Faulty Brake Vacuum Pump triggered my brake to get stuck while I was driving ended on the side of the express way to avoid traffic and prevent a crash.

- Aurora, IL, USA

I got my car out of the shop a week ago for my brakes the car was in the shop for a month and this past weekend my car is doing the same exact thing a week later I was on I 75 also hit a semi truck

- Vienna, GA, USA

I have a 2018 Terrain SLT. On 11/20/24, I was headed home from my commute to work driving my terrain with all the confidence in the world because I hadn't had any major issue with it. In 5pm stop and go traffic I decided on another route to my son's school to pick him up from practice. As the light at the end of the bridge turned red, I proceeded to stop, and my brake pedal was as stiff as stone. Going across that bridge I was literally standing up on the brake pedal with my back and shoulder against the roof of the truck for support trying to stop. As I came close to the cars that had already stopped I contemplated jumping out of the car but I decided to keep at it. It was God and God alone that cleared a shoulder for me to be able to pull over. I was petrified!! No signs, no brake noises, no hesitations, nothing! No warning lights on the dash, no alerts, NOTHING! Brakes were just gone! The mechanic said the vacuum pump had exploded and it was a known issue with terrains and that there was a bulletin regarding this. Pieces of the metal from the exploded vacuum pump were found inside of the engine. The mechanic was upset about the event and said to notify GM, something needed to be done about it. He gave me the vacuum pump to show the GM service center and he said one of the mechanics took pics of the metal in the engine. I called GM and was told to bring it in to a GM service shop so that they could check it out, but at my expense because the manufacturer warranty had expired. I AM SO UPSET WITH GM!! I have anxiety every time I go to press the brake! Panic attacks thinking about the possibility of this happening with my kids/elderly parents in tow. Thank God for covering me and all the drivers and their families that could have been hurt. Thank God my son/elderly parents weren't in the car! The fact that this is a known issue and it hasn't been addressed is heartbreaking. GM should do the right thing and recall these trucks, asap.

- Danville, VA, USA

The vacuum pump exploded and I lost power braking ability while going approx. 40mph. If I hadn't pressed down hard on the brakes to slow down, in less than 2 minutes I would have ended up in Lake Michigan, as I was heading east toward the on ramp for [XXX]. The problem has been confirmed by European US Auto here in Chicago, and I have photos. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Chicago, IL, USA

While driving the vehicle the vacuum pump failed and caused the camshaft to seize and physically break which caused the break peddle to become hard and breaking the vehicle was limited and almost nonexistent, which caused an extremely dangerous situation on the highway.

- Wayne, PA, USA

In 2022 and now in sept of 2024 my entire braking system has failed. Cause you a complete in abilty to stop the vehicle. Upon this failure without any warning peice of the braking system connected to the engine shoots shrapnel into my engine and causes the cam to be destroyed. Now I can't get my car back because of a shortage on this part.

- Alliance , OH, USA

Brake pump keeps going changed in the last 2 week and over in the last 2 yrs 3xs and burning oil.brakes get hard while driving which is dangerous.

- Adel, GA, USA

The vacuum pump gears for the brake assist was shattered and metal parts were sent into the engine. I lost power brakes and was lucky to be able to stop the suv. The car was towed to a GMC dealer where it was diagnosed with a damaged exhaust cam, a shattered vacuum pump and metal pieces in the motor. Cost to fix $3200. This is a 2018 GMC Terrain with 112000 miles on it. I had a powertrane plus warrenty that was still valid but they refused to pay for anything. They claimed the vacuum pump caused the problem and it was not the engines fault. There were no warning check engine lights before this happened.

- Levittown, PA, USA

Vacuum pump is in the shop now being replaced for the 7th time in almost 6 years. The previous one was replaced in September 2023. You get no warning signs, then all of a sudden you can barely press down on the brake pedal. This started within the 1st year of purchase.

- Canton, MS, USA

I was driving down the highway between 65 and 70 MPH. The semi-truck in front of me almost missed his turn and stopped quickly to make a 90 degree turn off the highway. I went to slow my vehicle appropriately, and my brakes did not respond. I had no warning that my brakes were compromised. I quickly used the downshift button to use my engine to slow me down and I crashed my vehicle off the road into the sagebrush (luckily no trees and there wasn't a dramatic drop off). At that time, after my vehicle came to a stop, I received a warning on my dash that stated "service brake assist". I looked up the issue on my phone to see what may have happened, and read that GMC had a recall for this very issue. I contacted the dealership and they indicated that they were aware that the 2018 GMC Terrain has this issue, but it was not included in the recall. I am traumatized by this incident. I am a very experienced driver, but I had bought this vehicle for my daughter, had she been driving, this would have been a catastrophic accident. I have nightmares about if this had failed when approaching a crosswalk or in a school zone. If GMC is aware of the problem, and they had a full recall on this on other models with this same problem, why aren't they fixing the Terrain, why are they waiting for a fatality. It is unacceptable, dangerous, and I don't even want to know what the cost is going to be to repair the vehicle. I am thankful it wasn't much worse.

- Reno, NV, USA

Safety was put at risk when brakes went out without warning, and unable to use emergency brake at that time. Car was serviced for over $1700, with the mechanics stating that the piece -??blew up.-??

