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 contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 10 mph, the brakes failed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the brake line was rusted and the ABS module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 63,000....updated 03/31/15 updated 6/22/2015
While driving downhill at O'hare airport terminal 5 I went to stop for the light and there was a brief second where the brakes acted normally and then the brake pedal went all the way to the floor. I had maybe 10% braking power. I had to drive on the side of the road and through the red light to avoid hitting another vehicle. I brought the car to my mechanic who said the brake line above the gas tank rusted right through.
As I was driving I approached a traffic light and applied the brakes. As I applied them, the pedal never offered much resistance and eventually went to the floor. I suspected that a flexible brake line had ruptured so I got off the street as quickly as I could. I examined the inside of all of the wheels where I thought that brake fluid might be evident. There was none to be seen. I limped home with the vehicle and examined it more closely. There was a major leak under the floor of the vehicle in a rigid brake line leading to the anti-lock brake controller. I researched the issue on the internet and found that GM has refused to issue a recall for rusted brake lines. In my opinion these lines should be of the highest quality material to be found. GM, however, must not think that the safety of their customers warrants any better materials than the rust prone metal that the brake lines are manufactured from.
On 26 September 2011 said vehicle had to have all brake lines and other brake parts replaced due to excessive rust/rusting out at 71,012 well maintained miles at a cost of $1300 plus. On 30 December 2014 said vehicle had to have all fuel lines and fuel filler tube replaced due to excessive rust/rusting out at 90,790 well maintained miles at a cost of $1800.oo plus.
Drove to Milan, mi from ypsilanti, mi. To look in on sister in law who is incapacitated due to broken femur from fall. Brakes felt mushy as I slowed to enter her driveway. After entering the driveway at low speed I applied brakes and pedal went to floor. Tried pumping brakes with no result. Threw shifter into reverse to keep from plowing into sister in laws vehicle. If this had happened earlier on the busy road leading into town I would have surely had an accident. Found brake lines badly rusted and both lines leaking that run from master cylinder to antilock module mounted to frame under drivers area. It is ridiculous that these two safety sensitive lines are made of un protected steel as opposed to copper nickel and are run out of the protected under hood area to the high corrosion prone underbody to meet the inappropriately placed antilock module. Two years prior to my purchase of this truck GM heavily advertised the rust resistant galvanized panels they were using in their trucks. I have since found out that they quietly removed this rust protection. I have ordered new break lines to totally replace all metal lines on this, my last Chevy truck. I can only wonder how many fatalities have resulted from this often referenced condition. The difficulty will be in ever proving the cause and affect (effect) of these accidents since they will be so devastating in nature, the driver will probably be killed and not be able to testify about the true cause and almost all GM trucks of this vintage (especially in the rust belt states) will have break lines so rusted that they will crumble in almost any accident. My experience shows that the unfortunate driver won't always have "some" braking ability left on a line failure.
- Ypsilanti, MI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
I had replaced antilock brake module last year and had brakes worked on this year and last and replaced brake pads. The rotors had been turned before, on a trip to my daughters my brakes started to go out. They were completely out by the time I reached her corner. I had to have all new brake lines and rotors and pads even though there were only 6,000 miles on the pads. I also had rustproofed the truck including the underbody and carriage when I bought it new in 2002. It's a rust bucket despite the extra protection. The antilock brake module was rusted. The brake lines were completely rusted through. And now the fuel pump is out and they fuel lines are rusted as well. What gets me is I paid so much extra for extra rust proofing. It should not have rusted through this bad at only 125000 miles. The antilock brake module is placed where the rust can get at it right under the chassis part unprotected. So much for safety. That went out at about 75000 miles but just got it replaced at 100000 miles or so. The brake lines and the fuel lines are a joke on this vehicle. I used to make and inspect and test them at a factory and these would have never passed inspection for corrosion test. But they weren't made there. The factory is closed. No union wages either, but we did good work not this garbage. It cost over $500 for module and it cost 2500 for the rest of brake job. And now the fuel lines and pump and filter will cost over $1000. Plus my truck body is rusting through on the rocker panels. I bought a Silverado because they hold their value and are dependable. Now my vehicle is only worth about half of what it should be and I'm paying though the nose on top of it! we have a 98 Chevy Blazer with 195000 and no rust on the rocker panels and the brake lines are just now getting replaced. There was no extra rust protection on it either! when is GM going to be responsible?
