3,086 of the 10,571 complaints filed about the Chevrolet Suburban are about the braking system — 29% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 1994.
3,086
Complaints
29%
Share of all complaints
423
Crashes
11
Fires
SERVICE BRAKES
While in the parking lot or stopping at the stop light the brakes will get hard and won’t brake .
NHTSA complaint #11754919 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
when applying the brakes and come to a complete stop and when you try to apply the brakes you have no power assist and when backing up if you apply the brakes more then once you have no power assist.
NHTSA complaint #11746786 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
When coming to a stop or backing from my inclined driveway the foot brake requires a hard push because it seems to lock up. I couldn't stop when braking. The problem is recurring. It has not been inspected for this recurring problem and no lights or warning signal appears on the dashboard.
NHTSA complaint #11740968 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
Per AAA—Front Airbag/Seatbelt and Increase break pedal
NHTSA complaint #11729162 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
When our new mechanic was checking over the car, he and his other mechanic both noticed that there was an increased brake pedal effort even though the brakes were in ok condition. Every time I’ve had the car serviced I have them check the brakes because they feel off. The car stops and the brakes check out with previous mechanics but something doesn’t feel right. Our new mechanic then gave me a recall bulletin from GM N192268490 and said he thinks our car is experiencing this issue. The recall was attached to our VIN when the mechanic pulled it up but when we called the dealer and checked the NHTSA website, my VIN number was apparently not part of the recall. I am writing to state that I believe my car may be experiencing the issue stated in the recall bulletin as per my mechanic’s findings. Attached is a copy of the recall bulletin given to us by our mechanic. Please advise.
NHTSA complaint #11727914 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
The vehicle went into limp mode! Everything associated with it happened so quickly,no brakes,no steering ,it was terrifying. We got safely to a gas station. We were advised to take it to a certified Chevrolet dealer which we did We had it towed to the certified Chevrolet dealer in Charlevoix, Michigan.They hooked it up to the diagnostics and said they found absolutely nothing wrong with the vehicle.Very Frustrating! After experiencing this terrible incident will never feel safe in this vehicle!
NHTSA complaint #11713441 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
Increased brake pedal effort to the point of difficulty to stop or control brake pressure at low speeds. This seems like the same issue reported in Safety Recall #N192268499-01, but my VIN is outside the covered range. Is the effected range in the recall correct? This has happened intermittently since we purchased the vehicle private party in 2022 with 115.5k miles on it, but is getting worse.
NHTSA complaint #11712617 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
I AM REPORTING A SEVERE AND RECURRING SAFETY DEFECT WHERE MY VEHICLE SUFFERS A COMPLETE LOSS OF ELECTRICAL AND ENGINE POWER WHILE IN MOTION. THIS HAPPENS WITHOUT WARNING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS AND DURING VARIOUS MANEUVERS, INCLUDING MAKING TURNS AND DRIVING STRAIGHT. THIS HAS HAPPENED OVER 500 TIMES SINCE THE 3 YEARS I HAVE HAD IT. I HAVE NOT FELT SAFE IN THE VEHICLE FOR A LONG TIME AND WHEN I HAVE TAKEN IT TO HAVE IT CHECKED NO ONE COULD TELL ME ANYTHING BECAUSE IT WAS NOT HAPPENING AT THE MOMENT. WHEN THE VEHICLE DIES IT COMES BACK TO LIFE ON IT'S OWN BUT THE TIMING IS NOT PRECISE AS TO WHEN IT HAPPENS. THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THESE POWER FAILURES CREATES AN IMMINENT RISK OF A HIGH SPEED COLLISION OR BEING STRANDED IN A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION. I CAN'T EVEN SELL IT TO SOMEONE IN GOOD CONSCIOUS KNOWING IT HAS THESE SERIOUS ISSUES. NOT SURE I AM DOING EVERYTHING OR CONTACTING WHO ALL I NEED TO ABOUT THIS SITUATION BUT THIS IS A START
NHTSA complaint #11712643 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
There are 2 components of the vehicle that I believe are malfunctioning. The first component would be the brake system. At first the problem presented itself when going down a parking garage it was approximately 5 miles an hour while applying the brake and the brake suddenly got stuck and really sticky, I had to apply extreme pressure to the brake to get the vehicle to stop completely. It was only after I put the vehicle in park, turned it off, removed the keys from the ignition, open the doors, and then restarted the car afterwards where the brakes would become unstuck. Since that first incident in summer of 2024, there has been other similar incidents when I am breaking in a parking lot at lower speeds, on side streets at lower speeds, or any other circumstance where I would be applying the brake at lower speeds. The brakes would get very sticky hard to press and would not come to a complete stop unless using extreme force. This is a very scary incident because if there was a vehicle a pedestrian and we weren't able to stop the vehicle then we would have crashed and potentially hurt someone. We brought this up to our mechanic and he was not able to reproduce the issue. The engine light does not turn on for this issue and we are not able to produce any engine light codes for the braking issue. This issue continues to happen until this day and it is scary when it does happen. The second component that we believe is malfunctioning has to do with the suspension system, the air ride system. We have taken this problem to our mechanic since 2019, 2020. They've been able to temporarily repair the issue but after some time the part breaks down and we believe that this is a manufacturing issue. There is a warning lamp that appears. What happens is there is air constantly being pumped into the suspension and is drawing electricity from the battery and ultimately affecting other parts of the electronic components.
