2008 Saturn Sky brakes complaints

Filed Sep 21, 2007 · Brakes · 17 miles · CO

We took delivery of a 2008 saturn sky rl (turbo) in early august 2007. The very next day we started the car and pulled out into the driveway. When the brakes were used to slow the vehicle their was about a 75% failure with the brake pedal. My wife was briefly panicked and slammed the brakes down further and eventually got the car to stop. By this point she had already traveled an extra 15 feet down the driveway and nearly hit me as I was standing in the driveway watching her back out her new vehicle. We initially thought since the vehicle was new that it might just need a few days to get things working. She drove the car very carefully for a few days and pumped the brakes before each use. After a few days the issue did not go away so we contacted the dealer. We brought the car into the dealer (which is sat for 3 weeks). Eventually we were told by the dealer that this is a problem with the car and is caused because they eliminated the brake vacuum pump from the 08 models. The dealer said they would install the old vacuum pump on our car but it could not be done for another 4 months because they don't have the parts. The concern with this car is we are now familiar with the vehicle and understand to let it run for a few minutes before driving. Out of several new cars over the years I must admit this is the first time I have been told to let the car run for a minute so the brakes will work. However my concern is around someone new driving any 08 sky? I think there is a huge safety concern around a peson in valet. I have seen numerous complaints regarding this same issue on the skyroadster forums and feel it is a matter of time before there is an accident or some is seriously injured by being backed over.

Filed Sep 15, 2007 · Brakes · 50 miles · GA

Manufacturer:gm model: saturn sky redline 2008 brakes become ineffective after car sits idle for an extended period of time over 7 hours. Essentially occurs every day when the car initially starts after sitting idle for a period of time. It is a safety hazard everytime you start your car and attempt to drive off straight away as the brake pedal becomes very difficult to use and the stopping response time is significantly increased. I almost crashed into another car driving past my driveway and as I was reversing out a parking lot. Just imagine if that was a small child that ran out and you could not stop in time! I took it the dealer, he left it overnight and experienced the same problem yesterday. I know he was surprised but all he did was print out the saturn service bulletin that states it is normal which instructs the dealer not to do anything. The actual bulletin wording highlighted in red states "important: do not attempt to repair or replace any parts for what is considered normal operation of the ohb". Since when is a change in brake effectiveness like this considered normal? This is being experience by numerous customers (see url http://www.skyroadster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18188) only have a hard copy of the saturn bulletin and could not find it on-line. It had a document id#: 1982132 with a subject title of "information on optimized hydraulic boost brake system characteristics #07-05-22-002 - (06/04/2007)