2003 Chevrolet Suburban 1500

WHEN APPLYING BRAKES TO AVOID HITTING A DEER, THE PEDAL WENT COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR. NO ABS, NO PARTIAL PEDAL, STRAIGHT TO THE FLOOR. VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO CHEVROLET DEALER WHERE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT BOTH FRONT AND REAR BRAKE LINES NEEDED TO BE REPLACED DUE TO BRAKE LINE CORROSION. DEALER PROVIDED ROUGH ESTIMATE OF $1500 PLUS TAX TO REPAIR. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN 1500. WHEN APPROACHING A STOP SIGN AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKES, THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM WOULD ENGAGE UNNECESSARILY AND THE BRAKE PEDAL WOULD FALL TO THE FLOORBOARD. WHENEVER THE FAILURE WOULD OCCUR, THE BRAKES WOULD NOT ENGAGE AND THE VEHICLE WOULD FAIL TO STOP. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED AND WOULD OFFER NO ASSISTANCE. THE CONTACT HAS EXPERIENCED THE FAILURE FOR APPROXIMATELY TWO YEARS. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 59,000.

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN 1500. HE STATED THAT ON NOVEMBER OF 2009 WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 25 MPH, HE NOTICED THE SPEEDOMETER WAS FAILING. THE SPEEDOMETER BEGAN TO INCREASE AND DECREASE IN SPEED UNTIL IT STOPPED WORKING. HE TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE DEALER. THE DIAGNOSIS LOCATED THE FAILURE AS THE CLUSTER PROGRAM. THE DEALER REPLACED THE CLUSTER PROGRAM. THE COST FOR REPAIR WAS $500.00. THE MANUFACTURER TOOK A REPORT AND STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT ASSIST WITH THE REPAIR. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 94,000 THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 106,000.

ABS WOULD INCORRECTLY ENGAGE WHEN STOPPING AT LOW SPEEDS (< 5 MPH). INCREASES STOPPING DISTANCE SINCE ABS STARTS PUMPING INSTEAD OF JUST APPLYING BRAKES. THIS HAPPENS ON IDEAL ROAD CONDITIONS AND AT LOW SPEED/NON SKIDDING STOPS. *TR MECHANIC REPLACED WHEEL HUB ASSEMBLY ON BOTH FRONT LEFT AND FRONT RIGHT WHEELS (WHEEL HUB INCLUDED NEW ABS SPEED SENSOR). PROBLEM WAS FIXED. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A SAFETY ISSUE. GM HAS ALREADY RECALLED 99 - 2002 (MINE IS A 2003) SUBURBANS FOR THIS. MECHANIC INDICATED THAT ABS SENSORS WERE BADLY CORRODED (PRESUMABLY) FROM SALT GETTING INTO CONTACT WITH THE SENSOR. MECHANIC ALSO INDICATED THAT HE HAS FIXED THIS IN *MANY* SUBURBANS AND IN MANY CASES THAT CAME AFTER OWNERS HAD UNSUCCESSFULLY TRIED TO GET DEALERS TO FIX THE ISSUE. MECHANIC SAID DEALERS WERE REPLACING THE ABS COMPUTER, AT A COST OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, AND PROBLEM STILL WASN'T FIXED. IMPORTANT NOTE: IT APPEARS THAT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER A RECALL IS DONE, DEALERS SHOULD AT LEAST BE AWARE OF THIS COMMON SAFETY PROBLEM WITH SUBURBANS FROM THIS TIME PERIOD. *TR

THE HIGH CENTER (3RD) BRAKE LIGHT ON MY 20003 CHEVY SUBURBAN HAS GONE OUT FOR THE THIRD TIME. I SEE MANY MANY SIMILAR VEHICLES WITH THEIR HIGH-CENTER (3RD) BRAKE LIGHTS OUT. THERE HAS TO BE SOME ELECTRICAL SYSTEM GLITCH TO CAUSE THE FAILURE. GM RECENTLY ANNOUNCED A RECALL TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE DASH BOARD BECAUSE OF ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. THE PROBLEMS MAY BE RELATED THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE AS THE HIGH-CENTER BRAKE LIGHT SERVES AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION AND AT $120 PLUS LABOR TO REPLACE IS CAN GET EXPENSIVE. *TR

