Parking brake, failure to disengage or indicate that the brake was engaged, leading to wear of the rear rotor/drum, and requiring replacement. Replaced once, only to have it happen again. Parking brake was a safety feature that should be subject to recall.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Vehicle with 25,300 miles failed the annual Virginia state inspection due to failure of the parking brake to hold. The dealer stated rust had formed on the rotors and they had to be replaced even though they and the brake linings were not worn out. The dealer service advisor stated the design had been changed on later models, but there was no recall for this defect and I would have to pay $980 to replace rotors, pads and park brake linings. I called GM's Chevrolet division customer service and the customer service rep said she would investigate and call me back in a few days. I picked up the truck and paid $775.71 the dealer having "given me a break on the labor" nine days later, the GM rep called to tell me there was nothing they could do as the "dealer diagnosed the problem as being due to the age and mileage of the vehicle" (4 years and 25,300 miles) and she was closing the file indicating I was dissatisfied with the results. I pointed out to her the fact that the NHTSA web page has numerous complaints about parking brakes on Chevy Suburban. She was not moved and restated her intent to close the file. I immediately called the dealer service advisor who stated that vehicle age and mileage was not the cause but. The problem was a durability issue with the parking brake system on Chevy trucks. He refused to contact the GM service rep on my behalf so, I left a message on her voice mail for her to contact him to discuss the issue. I then filed this complaint.

- Sterling, VA, USA

Consumer stated had problems with the emergency brake. Also stated that vehicle would not pass the inspection on his state. Dealer and manufacture was contacted and also said that since their was no recall consumer will have to pay for it. Ts dealer found park brake shoes worn to metal. Dealer replaced park brake shoes and left rear rotor.

- Beaumont, TX, USA

Vehicle delivered with 305 miles. Noticed parking brake would intermittently not hold vehicle when parked on slight incline after about 1000 miles. Initially, parking brake pedal had a different feel to the last 2 to 3 inches of pedal travel, as if it were 'giving way' due to excessive pressure on pedal. However, whether the pedal was pushed all the way to floor or stopped before it had that strange 'give way' feel did not seem to affect the failure of the parking brake to hold vehicle when applied. Eventually, after about 10000 miles, the strange 'give way' feeling ceased. Also noticed that over time the parking brake would fail to hold the vehicle more often than not, and around 14000 miles, quit altogether. I took the vehicle to dealer and was adviced this problem was common with the new Suburban body style (2000). Service advisor said would have to disassemble parking brake unit to see if pads needed adjustment or replacement and more than likely would be needing replacement and thus not covered by warranty. I told him this was happening from the beginning and he said the pads for the parking brake on the new body styles were very small and wore out very quickly especially if used on an incline or driven with parking brakes applied. This being the case, it did not seem cost effective to bother replacing the pads as he was going to charge me about $150. Is this a design defect or an intentional scheme to rip customers off with frequent brake pad changes?

- Tulsa, OK, USA

Vehicle delivered with 305 miles. Noticed parking brake would intermittently not hold vehicle when parked on slight incline after about 1000 miles. Initially, parking brake pedal had a different feel to the last 2 to 3 inches of pedal travel, as if it were 'giving way' due to excessive pressure on pedal. However, whether the pedal was pushed all the way to floor or stopped before it had that strange 'give way' feel did not seem to affect the failure of the parking brake to hold vehicle when applied. Eventually, after about 10000 miles, the strange 'give way' feeling ceased. Also noticed that over time the parking brake would fail to hold the vehicle more often than not, and around 14000 miles, quit altogether. I took the vehicle to dealer and was adviced this problem was common with the new Suburban body style (2000). Service advisor said would have to disassemble parking brake unit to see if pads needed adjustment or replacement and more than likely would be needing replacement and thus not covered by warranty. I told him this was happening from the beginning and he said the pads for the parking brake on the new body styles were very small and wore out very quickly especially if used on an incline or driven with parking brakes applied. This being the case, it did not seem cost effective to bother replacing the pads as he was going to charge me about $150. Is this a design defect or an intentional scheme to rip customers off with frequent brake pad changes?

- Tulsa, OK, USA

# 1. the day after I first puchased and picked up my vehicle it smoke us out of the parking garage on our vacation in oceanside, ca. #2 the brakes were very spongy and not anything like the one I demoed when I found this vehicle. I almost had an accident on route to oceanside. The last two trips in this has not been fixed and I had to rent a car again. # 3 about the 3 rd. Day into our new vehicle I noticed the parking brake wouldn, T always hold the vehicle, even after putting it in gear, with the brake fully applied it would fail but not all the time. # 4 after reporting the smoking problem, (still on-going) I had a no oil pressure warning and notice the gage didn't respond for about 10 seconds after starting the engine, then I had pressure but a constant low oil warning kept appearing on the message center. This is when it only had 1400 miles on it. I noticed some oil spots forming where I parked, I crawled under near the right rear side of the motor to find oil dripping from the engine and off the suspension near the engine. Its now been in 3 times for smoking, leaks and various other engine noises (lifters, right bank). # 5 the vehicle has pulled to the right since new. I called them, they said wait till you get a few miles on it so everything breaks in. Wrong answer. I checked the tire pressure. It was uneven on all tires, mind you they were supposed to check this before I purchased the vehicle. Average psi 30, should be 40-44psi cold. It helped but still pulled to the right. At 5000 miles I personally rotated the tires, this still didn't fix it. Upon bringing it in for all the formentioned and last problem which by the way required renting a car twice they finally took a look at it and know it pulls to the left and the steering wheel is no longer level. # 6 the right bucket seat won't lock in at the hinge point properly. They said there was a fix coming for the engine and the seat from the factory but as of yet nothing from Chevy or the dealership.

- Glendale, CA, USA

# 1. the day after I first puchased and picked up my vehicle it smoke us out of the parking garage on our vacation in oceanside, ca. #2 the brakes were very spongy and not anything like the one I demoed when I found this vehicle. I almost had an accident on route to oceanside. The last two trips in this has not been fixed and I had to rent a car again. # 3 about the 3 rd. Day into our new vehicle I noticed the parking brake wouldn, T always hold the vehicle, even after putting it in gear, with the brake fully applied it would fail but not all the time. # 4 after reporting the smoking problem, (still on-going) I had a no oil pressure warning and notice the gage didn't respond for about 10 seconds after starting the engine, then I had pressure but a constant low oil warning kept appearing on the message center. This is when it only had 1400 miles on it. I noticed some oil spots forming where I parked, I crawled under near the right rear side of the motor to find oil dripping from the engine and off the suspension near the engine. Its now been in 3 times for smoking, leaks and various other engine noises (lifters, right bank). # 5 the vehicle has pulled to the right since new. I called them, they said wait till you get a few miles on it so everything breaks in. Wrong answer. I checked the tire pressure. It was uneven on all tires, mind you they were supposed to check this before I purchased the vehicle. Average psi 30, should be 40-44psi cold. It helped but still pulled to the right. At 5000 miles I personally rotated the tires, this still didn't fix it. Upon bringing it in for all the formentioned and last problem which by the way required renting a car twice they finally took a look at it and know it pulls to the left and the steering wheel is no longer level. # 6 the right bucket seat won't lock in at the hinge point properly. They said there was a fix coming for the engine and the seat from the factory but as of yet nothing from Chevy or the dealership.

- Glendale, CA, USA