NHTSA complaint #11712068 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
I was driving to work last Wednesday, and I live on a hill. As I was driving, a "Brake failure" alert came over my dash and I lost all control of my brakes!!! I live right off of Main Street, and my options were only to go straight and into a house, or to turn onto Main Street and hope no one hits me or that I don't hit another vehicle. I turned and thankfully no one was coming. At the end of that street I was able to coast into an closed down gas station and park the vehicle. I called the dealership I had purchased this vehicle from 10 months prior, and they told me I had to use OnStar to have it towed to them. I did that, and they towed it to the dealership. The next day the dealership told me the cause of losing my brakes was due to a SOFTWARE UPDATE that was needed!!!!! They charged me $800 for the update & a battery that they said was not holding the charge, which I've never had an issue with. I had purchased an extended warranty with this vehicle and I was told it would be a bumper to bumper warranty AS IF I had purchased it new (it was 2 years old). The dealership said this was not a critical software update and was not covered under any warranty. I could have been KILLED or seriously injured or killed or hurt someone else due to my brakes going out due to a SOFTWARE UPDATE that was needed!! This is insane!
NHTSA complaint #11706713 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
Car shows ESC error message not detecting brake pads, and locking the wheel.
NHTSA complaint #11702365 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
The vehicle caught on fire in our garage The Vehicle had been parked outside than moved into the garage nothing smelled like smoke after it was parked other than the exhaust after I got out of my suburban I have a good idea what caused this but until its done being ispected I happened to look back and saw a flame in the Suburban coming from the center area of the dash on the right hand side of the divers seat I thought for sure it was gonna blow up the dogs were in the back of the garage behind the vehicle off to the side I started screaming and calling for help and had to go around the house to the front door to get my husband and him and one of my sons went out there why I called 911 and was with my other son whom has a disability and they told us to get out of the house and I could not get back to the garage we were on the other side of the house going to go out on the patio my other son and husband were in the garage trying to put it out and getting to the two dogs my son went through the smoke to reach the dogs were one ran out on her own and the young German shorthair was in shock and he had to carry the 2 year old out and put them in a safe place but my husband was still trying to put out the fire he hooked his pick up to the suburban to try to pull it out of the garage and it moved maybe a few inches he was stuffing wet towels on it also to try to stop it nothing worked the fire dept showed up and police after having to tear the inside of the front of the dash out our home owners insurance adjuster was out yesterday The Suburban has had multiple and thousands of dollars of mechanical issues even Gm putting a new engine in it after only a year in a half of owning it fluid got pushed up into the wiring after a service last year there was splater inside the dash glass after a new steering wheel was istalled and I asked the dealer if they could fix that and they said that they didn't go inside there the amount of detail that has led up to this is huge
NHTSA complaint #11702142 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
The braking system on my 2015 Chevy Suburban LTZ failed at slow speeds in a parking lot. I have replicated the issue in both forward and reverse. My family's safety was put at risk in that while backing up out of a parking spot the brakes failed completely and I had to push extremely hard on the brake to get the vehicle to stop. That same behavior occurred while pulling forward into a parking spot, almost hitting the car in front of me. I took the vehicle into a Chevrolet dealer today indicating the symptoms and they said there was no recall attached to my VIN. This exact same behavior in my vehicle is described in [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11700962 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
When driving at low speeds the brakes do not work. The vehicle will stop, but it is very hard to get it to stop. You must push the brake pedal all the way to the floor to get the brakes to work. This does not happen all time it will just happen out of no were, this can be scaring. I looked up to see if our vehicle has any current recalls, which it does not. But on 9/19/2019 we had our vehicle in the shop and they did do a recall at this time. It was Increased Brake Pedal Effort. NHTSA Campaign # 19V645000 and this sounds like exactly what was happening. This was done when our vehicle had 60,000 miles on it and at the time it was having no symptoms. We had never had any brake issues at this time. Now our vehicle is having these issues and I feel that this safety issue should be another recall on our vehicle and should be covered and fixed as it sounds like the same issue. Please let me know what can be done about this.
