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.
General Motors is aware of an issue with the parking brakes in some model years of their vehicles and have even issued a recall for them to be fixed. They only recalled vehicles with manual transmissions even though vehicles with automatic transmissions have the same brake parts and suffer from the same issue. The parking brakes engage on their own while the vehicle is in motion which causes damage to the pads and drums to the point where they cease to work. This is an unsafe condition especially when towing a vehicle and having to park on an incline. I have contacted them and they just keep telling me that my specific vehicle was not recalled. My vehicle has the same brakes as those that were recalled and have the same issue. 2002 GMC Sierra 1500. If you look on the recall website you will see the same make and model year recalled with manual transmissions. Again the transmission is not the issue, its the brakes.
Driving to work one morning, I noticed as I approached a stop sign that I had to push my brake pedal further than I had earlier in my trip. Instead of continuing onto the freeway I pulled into a station and tested the brakes only to find that I could push them all the way to the floor and come to a gradual, rolling stop. The truck was towed to a shop where it was found that one of the metal brake lines had rusted through. All 6 lines showed signs of severe rusting. Once the lines were replaced the mechanic told me that a second line had rusted to the point that he did not think it would have held pressure if I had only replaced the first failed line. I was advised that the brake lines in this model and year of truck were known to rust and fail early in the life of the vehicle, especially in northern states.
On Monday afternoon 5/11/15 I had just hooked up a small trailer in preparation to go pick up my granddaughter from central Michigan university the following day. This was going to require a round trip distance of roughly 400 miles. While turning my truck around to park it for the night I discovered to my horror that the brake pedal on my truck went all the way to the floor with no stopping power at all. This happened suddenly and with absolutely no warning at all. I shudder to think what might have happened if this occurred during the road trip to pick up my granddaughter. I called my son in law who helped me replace a main trunk line for the brakes going to the rear axle. This could have been a disaster and but for the grace of god, did not occur during the trip the next day.
Pulled into a parking space at a store brake pedal went right to the floor, hit building. Brake lines blew out related to poor quality brake lines from manufacturer.
I approached a busy intersection and because traffic signal was turning amber, I applied my brakes and there were no brakes. The brake lines had corroded and broke. Although I filed a complaint last year, GM has decided that even though there are numerous incidents regarding the cheap parts they used in these vehicles, they would not issue a recall. In fact, there was a newspaper article 2 weeks ago that stated there would be no recall because most of these accidents were in northern states where salt is used on the roads in winter. However, now they have issued a very limited recall for Cadillac ctss for the exact years that our GMC suffered same kind of brake failure. The cost to replace these faulty parts is estimated at $2000 per vehicle. But the danger to life and property is much greater. Don't understand how there can be such a limited recall when more than this one model is affected. And yes, I mitigated my damages by having brakes repaired. But feel that I was cheated, now that restricted recall has been issued.
- Milwaukee, WI, USA
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The brake lines are rusted so badly it will not pass it's next va state inspection. This truck has only been driven 74000 miles. Can this be normal? I am a disabled vet with limited income and can not afford the cost of replacement. There is also more than normal rust of the suspension and other parts under the body. I believe this has gone on too long and a recall is necessary.
My 15 year old son driving with me in the passenger seat he has a learners permit applys the brake and it went to the floor not being able to stop properly swerves and avoids a collision with limeted brakes I took over and made it home buy the time I got home I had no brakes and no brake fluid I was releived to make it. I work on cars for a living and never replaced brakelines do to rusting out. There will be a fatality if GM dont fix there problem. I dont live in where it snows very often my couny has 2 salt trucks and my roads I drive dont get salt, we havent got snow besides a dusting in three years. So to say its trucks in the North is a false statement. I bought a ss aftermarket brake line set I will install it myself. I know it will be labour extensive but it has to be done thanks for letting me vent thanks to you you for reading my complaint.
Traveling North on route 28 near chantilly, Virginia, a line of cars in front of me came to an abrupt halt. I pressed my brake peddle hard and within three seconds the brake peddle was at the floor. I quickly maneuvered my truck to the right and was able utilize the emergency brake to slow the truck to a stop. Incredibly, my son and I were not injured, we did not hit the line if vehicles in front of us, and were all spared a potentially deadly outcome. After coming to a stop, my son and I inspected our truck and brake fluid was leaking from the left supply line to the rear break. The line had burst due to hard braking and corrosion of the fuel line. We were saved for some reason, however, if this had been on a weekday during commuting hours, the outcome would have been entirely different. The NHTSA should continue to hold GM accountable for this poor engineering (fuel lines) and eventual catastrophic situation that will, or probably already has, happened.
