NHTSA Complaint #10758880 — 2002 GMC SIERRA

ON THE MORNING OF FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2015, MY WIFE WENT TO MOVE MY 2002 GMC SIERRA. SHE PULLED OUT OF OUR DRIVEWAY AND PROCEEDED UP-HILL ABOUT 300-400 FEET, AND THEN TURNED AROUND IN A NEIGHBOR'S DRIVEWAY, WHEN COMING BACK DOWN THE HILL SHE TRIED TO BRAKE TO STOP IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE, BUT THE BRAKES TOTALLY FAILED WITHOUT ANY WARNING. SHE THEN WENT UP A SLIGHT HILL ON THE OTHER SIDE OF OUR HOUSE, BUT STILL COULDN'T STOP, AND DIDN'T THINK TO PUT THE TRUCK IN PARK AS SHE SLOWED. SHE ROLLED BACKWARDS DOWN THE HILL AND WAS ABLE TO STEER INTO A NEIGHBOR'S YARD WHERE THE TRUCK CAME TO REST ON A BERM. AT THE TIME SHE SAID THERE WERE CARS PARKED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET AND HAD A CAR BEEN COMING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION SHE WOULD HAVE CRASHED INTO IT. HAD THERE BEEN PEDESTRIANS THEY COULD HAVE BEEN HIT AS WELL. WHEN I CAME HOME THAT AFTERNOON, I ADDED BRAKE FLUID TO THE RESERVOIR, AND THEN PUSHED ON THE BRAKE PEDAL. I SAW A HUGE STREAM OF FLUID POUR FROM BELOW THE DRIVER'S SIDE DOOR. I LOOKED UNDER THE TRUCK AND FOUND THE BRAKE LINES SURPRISINGLY CORRODED. IF SUDDEN, IMMEDIATE LOSS OF BRAKES WITHOUT ANY WARNING IS NOT CAUSE FOR A RECALL I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS.