According to a recent class action lawsuit, GM brakes are defective and can fail on drivers suddenly and unexpectedly – leading to potential accidents and injury.
Plaintiffs Scott and Samantha Peckerar claim that General Motors’ braking system features a defective design which is “prone to sudden and unexpected loss of vacuum in the brake booster.”
A vacuum brake booster is part of the braking system which assists in the process. A bad vacuum brake booster can cause the brake pedal to “push” back against the driver’s foot and prevent effective braking.
The vehicles affected by the alleged defect include model year 2015 to present Cadillac Escalades, 2014 to present Chevrolet Silverados, 2015 to present Chevrolet Suburbans, 2015 to present Chevrolet Tahoes, 2014 to present GMC Sierras, and 2015 to present GMC Yukon/Yukon XLs.
In January 2017, the Peckerars say they purchased a new 2017 Chevrolet Suburban from their local General Motors dealership. In April 2017, maintenance on the vehicle revealed a leak in the engine oil and a failed vacuum brake pump.
At this time, the warranty covered the repair to the GM brakes. However, the repairs allegedly failed to fix the issue.
In April 2018, Mrs. Peckerar was driving the vehicle and claims to have experienced sudden, abrupt brake failure. She pressed her brake pedal to stop the car, but the brake pedal became hard and would not brake the vehicle. This allegedly resulted in a collision with the car in front of her.
Concerned for her family and vehicle, she reported the issue to her General Motors vehicle. An investigator was sent out to examine the car but told them that they found no issue with the braking system.
Additionally, the GM representative allegedly attempted to pressure the family into signing a liability release and confidentiality agreement in exchange for repairing the issue.
“Plaintiffs were unsatisfied by GM’s refusal to diagnose the brake failure that caused the collision and brought the vehicle to Paradise Chevrolet for further inspection. Unlike GM’s corporate representatives, the GM dealership drove the vehicle to confirm what Plaintiffs already knew—there was a problem with the Suburban’s brakes,” the GM brakes class action claims.
Consumers have allegedly made extensive reports of the GM brakes defect to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These complaints are automatically entered into a database where they are accessible to General Motors.
Despite having access to the complaints and being aware of the GM brake defects, the company allegedly “continues to suppress and conceal this knowledge and has failed to disclose that its Class Vehicles’ braking systems are defective and dangerous.”
The plaintiffs claim that General Motors’ actions are in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.
The Peckerars seek to represent a Class of consumers who purchased or leased in California a 2015 or newer Cadillac Escalade, 2014 or newer Chevrolet Silverado, 2015 or newer Chevrolet Suburban, 2015 or newer Chevrolet Tahoe, 2014 or newer GMC Sierra, or 2015 or newer GMC Yukon/Yukon XL.
The GM brakes class action lawsuit seeks actual damages, statutory damages, punitive damages, restitution, disgorgement, interest, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
Plaintiffs are represented by Paul R. Kiesel, Jeffery A. Koncius, and Nicole Ramirez of Kiesel Law LLP; F. Jerome Tapley, Ryan Lutz, and Adam W. Pittman of Cory Watson PC; James C. Wyly and Sean F. Rommel of Wyly-Rommel PLLC; and Clay Barnett of Beasley Allen.
The GM Brakes Class Action Lawsuit is Peckerar, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 5:18-cv-02153, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
UPDATE: The Vehicle Safety Defect Investigation is now open! If you own a vehicle that has a safety defect and you believe it should be covered by the warranty and it’s not, submit your information here.
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37 thoughts onGM Class Action Says Chevrolet, GMC Braking Systems Are Defective
My wife and I own a 2016 GMC Terrain Denali and back in October/November of 2024, our ABS/StabiliTrak service/warning lights came on. I took it to Stingray Chevrolet in Plant City, Florida, where we were told that the EBCM (Electronic Brake Control Module) was bad and would need to be replaced at the tune of I believe $1300-$1500 +/-, I can’t remember. I have record of it somewhere. The dealership said that they reached out to the parts department and were told that the part is not available and they don’t have a date of when it would be available. Our service advisor then reached out to other GM dealerships and none of them had the part and said, “Good luck getting it. it has been on back order for some time with no date of availability.” Stingray Chevrolet then reached out to GM corporate parts dept. and asked about it, and they said the part is no longer available and they don’t know when it will be. I also called a number of parts stores, junk yard and searched e-bay. They all basically told me the same thing, “Good luck finding that part. It’s in high demand and a couple even told me it was a discontinued part.” We (my wife and I) had to rent a car to go out of town on our Christmas holiday. Unfortunately, it is our daily driver, and we also have our son in the car, and we have had to resort to driving it in an unsafe operating condition. I REALLY don’t like the idea of my wife driving it or my son riding in it. We were told by the dealership as well as GM that we should not operate the car in wet, icy or gravel situations where traction could become an issue. I am currently the primary driver when we need to go somewhere, and my wife will drive it locally around town, within a 5 mile +/- radius and when she knows there isn’t supposed to be bad weather. I want to mention that there have been a number of occasions where I have had the SUV slide and skid from an acceleration from a stop light or stop sign and have also had a couple of times that I thought I might rearend the car in front of me in stop and go traffic on the interstate. We are also still currently paying an auto loan on it and currently owe $8,324.86 to the bank. I have an open case with GM on this issue, and they have been less than helpful and have done nothing but blow smoke up my ass with their emails and comments on the phone. They knew/know about the issue and have done nothing to remedy this issue and don’t have a safety recall. We are not in a financial position to get into another car and even if we were, no one would want to pay us or give us the full trade-in value of the car, because it is basically considered unrepairable. We are at the end of our rope with GM and need legal help and are hoping you can help us in some way. We need some compensation for our troubles/hardships and safety, and I am not getting anywhere with GM.
2015 GMC Yukon Denali 54000 miles , Easter Sunday 22 , pull into uncle Giuseppe’s picking up trays food pull in parking lot complete brake failure almost took out the outside pick up order people at a table & the Easter Bunny ,as my boy Kenny would say. “ this truck suk!”
2015 chevy colorado z71 4×4 crew cab. On January 20th of 2022 at approximately 11:30am est I had abs light brake light stablitrak and brake assist lights come on as I was driving. I called dealer to schedule appointment for January 24th to see what was going on. On the 20th of January I was slowing down for traffic and to make a right turn when all of a sudden service brake assist came on and abs came on along with stablitrak and I was doing 40 mph I managed to slow the vehicle to 34 mph and brake pedal became hard to push down and I slammed into the car in front of me which then hit the car in front of him. Onstar called police and fire to my location and tow truck operator stated I know why you crashed you had no brakes! I was issued a citation for careless driving which I argued with the officer and told him what happened and he did not believe me. An engineer came out from GM who verified brake issues. The brake control module failed the abs module failed the brake assist module failed steering failed brake booster module failed vacuum control module failed. No word yet as to what GM is going to do. I called NHHTSA told them what happened. I talked to a service manager at a dealership and he called the engineer he uses and engineer stated to call his rep from GM and engineer also stated that the legal department of GM is knowledgeable of issue.
I had same experience – had to pay to fix my car and my Insurance went up- nearly tripled, never had an accident before or after – I started driving from being stopped waiting to turn into our neighborhood , the car in front of me started to go then suddenly stopped and I had no breaks – cited for failure to reduce speed. I had been terrified in my own driveway and grocery parking lot for months! Could barely her the breaks to work- especially at lower speeds. My husband didn’t believe me. After crash then I reported and months later got a letter about their recall – but it didn’t help make up for the continued damage to my finances, my driving record, my beautiful car that now has a wreck ao is harder to resell.
So angry
I have a 2014 GMC Sierra and was driving it through the mountains between Cherokee NC and Gatlinburg Tennessee when I experienced complete brake failure fortunately I turned in an overlook at the top of the mountain before descending or my whole family would have possible perished. Had to have it towed off of the top of the mountain to a dealership in Tennessee and then use taxis while in Gatlinburg on vacation. Dealership fixe it and said it was a broken vacuum pump that evidently was under recall but I had not received any letter stating this and had just purchased truck 6 months ago. Please help. Dealership fixed truck at no cost but I had to pay 590 bucks out of pocket for taxi service and tow truck.