Service Brakes owner reports: Chevrolet Equinox years in the records

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“My wife and I were in our car driving on [XXX] on [XXX] at about 4:30 in the afternoon. I was about three car lengths behind the car in front of me and I was doing 30-32 miles per hour. The brake lights in front of me went to red and I immediately stepped on my brakes but my car would not stop nor slow down causing me to hit the person in front of me. It was a matter of seconds passing but when I hit the back of that car in front of me I had both feet on the brake pedal. My car would not stop. My wife was injured, the young lady that I hit hurt her leg and the back end of her car was destroyed. Our car was totaled. The vehicle is now in possession of AAA auto insurance where I was told the brakes would be looked in to. I will be placing a call to the General Motors customer service to lodge a complaint. There were no warning signs of any type prior to this accident. This car is a 2019 model with only 30,200 miles on it. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“To Whom It May Concern, I am submitting this formal complaint regarding my 2019 Chevrolet Equinox and the repeated failure of its brake vacuum pump. This is not an isolated repair issue. I have had the brake vacuum pump replaced or repaired three separate times, and each failure has placed my safety, and the safety of others, at serious risk. The first failure was the most terrifying. While driving approximately 65 miles per hour on my way to work, I suddenly applied the brakes and discovered that I had almost no braking assistance. The brake pedal became extremely hard, and the vehicle failed to slow down as expected. I was fortunate that traffic conditions allowed me to avoid a catastrophic accident. Had another vehicle stopped suddenly in front of me, or had a pedestrian entered the roadway, the outcome could have been fatal. Unfortunately, this was not an isolated event. The brake vacuum pump has failed two additional times, resulting in similar symptoms, including the sudden loss of brake assist and an extremely hard brake pedal. Each occurrence has left me questioning whether my vehicle is safe to operate. I recently learned that General Motors is facing a proposed nationwide class action lawsuit alleging that certain Chevrolet Equinox vehicles suffer from a defective brake vacuum pump that can fail without warning. According to the lawsuit, this defect causes a sudden loss of power brake assist, significantly increasing stopping distances and creating a serious safety hazard. The lawsuit also alleges that GM was aware of brake vacuum pump issues through technical service bulletins and customer complaints dating back several years. My personal experience mirrors these allegations exactly. The failures on my vehicle occurred without warning and created an immediate safety emergency. The fact that I have experienced this same dangerous failure three separate times strongly suggests that replacing the component alone has not corrected the underlying defect.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the braking system became inoperable, and the brakes unexpectedly locked up with no warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and retrieved trouble code TSB-21NA268. The contact was informed that the brake vacuum pump connected to the crankshaft had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“Vacuum pump went out while driving down the interstate causing hard breaking. Break pedal was extremely hard to push down putting us at risk of not being able to break in time. There were on and off alerts to service breaks assist, however it was not consistently an alert. We replaced the vacuum pump and the issue seems to be resolved. The pump is not available as we tossed it in the trash.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“Vacuum pump failed: On May 28th, 2025 the brake pedal on our 2019 Chevrolet Equinox became very hard along with check engine light, a "Reduced Power" notification, and "Brake Assist Failure" notification. After a mechanic inspected the engine, he found that the vacuum pump had shattered. The mechanic replaced the pump with an OEM replacement from GM. On May 11th, 2026 the same exact issue happened again. 1. The vehicle and/or part is available for inspection. 2. Anyone driving or riding in the vehicle is at risk due to the difficulty of braking. 3. The vehicle/component has not been inspected by the manufacturer since the 2nd incident.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“I was trying to stop at a light and the brakes wouldn't work. I almost crashed into the car in front of me but I had to step on it really hard to stop. Then the brakes were stiff and it was hard to stop. I brought it to a Chevy dealer yesterday and they said the vacuum pump exploded and pieces were in the engine, and it messed up the cam shaft. This is 5l worth of damage. When I looked it up online it seems this has been an issue with GM cars and the equinox was left out of the recall which could have prevented this. I have 95k miles on this car and never had an issue until now. However it is not worth spending 5k on a car that is high in mileage.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“The contact owned a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving approximately 80 MPH, the brakes failed to operate properly while the brake pedal was depressed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where it was diagnosed, and it was determined that the brake pump had exploded, causing damage to the camshaft sensors and several other parts inside the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact researched the failure and became aware of a recall associated with the failure; however, the VIN was not under recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while her husband was driving approximately 45 MPH and exiting the parkway, the brake pedal was depressed but remained depressed to the floorboard. The contact's husband attempted to pump the brake pedal, but the vehicle was unresponsive and failed to slow down as intended. The contact's husband then shifted to neutral(N), and the parking brake was activated until the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the brake booster pump or vacuum pump had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“On Monday 12/22 at around 10:30am, I was driving back from Stanford CA where I have been taking my mom to her radiation therapy appointments. All of a sudden my brakes got super hard (Service Brake Assist appeared) and when pressing the brake pedal it continued to accelerate, I was able to swerve to my right hand side went over a curved side wall and pulled over before almost crashing the car in front of me and scaring my mom that was resting her head on the side seat. Vehicle has OnStar but prior to this it had not given me any alerts that is what caused such concern as it directly affects braking performance and Vehicle safety specially about this happend 8 months after purchase and No recalls are listed for my VIN. I had to call my brother to pick up mom because she has been delicate of health with cancer pain and couldn't wait long for towing truck to arrive since I used my insurance AAA to tow my car. After doing research this is a known malfunction and they are still selling the vehicles with a high price. My car has been in repair for over 3 months and still waiting.”

The records describe a possible fatal outcome.

“My brakes stopped working while driving on highway I80 West. I had to have AAA tow my car to nearby shop. The mechanic said my vacuum pump needed to be replaced and he sees this happen often with Chevrolets.”