The rear drivers side brake line broke. While at the repair shop, they informed me the other side brake line was bad and needed replaced. Two months later two more lines broke. The main rear line and front supply line from the master.
2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 brakes complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 65, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle failed to stop when the brake pedal was depressed. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a curb. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The contact was advised that the brake line needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
10/11/2 brakes failed plus parking brake failed and parking brake shoe assembly was not found upon dealer inspection. Replaced disc brakes and had parking brake shoe installed. 11/09/12 check engine light revealed ignition problem. New ignition wire set installed. 01/29/13 dash cluster failed, had no horn, no headlights, no interior lights, no speed control , no steering wheel lights for control buttons, no speedometer reading, no radio. Replaced dash cluster. 05/05/14 check engine light and stranded when vehicle would not start. Misfire messages on dealer equipment reading. 06/16/14 stranded again , vehicle would not start. Replaced ignition switch. 07/15/14 stranded again , vehicle would not start. Replaced starter relay. 02/16/15 driver heated seat coming on/off while driving on its own. 4 wd engaged on its own while driving and made driving uncontrolled. Awd engaged on its own while driving on dry smooth road. Stranded, would not start. Vehicle at dealer again today for this list of problems.
Was driving with my children in vehicle. As I was approaching intersection, stepped on brake pedal and it went completely to floor. The brakes were not working at all. I had to downshift and use emergency brake in order to avoid collision. Had to have suburban towed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that when the brake pedal was applied, the brake pedal traveled to the floorboard and the brake warning light illuminated. The emergency brake was applied in order to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the brake lines were replaced on two occasions but the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed back to the independent mechanic but was not diagnosed or repaired. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.
Was driving behind a school bus when it stopped to let kids off. I applied my brakes and the pedal went to the floor. I had no brakes, I am not really sure how I managed to stop without hitting the bus. I pulled over in a parking lot. Got out of my 2003 chevy suburban went into the bank to call my husband to come get me. By the time I got back out to my truck there was a puddle of brake fluid under the drivers side door. My brake lines where shoot.
Applied brakes and had to press almost to the floor. Once stopped, the vehicle would start to roll again unless I applied further pressure on the brakes. I drove the vehicle home and the next morning there was a puddle of brake fluid under the car.
Was traveling in city down a slight hill when the brake pedal went all the way to the floor and the service brake system warnings went on and sounded. Immediately shifted vehicle into a low gear and pumped brakes. Was able to bring vehicle to a stop off the road. Upon examination it was obvious there had been a catastrophic brake line failure as brake fluid was all on the ground and covering the spare tire. Repair shop confirmed this was due to rusting of the brake lines.
Went to stop when traffic stop and felt the brake pedal go to the floor with very little braking power to stop. Had to swerve to miss the car in front. I limped home with very little braking power and when I got home I check the oil resolve, it had almost no oil. Looked under the truck and found a leaking brake line. The line was rusted out.
Re: loss of brakes. The hydraulic brake lines failed and leaked brake fluid. The brake system suffered a loss of loss hydraulic pressure. The brake lines showed heavy corrosion. Corrosion caused the hydraulic brake lines to fail.
While transiting the parking lot at the end of the work day last thursday, I was approaching the street entrance when I attempted to slow my vehicle. When I pressed the brake peddle, I encountered normal braking resistance for about a half second before resistance stopped and the peddle floored. I pumped the peddle several times to attempt to build pressure in order to stop the vehicle. This was unsuccessful. I abandoned the hydraulic braking system and deployed the parking/emergency brake in order to stop the vehicle before entering rush hour traffic on the cross street. The parking brake system was able to stop the vehicle before it entered traffic. There were no accident or injuries. The hydraulic braking system appeared to have suffered a sudden and complete failure without any warning. In fact, the "brake system failure" indicator light did not come on until several minutes after the vehicle had come to a complete stop. On site inspection showed rusted brake lines and no brake fluid in the master cylinder reservoirs. There were large puddles of brake fluid on the ground at both the left front and left rear wheels and a trail of brake fluid leading back up the parking lot. There was also a small puddle of brake fluid by the right rear wheel. The mechanic at the dealership, where I purchased the vehicle new, confirms that one brake line ruptured due to corrosion and that the others were also corroded and should be replaced. Please note: this vehicle was purchased in and has been continuously garaged in central virginia and has never been operated for significant periods of time in traditional "salt belt" states or in marine environments which would accelerate corrosion. Were "stainless" or corrosion resistant alloys mandated or used in these brake lines?
Brake flex lines between ABS and master rusted and failed, twice, within 2 years, brake lines rusted out between 90-106 k miles, gm does not make the parts anymore, and aftermarket parts are sketchy quality from china! Poor design, cheap steel lines, too thin, and no support of their products! Clearly gm has a myriad of other recalls and failures, but these are brakes, a critical part and safety component in vehicles that are supposedly their bread and butter- if your going to design safety parts to comport with federal requirements, support the product for reasonable use which is 25 years, better designs. 3 brake failures in 3 years, over $1800 now and no peace of mind it will not fail again.
Tl * the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. While driving 30 MPH, the contact depressed the brake pedal all the way to the floorboard, but the vehicle did not decelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who stated that the brake and fuel lines were severely rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 221,000.
On approximately april 7, 2014, while engaging vehicle in parking lot, I depressed the brake pedal, and the pedal went all way to floor. Had vehicle subsequently towed to chevrolet of gadsden, al for examination. Was informed that the brake line on drivers side had developed a leak, and the brake line was so corroded that they would not be comfortable with a standard repair. I.e., they refused to work on vehicle. The vehicle is at the dealership, and I have been advised that I can come and pick it up.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that while exiting a parking space the brakes failed. The brake pedal was applied and pressed to the floorboard but to no avail. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer, who diagnosed that the brake line on the drivers side needed to be replaced due to extensive rust. The undercarriage was extremely rusted for an extended period of time and the local dealer had not provided a remedy. The VIN was not available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.