WHILE DRIVING IN A 45MPH ZONE, I CHECKED MY SPEEDOMETER AS I PASSED A POLICE OFFICER AND IT READ 75MPH SO I IMMEDIATELY HIT THE BRAKES TO SLOW. I DIDN'T THINK I WAS SPEEDING AS I WAS GOING WITH THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION I DISCOVERED THE DEFAULT POSITION OF THE GAUGE WAS 30MPH. EVENTUALLY THE SPEEDOMETER WAS FULLY PEGGED AT 120+ MPH. I DISCUSSED THE FAILURE WITH COLLEAGUES AT WORK AND TWO INDEPENDENT MECHANICS AND I DISCOVERED 1) THE PROBLEM IS COMMON IN GMC TRUCKS IN MODEL YEARS 2002-2006 AND 2) THE ONLY WAY TO CORRECT IT IS TO REPLACE THE ENTIRE INSTRUMENT PANEL AT A COST OF APPROX. $700. I BELIEVE THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD FOR TWO REASONS: FIRST, THE FAILURE IS INSIDIOUS AND CAN CAUSE AN OVERREACTION (ONE CASE II KNOW OF WHERE SOMEONE WAS PULLING A BOAT TRAILER ON A WET ROAD, LOOKED DOWN AND SAW 90MPH, HIT THE BRAKES AND SKIDDED OFF THE HIGHWAY), AND SECOND, BECAUSE OF THE HIGH COST OF REPAIR FOR OLDER VEHICLES OWNERS (AS I AM) WILL BE HESITANT TO SPEND THE MONEY TO FIX ONE INDICATOR NEEDLE. THANK YOU FOR ASSISTANCE. *TR

THE REAR WINDOWS OF THE 2003 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN AND TAHOE AUTOMOBILES (AND PRESUMABLY OTHER MODEL YEARS AS WELL) ARE SIMPLY GLUED TO HINGES. A GREAT NUMBER OF THESE WINDOWS HAVE DELAMINATED FROM THE HINGES. I WAS TOLD BY THE CHEVROLET SERVICE ADVISOR TWO DAYS AGO (WHEN I TOOK MY SUBURBAN IN FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE REAR WINDOW) THAT HE HAS SEEN A LARGE NUMBER OF THE WINDOW DELAMINATIONS. HE FURTHER ADVISED ME THAT IF BOTH HINGES DELAMINATE (WHICH WILL EVENTUALLY OCCUR DUE TO THE EXTRA WEIGHT BEING PLACED ON A REMAINING HINGE) THAT THE WINDOW WILL SEPARATE FROM THE AUTOMOBILE. IF THIS OCCURS AT HIGH SPEED THE CONSEQUENCES COULD BE FATAL FOR THE AUTOMOBILE FOLLOWING BEHIND. THE SERVICE ADVISOR STATED THAT THERE SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN A RECALL ON THE REAR WINDOWS OF SUBURBANS AND TAHOES. *TR

THE HINGE FOR THE REAR LIFTGATE WINDOW FAILED. THERE IS A HORIZONTAL CRACK ACROSS THE HINGE. IT APPEARS TO BE METAL FATIGUE. THIS FAILURE IS A SAFETY HAZARD FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS: 1) THE WINDOW NO LONGER SEALS PROPERLY AND COULD ALLOW EXHAUST GASES TO ENTER THE VEHICLE CABIN, RESULTING IN CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING. IT IS VERY POSSIBLE THAT THIS FAILURE WOULD NOT BE DETECTED IMMEDIATELY. 2) THE HINGE FAILURE CAUSES ADDITIONAL STRAIN ON THE REMAINING HINGE AND LATCH. FURTHER FAILURE WOULD RESULT IN THE WINDOW DETACHING FROM THE VEHICLE. A) IF THIS OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING, THE WINDOW COULD IMPACT VEHICLE BEHIND THE SUBURBAN OR SHATTER ON THE ROADWAY LEADING TO DEBRIS RELATED ACCIDENTS. B) IF THIS OCCURRED WHILE STATIONARY, THE GLASS COULD (WHICH IS HEAVY AND SHARP EDGED) COULD INJURE A PERSON STANDING OR WALKING AT THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE. THIS EXACT SAME FAILURE OCCURRED PREVIOUSLY ON THIS VEHICLE AT ~ 13000 MILES OF OPERATION. THE REPAIR WAS MADE BY A DEALER AT NO CHARGE TO THE OWNER. THE RECENT RECURRENCE OF THE FAILURE OF THE SAME HINGE OCCURRED AT ~107000 MILES. THE PROBLEM WAS REPORTED TO GENERAL MOTORS CUSTOMER SERVICE AND WAS LOGGED AS SERVICE REQUEST # 71 743 851 820 BY JATTA FLORES. JATTA DENIED OWNER'S REQUEST THAT GM REPAIR THE DEFECT. *TR