In late June 2005, my wife was driving our 2000 Suburban. During a turning maneuver her power steering went out. The dealer doing the repair said a power steering rod had broken, and it cost just under $800 to repair. Later, I saw NHTSA recall id 05V005000, which reports broken shafts in power steering pumps on some Suburban models. I called the dealer and was told my vehicle was not involved in the recall, but the similarity seems too strong to understand why this would be the case. My VIN is [xxx]. updated 07/18/2012 information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Bothell, WA, USA

2000 Suburban 2500 [xxx] - loss of steering and brakes at speed. My 73 year old father was driving my 4 year old daughter to school and was rounding a corner when the steering wheel became nearly impossible to turn and the brakes barely able to stop. He went straight midway through the turn and applied the brakes as hard as he could. Luckily, no cars were approaching and he eventually stopped. I had the Suburban towed to the dealer and was informed that a recall was in progress for my vehicle and the parts and labor would be replaced for free. I would have to put the repair on my visa and then be reimbursed. I called GM and they said they would send the reimbursement forms. They then called on March 17th and said that my vehicle was just outside the VIN recall range but was in the same year and I would not be reimbursed. My concern is that the parts that were recalled were in my vehicle but GM claims that my vehicle is not affected. Here is the recall description from GM - "the hydraulic pump driveshaft can fracture in the 98,221 vehicles mentioned, which causes immediate loss of power steering assist and can result in loss of braking assist". the repair was over $600 but more importantly, many of the vehicles with the bad parts (like mine) will not be recalled and someone could easily be killed ( a pedestrian, a head on crash, etc). We're talking about catastrophic steering and brake failure at the same time! normally, I'm not too caring about this stuff and I regard it as someone elses problem but I don't want this blood on my hands if I don't do something about it. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Bend, OR, USA

My 2000 Chevrolet Suburban lost all power steering when turning wheel left to avoid sliding on ice. Harbor Chevrolet/Michigan city in replaced power steering pump; total cost $650.10, including towing.

- New Buffalo, MI, USA

While driving at any speed steering wheel stuck. When this occurred it felt like driving without power steering assist. Vehicle was taken to the dealer, who replaced the power steering pump. Also water and fuel pumps were replaced.

- Norwalk, CA, USA

Power steering pump failed, broke internally. My wife went to turn the Suburban around (on dirt driveway) and it quit all at once.

- White Sands Missile Range, NM, USA