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.
The brake lines on my 2004 Suburban have now failed three times. The first time one of the lines had to be replaced at a cost of over $1000, the second time a separate line was patched, and now the third time the same second line that was patched has failed again. All of the brake lines are incredibly corroded, so much so that a friend of mine wondered if it had been submerged during hurricane katrina. But now upon reading up on the subject it appears that is is all gms of that time frame that live in saltier air. While GM appears to think that these are components that should wear down over time, this is only the second time in the 30 years that I have owned cars to find this problem.
I was driving down a two lane highway at 50 miles per hour a dog ran out in front of my SUV, I hit the brakes hard and noticed the pedal went to the ground. Drove the car home carefully. When I got it in the garage found rusted through brake lines going to the rear of the car leaking. There is excessive rust on the lines and an electrical harness that goes to the gas tank has rubbed a hole in the line.
The brake line from the front to rear rusted and ruptured resulting in virtually no braking. Upon further inspection the brake lines are all badly rusted and in need of replacement. Very unfortunate GM chose to use such an inferior material for such an important component. Very dangerous situation GM should be making owners aware of.
I was driving to pick my son up from school when I lost brakes. We barely avoided an accident and had to swerve off the road to avoid the vehicle in front of us stopping at the light. I had just redone my front and rear brakes/rogers. After inspecting the brake lines we noticed my lines are completely rusted and will not hold any fluid. I live in Florida. No snow, no salt on my roads. It disgusts me that GM isn't taking care of this known issue. This is my 4th Suburban and will be my last. I will now be looking toward the Ford, Toyota, or Nissan SUV. GM should be making this right. Maybe after a few more deaths they'll see how serious this is. How many deaths do they need on their hands to see it's a problem? absolutely disgusts me!
Went to back out of the driveway, brake pedal went to the floor, no brakes had to take extreme steps to stop the vehicle and all I was doing was backing out of a flat driveway onto the street. Towed vehicle to auto shop - brake lines before safety valve broke causing the entire braking system to fail. Previously I had a brake line burst, however it was post the safety valve which allowed me to stop safely. The lines busting before the safety valve is extremely dangerous and would have resulted in severe injuries had we been driving down the road at normal driving speeds. GM has an issue and prior to this I was not happy with them saying it isn't an issue, now that it broke in a place that does not have any safety mechanism I consider it extremely poor of GM to cover their face and say there isn't an issue.
- Florence, KY, USA
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Headed out on a quick trip into town. As I turned off of the street I live on I came to a stop sign and as I went to hit the brakes they went all the way to the floor and I could not stop my vehicle in time. I was lucky because I was going downhill at the time but as luck would have it, no cars were at the stop sign and I was able to go through the stop sign and turn left onto an uphill road and let gravity stop my vehicle. Had this had happened once I hit the busy street I was headed to it would have killed someone else as well as myself! I have read that this problem has been reported and no recall from Chevrolet... that is just a crime, in my opinion!
I took the vehicle to local Chevrolet dealer for oil change and yearly state inspection. The vehicle passed the state inspection/emissions control test. I was not notified that there were any issues concerning the vehicle. The vehicle was driven 5 miles to home. Two days, started the car, but had no brakes. The brake pedal went to the floor. A warning light was on. There were puddles of brake fluid in the driveway. I had the vehicle towed back to the dealer. They informed me that te brakeline had completely corroded. The cost for repair was quoted at $800. From what I understand, this sudden and complete brake failure could have occurred at any time, even while driving the vehicle.
Started driving and within 5 min, I lost all brakes. Was able to get to a local service station where they discovered that the brake lines had rusted and drained nearly all fluid. Had lines replaced with stainless steel lines for mega bucks. Rusted lines burst at one point, however, rust/corrosion was present at several points in the system. Did not see any recall or notice to the defective or substandard brake lines in 2004 Chevy Suburban. Old lines appeared to be cheap pot metal. I am the only owner of this vehicle and have done all required maintenance.
ABS light, brake light and parking brake light went on. Also saying check brake system soon came on. Went to dealer 10/15/2014 and was told need two computers for ABS. About $1500 but can't do it because the brake lines are rusty and may break. If they were to break about a $4500 repair bill. Was told ok to drive and the ABS would just disable itself. Brake lines used to be made of stainless steel. Has almost 119,000 miles. Also was told maybe time for a new vehicle. I bought new and have had numerous repairs done and maint on it.
While driving in heavy morning rush hour traffic on a northern Virginia interstate, brakes were applied for typical traffic slowdown. After releasing the brake, the warning light alerting driver of a brake issue came on. At that point, I tested the brake and the peddle sunk to the floor while quickly loosing braking resistance. I was able to pull over and stop the vehicle within about a mile. Looked underneath the drivers side and saw brake fluid leaking/dripping out of the brake line which was ruptured. Had to call a tow truck to take this to a shop for replacement of all of the brake lines. All of the lines were corroded. Checked online and saw that this was a "typical" issue affecting 2004 Chevy Suburban but that a product recall was not issued yet. I was thankful that this did not happen the previous day when my 16 yr old daughter drove the car to school.
