NHTSA Complaint #10134890 — 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE

ON 7/12/05, I HAD MY VEHICLE AT CHEVROLET 73 FOR THE BRAKES. AT THAT TIME THEY INFORMED ME I NEEDED BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS ALL THE WAY AROUND THE VEHICLE. THEY TOLD ME AND SHOWED ME THE "EXCESSIVE RUST" ON THE ROTORS. THE VEHICLE IS ONLY 3 YRS OLD AND ONLY HAD 35,000 MILES ON IT. I WAS UPSET THAT THEY GOT TO THAT POINT AND NOW IT WAS GOING TO COST ME $1000 TO REPLACE THEM. ALL MY SERVICE WAS PERFORMED AT THIS DEALER. AFTER I COMPLAINED THEY TOLD ME THEY WOULD CUT THE PRICE TO $360. THEY WANTED TO "CUT" THE BACK ROTORS REPLACE ALL THE PADS AND IF THE FRONT ROTORS NEED TO BE REPLACED THEY WOULD "HAVE GM PICK UP THAT COST". I WAS EXTREMELY SKEPTICAL ABOUT THEM DOING THE WORK. IF THEY ORIGINALLY FELT I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE PADS AND ROTORS, HOW COULD THIS LESS EXPENSIVE REPAIR BE SAFE? I DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO DO THE JOB AND HAD IT PERFORMED AT ANOTHER SERVICE CENTER. THIS AM MY LOCAL PAPER HAD AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE RECALL OF 800,000 VEHICLES DUE TO CORROSION AFFECTING THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKE SYSTEM LEADING TO LOW-SPEED CRASHES. MY VEHICLE IS A 2002 AVALANCHE AND IS PART OF THAT RECALL. WHEN I CALLED GM THEY INFORMED ME IT WAS THE "ANTI-LOCK BRAKES SENSOR." MY THOUGHT IS IF THE SENSOR IS AFFECTED BY THE CORROSION, THE CORROSION ALSO CONTRIBUTED TO THE RAPID DETERIORATION OF THE ROTORS AND THAT AFFECTED THE BRAKE PADS. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED ALONG WITH THE SENSOR. I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR HELP IN THIS MATTER, THERE MAY BE OTHER GM OWNERS OUT THERE THAT DO NOT REALIZE THIS IS HAPPENING AND COULD RESULT IN MORE SERIOUS CRASHES. *JB