My 16 year old daughter was driving the truck at the time of the failure. She has her temporary license and was driving for the third time. After driving in town and on some rural roads, she started getting too close to other cars at stop lights and stop signs. I began telling her to stop sooner, she said she was trying. It only got worse so we went home. She almost ran into our house as tried to stop in the driveway. Because she is a new driver, she did not realize the brakes were going out. After we got out of the truck I noticed a puddle of fluid forming under the driver side. I determined that it was brake fluid. I raised the hood and had her press on the brake pedal. Brake fluid started spraying out of a brake line near the frame. The brake lines from the master cylinder to the ABS module are very rusty along with every other brake line. This truck may be 12 years old and have 87,000 miles but I have always taken very good care of it and it still looks new inside and out. I do not believe a major safety component like the brakes should be failing at this time. Other critical components have warning systems to alert you to possible failures but when there is no way to tell if something critical will fail I believe those parts should be made to last. If the life expectancy of a part is limited, the manufacturer should recommend service at a reasonable interval. My daughter is now scared to death to drive any of our cars because she feels it could happen again. I am just glad I wasn't pulling my 20 foot boat and had to make a panic stop at highway speeds when the line failed. Someone could have got injured or killed I am currently getting quotes to have it repaired. So far I have received prices ranging from $600-1500. I feel GM should cover most to all of these expenses because they used sub-par parts to build a critical component of the brake system.
While driving in town, I depressed the brake pedal to slow for a stop sign traveling under 25 mph. The pedal pressure felt firm/normal for a brief second and then went nearly to the floor and I was barely able to stop. The brake light on the dash did not illuminate until approximately the 10th time I tried to stop. If there had been someone in front of me or I was traveling in a higher speed zone, I most certainly would not have stopped in time. The diagnosis is the rear brake line rusted through. I've been told by several mechanics that all the brake lines will have to be replaced as they are all so rusted no one line can be replaced without damaging the rest of the lines because of their close proximity to each other. I can't find anyone that will take on the job.
2002 GMC Sierra 1500-brakes went out suddenly as I was turning into a busy intersection. Pedal went right to the floor-no brakes. There was no separate system circuit that brought the truck to a halt, there were no dashboard warning lights engaged, and no brake fluid leak before that would alert me to a failure. Had to use emergency brake to pull over to a safe spot- vehicle needed to be towed to repair facility. Repair facility stated this is a common problem with these vehicles- but there was no recall or safety bulletins issued that they could locate.
Was approaching an intersection and light turned yellow, applied brake and peddle went right to the floor, coasted through red light and immediately parked vehicle. Towed to local garage and front brake line in the middle (under rock guard) severely rusted and failed.
The contact owns a 2002 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that the brakes and ABS warning lamp illuminated sporadically. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the technician diagnosed that the ABS control module was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 130,000.
Today I was on freeway in bumper to bumper traffic and when I went to stop my brakes fluttered and made a weird noise and I pushed with all my strength on brake pedal to stop and wasn't able to stop like 25 other cars in my life would have stopped and rear ended a minivan, there was minimal damage done to his van, my bumper has a little dent and his van has a small scratch, this I the third time in last week this has happened with the first 2 me thinking it was nothing because it only happens maybe 1 out of every 300 brake applications, I came home today and did some research on google and found out there are 1000S of trucks like mine with the ABS activating at low speeds causing crashes, I called GM and asked a few questions and all they said was my VIN does not qualify for ABS or brake recall GM had on these yr trucks. If my truck is doing the same thing as these trucks that qualified for recall why wont they fix mind because obviously its same problem, the GM guy I spoke with played dumb and act like he has never heard of someone having my issue, he is lying because there is tons of people on these GM forums that have called GM with same problem as mine with same results, please help me or let me know what recourses I have to have GM fix this ABS issues before someone gets killed, thank you
While trying to park my vehicle in a parking lot the brakes anti-lock system engaged. I was pulling forward to back into a stall. There was a person walking down the parking lot some distance in front of me. As I applied the brakes to stop going forward and start to back the ABS system engaged and I could not stop. The gentleman in front of me thought I was going to hit him, and quite frankly I thought that I was also. The pavement was dry, the temperature was about 62 degrees. This is a dangerous situation. There is nothing wrong with my brakes at higher speeds. I have read some things about issues with the ABS speed sensors on the wheels. If this is the case GM needs to recall all of these vehicles before there are serious accidents or deaths!!
The contact owns a 2002 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact shifted into drive and applied pressure to the brakes however, the brake pedal abnormally traveled to the floorboard and the vehicle did not respond to braking attempts. The contact mentioned that the emergency brake was utilized in order for the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake lines needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 79,059.
The brakes on this truck completely failed without any warning. Could not stop the vehicle except for the emergency brake. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor. No warning lights, or any other indications of brake failure until there were suddenly zero brakes. I was very lucky that this didn't happen somewhere else, with my one-year old daughter in the truck. I see that the brake fluid is squirting out of one of the four steel lines just under the master cylinder when the brake pedal is pressed. Upon inspection I also see that all the lines look to be corroded. I intend to replace all the brake lines on this vehicle now due to the corrosion seen, as I do not believe it would be safe to drive otherwise.
There was almost a crash! a car, from the right side, started to pull out in front of me at an intersection. I hit the brakes hard and felt what I thought was the ABS activating. Fortunately the car stopped and I was able to swerve around the car and I avoided a collision. It was close! a 1/4 mile down the road I applied the brakes to turn left into my destination and the brakes were not effective and the pedal went to the floor. We inspected the truck and found brake fluid leaking in the vicinity of the rear axle. We looked underneath and found the main metal brake line that goes over the gas tank to the front of the vehicle has ruptured. We called the local GMC dealer and found no recalls or service campaigns for this problem. The truck is now at a local independent shop for repairs.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waterford, CA, USA