I was two blocks from home when I applied brakes as I approached a curve. Brake pedal went to the floor boards. Using low gear and parking brake I managed to get the Suburban home with no incident. Brake lines front to back were replaced by service center. Cause, rust thru.
Obvious corrosion on brake lines of 2004 Chevy Suburban. By just applying the brake for few times, the brake fluid is gushing underneath the driver side (between the front and rear wheels). Also notice rusting brake lines up to the engine hood (this thing should definitely not happened, I never had a problem like this before in any vehicle I had owned, brake lines should last even beyond the lifetime of the vehicle!). I also informed Chevy (tel: 800-222-1020)about this life safety failure, this is a very serious defect and Chevy must issue a recall on this corrosion problem on brake lines.
Driving down highway coming to red light depressed brake pedal, pedal went all the way to the floor. Could not stop vehicle before going through red light, held down vehicle horn to warn other drivers which saved me from injuring/killing someone else or myself. After getting vehicle on shoulder of road noticed brake fluid dripping down the frame rail on the drivers side in front of rear tire.
On 8/30/14 I was driving down the road going about 25 mph when a car came out from a street on the left side and pulled in front of me without looking, I pressed down on the brakes quick and swerved to the right to avoid hitting him, he had no idea as I was swerving out of the way to not hit him, he was making his turn, I got on the horn and he just pulled over to the right and gave me a wave as to say he was sorry. Anyway, when I pressed down on the brake fast, it went all the way to the floor, I had total brake failure, all the brake fluid leaked out from the driver's side near the chassis, there was no stopping this truck. I don't see how they can say you are still able to use the brakes, you can't pump them. It is now sitting at the mechanics getting fixed, so far he told me it would be $600-$800 labor, I have not gotten back the truck yet as I write this. The brake lines were so rotted, it was only a matter of time, and I only bought this 9/17/13, the truck originally came from Pennsylvania.
I was driving at highway speed just starting to exit off ramp brakes went to the floor and dash lights came on for brakes, also stability loss message came on. Could have been killed or had serious accident.lucky did not but is a very serious issue.brought to shop and was told and shown all brake lines were rusted real bad and one broke open while I was exiting that off ramp.I called GM but they did nothing! I was very upset with this and feel this should be brought to the attention of someone who will really look into this for the safety of all.also my 1997 Chevy conversion van, and my husbands 2005 Chevy Silverado the same thing happened to those brake lines while driving broke open due to rust, losing brakes while driving.van mileage was 70000, and Silverado mileage was 75000.this is so dangerous I urge you to please check into it before someone gets killed.I recently saw on the news that suburu recalled cars in northern states for rusted brake lines same as this.GM should be doing the same.
The contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that while driving 5 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard as a result the brakes did not respond. The vehicle was taken to dealer where it was to be diagnosed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 91,000.
I had the vehicle in park, on a hill, and when I shifted it into drive, felt a pop in the pedal. Then the brakes would not hold the vehicle. I had a very difficult time stopping the vehicle due to the loss of brake pressure. The brakes pedal would just fall to the floor. My husband came out and found one of the rear brake lines was rusted and leaking fluid. The brake lines have visible rust on the outside of them.
Complete failure of brakes while driving, coasted to stop with assistance of parking brake. Upon inspection it was found that all brake lines are severely rusted to a failure point, the one line that failed was for the rear brakes from the block device under the drivers side inner frame rail (ABS unit or booster) for a very well kept family vehicle with low miles and no substantial rust anywhere else but the brake lines, and this one area that gets constant road spray directly at the lines and block/booster/ABS on the inner frame drivers side. This was a shock to find, and now after looking online that NHTSA has the longest open case with Chevy for 99-02 and seems like it will spread to 07 something needs to be done for public safety. This Suburban weighs like 6000 pounds, a tank, and will crush anything in its way if the brakes do not work. I have had several other makes/models of cars & trucks and the only time I have ever needed to replace a brake line was on my old 1984 Dodge Ram pickup I plow snow with all the time and it was 25yrs old at that time not 10yrs old like the Chevy. We need immediate action to ensure the safety of all of the thousands with this same issue on Chevy trucks/SUV's. purchased new in manchester ct for over $36,000 in April 2004.. I do not have the $1000+ on hand to have this repair completed at this time with 2 children in college and 2 more soon to be.
The master cylinder and brake line caused a complete brake failure. All the brake lines are severely rusted, compromised, and all must be replaced. Fortunately the failure happened in a restaurant drive through. Moments before pulling into the drive through, I was driving my daughter on a busy roadway with a 50 mph speed limit. I do not feel brake lines should be made of materials that can corrode and fail without any warning whatsoever. The truck is very well maintained. With non-corrosive metals available for brake tubing it is inexcusable from a safety perspective. The government needs to address this to prevent clearly foreseeable injuries and deaths.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Corpus Christi, TX, USA