Brakes completely failed without any warning or warning light. Brake pedal went to the floor with no brakes response. Rolled to a stop going up a hill. Car was towed to the local dealer, who told us the brake lines had corroded and failed. Second time the brake lines failed in two years.
Getting onto exit ramp at 50 MPH . Began pressing brake pedal. Suddenly no braking power at all.
Driving down the road and the brake pedal became mushy, took precaution to get home with slow speed. About 100 yards from my driveway the brake service light came on. Complete loss of hydraulic braking power. Coasted into drive and applied parking brake. Checked brake lines and found all brake lines rusted but the front right brake line rusted through allowing all brake fluid to leak out. The brake reservoir was completely empty.
Brake pedal almost to floor, extremely long time to stop.no warning just driving in columbus traffic and lost brakes. Found master cylinder almost empty. Brake lines rusted through left side drivers floor/frame rail area. Dealer estimate $1200 to$1600. Seems to be a common problem as on line investigation verifies.web site shows open case,no re-call to repair.
Was backing out of driveway and brake pedal went to the floor and would not stop. Threw shifter into park before it rolled out of driveway and down embankment and into woods. Inspection of vehicle found brake fluid leaking from corroded brake lines at rear of vehicle on driver's side. Further inspection showed that all brake lines are corroded and must be replaced.
Brake pedal went to the floor and car would not stop. Had to use the parking break and run into the curb to stop. Found there was no fluid so filled the master cylinder and pumped brakes. Fluid was running out of the line just under the driver's door. I inspected all the brake lines and found them severely corroded and will now replace them all. The last time I had to change a steel brake line was on a 1952 buick, but that was in 1984, when the car was 32 years old. There should be either a recall or at least a notice from chevrolet that this could happen. I could have easily wrecked my truck and/or killed a pedestrian.
Rear brake line corrosion and low brake fluid. Chevrolet dealer replaced rear brake lines. Lost brake pressure on december 23, 2003 and towed vehicle to chevrolet dealership. Dealership diagnosed problem as front brake line corrosion and recommended replacing brake lines.
Brakes failed on highway. Had to have front and rear brake lines replaced due to severe corrosion.
While traveling 35mph I began to brake for a changing light signal. The initial application of brakes began to slow the vehicle until the brake pedal went to the floor and a complete loss of braking power was experienced. I rapidly let off and re-applied pressure to the brake pedal with no gain in braking. I coasted through the intersection on a red light. There was no collision. I downshifted and used the parking brake to slow the vehicle and eventually stop. A brake warning light came on only after the complete loss of braking power. Inspection of the brake line revealed a rupture to the front right brake line next to the frame rail.
I was driving on the road coming up to a stop sign getting ready to enter on to the freeway. My brake pedal went completely to the floor and I could not stop. I had to use the parking brake to avoid hitting the cars in front of me. No easy task at 45mph. I veered around the cars and went off of the road. After looking, my suburban I found that 2 brake lines had blown out and were severely rusted. The area that they rusted was directly below the drivers area. I looked at the rest of the brake system and all of the lines are severely rusted. In 28 years of driving I have never had a brake line go out on me. I've owned some cars with upwards of 250,000 miles too. My 03 suburban has 75,000 miles on it. This is ridiculous. I could have been killed or seriously injured or killed someone. I have been researching this online and see that there is complaint after complaint of this problem. When is the federal safety agency going to act on this? Gm should be recalling these vehicles and fixing them. These are family vehicles that can carry as many as 8 or 9 people. This is a tragedy waiting to happen.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, he applied the brakes at an intersection but the vehicle did not stop and crashed into a curb. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that all of the brake lines and the front calipers would need to be replaced due to severe corrosion. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 80,000.
While driving my 2003 suburban I was approaching a stop sign and attempted to brake. The brake pedal suddenly went to the floor with no braking action. As the truck continued through the stop sign (thank goodness no other car was crossing) I attempted to engage the emergency break which failed to slow down or stop as well. I then intentionally turned to truck over a curb into a grassy area as to stop the vehicle prior to rolling down the hill into highway traffic. Upon examining under the truck I discovered an area under a clamp leaking brake fluid. It appears that it had corroded through.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for an unrelated repair when they noticed that the brake and fuel lines were rusted severely. In addition, the spare tire carrier exhibited rust corrosion and was removed from the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The vehicle had not been repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 147,000.
As I was backing my vehicle from my driveway I noticed a puddle of brake fluid where the vehicle was parked. Upon closer inspection I noted that the front brake line leading from the master cylinder to the rear ABS controller was leaking fluid onto the roadway. The vehicle is no longer safe to drive until the brake lines are replaced. All of the brake lines on this 2003 suburban are heavily corroded and look ready to fail at any moment.
I was driving on a paved highway, when the upcoming intersection light turned red. When I applied the brakes the brake pedal was very soft and just kept going all the way to the floor. After the pedal was all the way to the floor then the red warning light came on. I was able to stop the vehicle before entering the intersection and luckily there was no one in front of me. If there had been, I would have hit them. I drove to a nearby truck stop and got some brake fluid, the vehicle took the whole container. I had no fore-warning of any problem with the brake system. I carefully drove home and by the time I got there, approximately 12 miles, my brake fluid was down again and the brakes were failing as I pulled into my drive. Again, the warning light did not come on at any time until I pushed the brake pedal all the way to the floor. My husband looked at the car the next morning and the rear brake linings were corroded and leaking.
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