- Olathe, KS, USA

The brakes stop working, they get really stiff and locks in the middle of the highway, very hard to stop and almost caused an accident, it is not the first time, the vehicle was serviced by an authorized mechanic and the problem had been resolved until today, the brakes locked and almost caused me to loose control of the vehicles brake system.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

We were driving back from vacation and while on I-95 the brakes went out. The check engine light came on and the service brake assist light came on. My husband was able to pull off to the side of the road but if it weren-??t for already starting to slow down due to an accident we were approaching this could have been much worse. When the brakes went out my husband could hardly press the brake peddle. After researching this appears to be a known issue amongst GM vehicles. It appears to be the vacuum pump that went out. There is an open recall for certain models of GM but not all. This was such a dangerous situation. We literally could have died. This should be a recall for all models as Terrains appear to be largely affected as well from this issue.

- Ocala, FL, USA

While driving on the interstate the brakes all the sudden stopped working. I was able to stop the vehicle by pulling over to the shoulder of the road. I received a warning saying service brake assist and a check engine light after the brakes went out. The vehicle later shut off and is no start with no warning codes. I am currently towing the vehicle to a mechanic. Several people claim to have the same issue online stating that it is an issue with the brake vacuum booster shearing off in the exhaust cam which then causes major damage to the engine. It appears the same issue exists with several other GMC models that were already recalled

- Ocala, FL, USA

While driving truck around 55mph with family in vehicle and tried to make a stop in a traffic light, notice truck had a hard brake pedal and did not stop, luckily I (Parent) around [XXX] of age was able to divert around and put on neutral until truck stoped in side of road. After a while of looking around and checking truck for system errors or lights there was no indication not warnings. i was able to move truck to a near by location and asked a mechanic to go look at it. Mechanic notice oil coming out of brake vacuum pump and took out part and mentioned that the pump had broken in pieces inside engine block and might need a replacement. Truck is still on shop and waiting for our decision to fix. At this point my family is so scared of this truck and don't even want to talk about the incident. Me as a parent is very concern on all this new vehicles that are suppose to be more reliable and better protection than older vehicles, i feel more protected in my 90-??s truck. I hope this gets enough attention to at least save someone's life. Thanks in advance, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

- Rio Grande City, TX, USA

Vacuum pump failure which leads to total engine repair

- Ward, AR, USA

I was driving and my brakes seized up. Could not apply pressure at all. This could have caused serious injury to myself and my daughter as we were driving alone 3 hours from home. I was able to get into a parking lot but now my car won't start.

- Benton, AR, USA

My vehicle keeps showing -??service brake assist-?? and -??service TSC-?? lights. I was on a hill and the auto-start was engaged, as well as hill assist. When I let off the brake pedal slightly to get the car to come out of auto-start, the car acted like it completely shut off (radio went black and lost power) and the car just started rolling backwards quickly. If there was a vehicle behind me it would-??ve %100 caused an accident. My wife and child ride in this car every day and this is the second time I-??ve had serious issues with this car. The first time I was driving down the interstate and the brake vaccuum pump went out and I lost all brakes, I had to put all 180lbs of my weight on the brake pedal to get it to stop.

- Cleveland, TN, USA

Vehicle brakes went completely hard and vehicle would not stop. There was no warning signs, no lights on the dash and vehicle was driving on highway normally. Upon taking a highway exit, I could not stop the vehicle, completely unexpectedly. Upon further research it is a very common problem that needs to be addressed. My 3 kids and wife were in the vehicle when it happened, and this is actually the second time it has happened. The first time it happened we could not stop the vehicle at all to turn onto the road I live on, could barely push the brake pedal and coast to a stop. The repair last time it happened was the camshaft driven brake booster vacuum pump, and it has failed again after 20,000 miles. This is a serious manufacturer defect that has almost killed my family twice now.

- Epsom, NH, USA

While driving down the road at approximately 55 mph, came up to an intersection, 4 Lane I was in the right lane to go straight, there was a right turn lane next to me. I applied the brakes, pedal was really stiff and very slow to respond, I was able to edge over into the turn lane cutting people off and just barely missing the vehicles in front of me. It took 5 car lengths to stop my vehicle. When I finally was able to get the vehicle fully stopped I was almost in the paths of the crossing traffic.. when the light turned green I was able to slowly cross the intersection looking for a safe place to pull over. Immediately crossing the intersection the Service Brake Assist notification appeared, about another half mile the vehicle informed me of loss of power and that it was reducing engine power (limp mode). I was able to find a gas station parking lot to put it. When I opened the hood I noticed quite a bit of engine oil located under where the brake assist pump was located. I had lost about 1.5 quarts of oil. I refilled that. The next day I returned with a tow dolly. The vehicle was started just long enough to load and unload it at home. We pulled the vacuum pump where upon inspection it was noticed that the part has exploded and so far we are still missing some pieces that may be inside the engine. This is a known and documented problem of this part and should have a safety recall issued.. I still owe over twenty eight thousand on this vehicle and it has only 109,000 miles on it. I hope we can find all the pieces and that the engine wasn't fately harmed. GMC needs to make this right, a lot of people could have been harmed.

- Rockmart, GA, USA