NHTSA Complaint #10056310 — 2000 CHEVROLET SILVERADO

THIS OCCURRED ON SATURDAY, 1/31/04. VEHICLE MAKE: 2500 CHEVROLET SILVERADO, 3/4 TON, 6' BED, 6L ENGINE DESCRIPTION: I HAD TO MAKE A TIGHT RIGHT HAND TURN FROM A GAS STATION ONTO THE MAIN ROAD IN SYRACUSE, NEW YORK AS OPPOSING TRAFFIC WAS COMING AT ME. AFTER I COMPLETED THE TURN AND STARTED TO HEAD SOUTH ON THE MAIN FOUR LANE ROAD I IMMEDIATELY FOUND OUT THAT THE POWER STEERING WAS QUITE ROUGH. QUITE ROUGH WAS NOT THE WORD FOR IT AS THERE WAS NO POWER STEERING! ABOUT A BLOCK FROM THAT POINT I HAD TO BRAKE AND FOUND OUT THAT THERE WERE NO POWER ASSISTED BRAKES ON THE VEHICLE. NO IDIOT LIGHTS CAME ON AT ALL AND THIS PRESENTED QUITE A SERIOUS PROBLEM ESPECIALLY WITH THE SNOW PLOW ATTACHED. BOTH THE FLUID IN THE MASTER BRAKE AND POWER STEERING CYLINDERS WERE RIGHT UP TO NORMAL LEVELS AND THE SERPENTINE BELT WAS RELATIVELY NEW AND INTACT! TRUST ME THAT I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS AT ALL FROM A VEHICLE THAT HAS ONLY 30,000 MILES ON IT AND HAS BEEN PLAGUED WITH VARIOUS MAJOR PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT ITS SOMEWHAT YOUTHFUL HISTORY INCLUDING TWO (2) FULL BRAKE JOBS TO DATE. I'M JUST THANKFUL THAT NO ONE WAS HURT INCLUDING MYSELF. I WANT THIS LETTER TO BE RELAYED TO THE CHEVROLET ZONE MANAGER AND I WOULD LIKE THEIR INPUT ON THE ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED. AS A CONSUMER THERE IS NO WAY THAT BOTH THE POWER STEERING AND BRAKES SHOULD HAVE GONE AT THE SAME TIME, PLUS, THE FACT THAT THERE WERE NO INDICATIONS OF A MAJOR PROBLEM FROM THE MESSAGE CENTER OR DASHBOARD. THERE VERY EASILY COULD HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT ENDING TO THIS STORY ESPECIALLY WITH THE TYPE OF WINTER WEATHER AND ROAD CONDITIONS WE HAVE BEEN HAVING AS OF LATE HERE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. *JB