Crested a small hill to see a red light with three cars in line. I depressed brake pedal, which went to the floor. The vehicle was stopped using the parking brake after swerving into empty lane of oncoming traffic in order to avoid hitting the line of cars from behind. Upon inspection, the front brake circuit was blown in the piping just aft of the front driver's side wheel. It is extremely difficult to stop a large truck with empty bed using only the rear brakes as they lock up easily. There seemed to be no brake power using the brake pedal, which is why the parking pedal was used. Even with a functional parking brake, the "failsafe" of having only one circuit is nearly useless given an empty truck bed (low rear-wheel traction) and a loss of pressure on the front circuit. In my opinion, losing the front brakes on a truck is catastrophic. In any event, in my case, the supposed fail-safe either did not work or was inconsequential. All of the hard lines (fuel and brake) on this vehicle are extremely corroded and are being replaced with stainless. This car spent the first five years of its life in Oklahoma and Missouri (where little to no salt is used) and moved to nh in 2006. The rear driver's side rocker panel is also rusted through and the frame has very significant rust, especially on the leaf spring hangers. In addition, the front driveshaft is rusted to the point that I will not operate the vehicle in 4WD until I replace it. This vehicle seems very susceptible to rust, especially the brake lines, some of which crumbled in my husbands hands while removing.
I took the vehicle to the shop for a safety inspection. They found that the metal brake lines had rusted through and were leaking. Fortunately this problem was discovered in the shop, avoiding a possibly catastrophic brake failure while driving. I had the front lines replaced by the shop at a cost of $581.50, and I am replacing the rear lines myself. I am filing this complaint to document the problem as it relates to previous requests to GM by the NHTSA to issue a recall on these vehicles for this problem.
While traveling through town approached an intersection when brakes were applied pedal went to the floor tried to pump them as fast as possible to not get into a collision with car sitting at the red light. Did an avoidance maneuver into right turn lane was unable to stop truck and narrowly missed oncoming traffic turning left as I approached the corner, I shifted transmission into low gear and was able to apply parking brake to stop truck. Took to mechanic and found brake line ruptured below drivers seat had to replace all brake lines due to corrosion.was informed by mechanics repairing the ruptured line could break surrounding lines as they were all corroded as well. So they replaced all brakelines and all piston calipers as well because ferrul nuts were rusted into calipers. $1600 dollar repair. Lines and calipers (4).
The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. While driving approximately 45 mph, the brakes failed to stop the vehicle and the ABS warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing and the mechanic informed the contact that there was brake line failure. The brake lines were replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 144,000.
Driver swerved in front of two cars in front of me causing them to brake hard. When I brake the brake pedal went to the floor at 70 mph. I swerved in to the emergency lane to avoid hitting the vehicles in front of me. I kept the pedal pressed and engaged the parking brake while down shifting the truck from drive to 3, 2 then 1st. I then placed the truck in neutral and got the vehicle stopped. Upon inspection on the side of the road I found one of the rear steel brake lines had burst.
While driving on us rt 202 the light ahead of me turned red so I attempted to slow down and my brake pedal went straight to the floor and did not stop or slow down. I had lost brake pressure. Ran the red light where I almost T-boned another car, right in front of a police office. After avoiding the crash I parked on the side got out and saw brake fluid pouring out of the drivers side under the drivers door area. The brake lines had failed due to rust. I and other motorists could have been seriously injured for an issue that both GM and the NHTSA know about.
The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. The contact stated that while driving 45 mph engaging the brakes, the brake pedal sank to the floor and the vehicle failed to stop. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the technician diagnosed that the brake line had rusted and needed to be replaced. The brake line was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 115,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the driver side seat belt would suddenly retract and prevent the contact from moving. Also, the contact indicated that the ignition key became lodged in the ignition switch and could not be removed. In addition, the ABS sensor light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the ABS pump motor was defective. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 168,000.
While traveling at 25mph and coming to a slight abrupt stop, the brake pedal fell to the floor while depressing the pedal to stop. The vehicle came slowly to a stop with steam rising from under the vehicle. Upon pulling the vehicle to a safe location and upon inspection, it appears as if one of the metallic (assuming steel) brake lines feeding from the master cylinder to the ABS block had burst. No indication lights on the dash of a braking system failure or low pressure alert for the system. It appears that the brake lines were corroded/rusted. Upon discussing with a reputable auto shop, they indicated that this is a common issue on this model year vehicle and that a repair to replace the lines may be required. This is a safety issue in my opinion and if the materials used to make this safety system were non-corrosive; this would have not happened.
The ABS system activates or does not allow you to stop. It seems like the truck continues to accelerate. Pumping the brakes does not work. Putting it in neutral or ramming it in park is the only way to stop it. I almost ran someone over today. This is a very serious issue. I can not drive this truck in this condition. Looking at the forums out there this is a well reported problem yet I have not been made aware of the recall. I have not changed my address and have owned this for more than a year and a half.
Was approaching a red light at approx 30 miles per hour when the brake pedal simply "popped" and went all the way to floor. I was able to muscle it to a stop between the very little braking left, downshifting and the emergency brake. Mechanic determined all brake lines rusted and leaking.
The contact owns a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado. When the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact had to use extreme force in order to stop the vehicle. In addition, the brake warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who repaired the brake lines, but the failure persisted on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was not notified. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Knoxville , TN, USA