NHTSA Complaint #11613481 β€” 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU

SERVICE BRAKES issue reported to NHTSA

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Complaint Details

ODI Number 11613481
Vehicle 2020 CHEVROLET MALIBU
Component SERVICE BRAKES
Date of Incident
Date Filed
Mileage N/A miles
Crash No
Fire No
Injuries 0
Deaths 0
Vehicle Towed No
State TX

Consumer Description

On [XXX] I was driving to work and my check engine light came on. Immediately after this I was completely unable to brake. My brake pedal became so stiff and impossible to press. I very narrowly avoided an accident. I had the car towed to an auto shop where I was informed that I had a vacuum pump failure that essentially exploded and destroyed my cam shaft and shot fragments of metal into my engine in the process. I was quoted over $12,000 in repairs. After receiving this quote I began searching online to find what could have caused this to happen. I stumbled upon a class action lawsuit for this EXACT same thing (plaintiff [XXX] ). In addition to the suit there were 12 PAGES of comments from other Malibu owners who have experienced similar issues with their vacuum pump and braking system. This issue is also noted on MANY car repair forums, Chevy owner forums, YouTube repair videos etc. Please note that when I received the check engine light on 9/5 this is the first and only time I had any indication of a potential problem with my vehicle. In the year and a half that I have owned the car there has never been any issues, warnings or check engine lights. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

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