found brake lines completely rusted and they were paper thin in multiple spots. Will have to replace all brake lines on the vehicle. Almost lost control of the vehicle. Note that vehicle has always been maintained by dealership.
The brake pedal went completely to the floor when our friend tried to stop the vehicle. A brake line running on top of the frame behind the radiator had completely rusted thru, allowing all of the brake fluid to pump out of the system. All of the steel brake lines are extremely rusty and probably near failure.
These past couple of weeks the brakes are shaking when I go to stop. I have C hanged the front calipers since this is where it is happening since the calipers went bad so did the roters an pads so those needed to be changed also...which is money I don't have.....it worked for a total of 4 days then problem began again. Please inform me of other issues and what can be done to resolve this problem especially since I drive this truck to earn a living for my family everyday.. thank you for your attention to this matter.
This morning on the way to work I approached a T intersection traffic light. The light changed from green to yellow as I approached it. I pressed and the brakes and the pedal went straight to the floor, "no brakes". the traffic light turned red and I had to try to maneuver through the corner at to much speed, almost rolling the truck. Once I slowed to a stop. I inspected the truck, and sure enough there is a puddle under the driverside door where all the rusted brake lines run along the outside of the frame rail. This is unacceptable for GM to not honor their vehicles or respect the buyers of those vehicles enough to put stainless steel brake lines on them. How does GM expect to get people to buy GM products when we are killed in a traffic accident because of rusted, ruptured brake lines. I expect the local stealership to quote me several thousand dollars to fix the manufacturers error. I tell you one thing I have praised GM about my truck, but if this doesnt get recalled or fixed I wont buy another GM product again.
While driving, I hit the brakes and the peddle went to the floor. Narrowly missing 2 cars in front of me. Upon review after towing home, all 4 front brake lines have considerable "flaking corrosion", with one blown line and one line seeping. I used the E-brake to get off the road as it had absolutely no brakes whatsoever. Rear brake lines are rusted as well. Got ahold of GM dealer and was quoted $1100 time and material to "fix". I chose to fix myself with stainless steel line. This is the last GM product I will ever own.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. While driving at 35 mph, the brake pedal was depressed to the floor in order to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the brake lines were corroded and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 92,000.
The contact owns a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado. While driving at approximately 30 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. The contact had to take the vehicle out of gear in order to stop. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake lines were corroded as a result the pressure of the brake fluid caused the lines to fracture. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000. The VIN was not available.
It was early in the morning, my brother and I were backing up the truck to attach the boat for towing. He was backing up my truck while I guided him back towards the hitch of the boat. We got the boat hitch attached to the truck and I asked him if he wanted to drive. Thank god he refused to drive, once I got in the truck, I applied my brakes before putting the truck in drive and noticed that the brake peddle went all the way to the ground without any resistance. I looked underneath my truck and noticed brake fluid leaking out from a rusted brake line going to the rear tire. I would hate to think of what could have happened on the highway with a boat behind me"???" I have photos of the rusted brake line that broke. I also have seen some rust on the remaining brake lines now and am worried about the the condition of those lines.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Saint Clair, MO, USA