NHTSA complaint #11700004 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
I went to get in my 2023 suburban this morning to travel to the gym. It started but it would not shift out of park. I looked down and noticed the check engine light was on, the ABS light was on, and the park brake light was on with a lock and wrench. I had no issues since I purchased it used in March 2025 and yesterday it was driving fine.
NHTSA complaint #11696501 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, there was a loud rattling sound coming from the engine. The contact stated that while depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended while driving with her grandchildren inside the vehicle. The brake failure warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle lost power and coasted and slowed down, and the contact shifted into park(P). The contact stated that the failure had occurred on two separate occasions. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 16,600.
NHTSA complaint #11695445 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
i pulled on to the road and i heard a loud knocking and my vehicle started skipping and wouldn't go. the lights on the dash lit up and said, "brake failure" and "emergency brake failure" and i had no brakes. I managed to coast into a parking lot. The engine light was on. I turned the vehicle off and waited about 5 minutes and turned it back on, The engine light remained. The first time this happened I was going down the road and the vehicle started sputtering, the emergency brake light came on the dash and the car shut off. It has a rough idle when you start it. I am terrified of this car. I have grandbabies in the car with me, Had i been on the highway either time i would have caused a terrible accident. The dealer says they can't get the car to do it so they can't fix anything. It has happened twice so you know it will again.
NHTSA complaint #11695456 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
No official incident has happened yet, but the brake assist kicks in, yet does not work until it's revving engine to over 4000rpm, which causes a sudden jerk and scary sounds from engine. I have had a few instances where the vehicle did not want to stop almost causing an accident, and these have happened without anything in the car other than my daughter who is 2 and myself. The most recent problem is a weird rattling sound while going uphill. Before this going uphill is extremely sluggish, where I have the gas peddle almost to the floor, but nothing happens other than decrease in speed until it finally, about 30 seconds-1 minute, where it kicks into overdrive. Even then, speed does not increase by more than 5-10 mph depending on the incline. I have not brought it to get looked at yet, as I've seen these issues have been reported by numerous consumers without any recalls being sent out other than the breaking system update.
NHTSA complaint #11686951 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated while driving at approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle brakes independently activated. The contact stated there were no warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled off the highway and stopped the vehicle. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and regained braking functionality. The failure was intermittent but occurred at various speeds. The failure occurred mostly while driving up an incline and depressing the accelerator pedal and the independent braking failure would occur. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that prior to the failures the vehicle had been taken to a dealer to be repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 175,000.
NHTSA complaint #11679020 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
SERVICE BRAKES
If I pull up to a parking spot and I’m slowly creeping into the spot, say at a popular supermarket, and slowing down the brake pedal stiffens up and it’s almost impossible to press. I feel like my truck may not stop. If I’m on a slight incline and in a line behind another vehicle, I’ve noticed the brake pedal stiffens up then as well. Awhile ago I thought there was a recall for this for my truck and it was something about the vacuum in the brake pedal. This is a super problem. I have five kids and we are on the road a lot. This has been happening a lot but most recently would be today.
NHTSA complaint #11678831 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.