Owner-reported complaints naming the brake system, filed with NHTSA
Data refreshed
Brakes reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
9
Latest Nov 30, 2025
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
5%
of 184 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
2
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
4
What this page shows
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2021 Chevrolet Suburban submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 9 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Owner reports naming brake
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
BrakesElectricalFuel system
Filed Nov 30, 2025
Fire reported4 injuries reported
The vehicle caught on fire in our garage The Vehicle had been parked outside than moved into the garage nothing smelled like smoke after it was parked other than the exhaust after I got out of my suburban I have a good idea what caused this but until its done being ispected I happened to look back and saw a flame in the Suburban coming from the center area of the dash on the right hand side of the divers seat I thought for sure it was gonna blow up the dogs were in the back of the garage behind the vehicle off to the side I started screaming and calling for help and had to go around the house to the front door to get my husband and him and one of my sons went out there why I called 911 and was with my other son whom has a disability and they told us to get out of the house and I could not get back to the garage we were on the other side of the house going to go out on the patio my other son and husband were in the garage trying to put it out and getting to the two dogs my son went through the smoke to reach the dogs were one ran out on her own and the young German shorthair was in shock and he had to carry the 2 year old out and put them in a safe place but my husband was still trying to put out the fire he hooked his pick up to the suburban to try to pull it out of the garage and it moved maybe a few inches he was stuffing wet towels on it also to try to stop it nothing worked the fire dept showed up and police after having to tear the inside of the front of the dash out our home owners insurance adjuster was out yesterday The Suburban has had multiple and thousands of dollars of mechanical issues even Gm putting a new engine in it after only a year in a half of owning it fluid got pushed up into the wiring after a service last year there was splater inside the dash glass after a new steering wheel was istalled and I asked the dealer if they could fix that and they said that they didn't go inside there the amount of detail that has led up to this is huge
NHTSA ID
11702142
Incident
Nov 23, 2025
Brakes
Filed Jul 16, 2025
My wife was driving the vehicle and was pulling into a parking lot. The brakes failed and would not stop the vehicle. She pressed on the brakes very hard, multiple times, for several seconds, before the vehicle finally came to stop. She then proceeded into a parking spot where the brakes again failed to stop the vehicle promptly. Several lights illuminated and a “System Brake Failure 43 MPH Top Speed” message appeared, alternating with several other messages appearing. The vehicle is in for service at Classic Chevrolet in Granbury, Texas. They are telling me that they reset the codes and that the codes are not returning. I am extremely concerned that if I pick up the vehicle at this point, the brakes could fail again and cause an accident with serious injury.
NHTSA ID
11674084
Incident
Jul 10, 2025
Brakes
Filed Jan 7, 2025
brake master cylinder failure, took car to chevy after brakes got super hard to push , luckily no accident , felt like no brakes, at the point of failure, brake light, abs light, check engine light all went on ,at some point abs and brake light went off but check engine light stayed on and screen on Dash indicated max speed 62 then in a couple of minute screen showed max speed 42 mph , then lights go off except check engine and vehicle works as it should it randomly does this in one day so vehicle was taken in to dealership where they had a hard time figuring out if thats the problem and contacted gm tech support gm and they said with these codes it should be the brake master cylinder, and it would cost me 3000.00 to fix. on an 80 000.00 car that's a 2021 with 82,000 miles and they are pretty certain that will fix the problem, I'm pretty sure I don't want to get in an accident at 65 to 70 mph and die I feel this is a huge safety issue and thank god wife and kids weren't in the car considering this is my wife's car to drive the kids around in
NHTSA ID
11634550
Incident
Jan 3, 2025
Brakes
Filed Mar 21, 2024
At approximately 43,000 miles driving down the highway and lost power braking followed with a number of dash messages and lights. Took to dealer to discover the ABS Master Cylinder is bad and needs replaced and parts are 2 weeks out to have repaired. It appears after reading online this looks to be a problem with numerous people leaving comments etc.
NHTSA ID
11578722
Incident
Mar 21, 2024
BrakesDriver assistanceSteering
Filed Aug 31, 2023
The computer component surged, and the vehicle is available for inspection. The vehicle brake function is lost. Stepping on the brake paddle did not apply brake. Brake function was disabled by the computer. I took the vehicle to dealer, they said it was a component that has high resistance that cause it. But not sure why it has high resistance at that time and the resistance is gone after driver restarted the vehicle. No one else inspected the component beside the dealership. There was no warning at all and this is the first time it happens. Driver was just driving normally and suddenly all the light in the instructment panel started blinking and driver tried to apply brake but nothing happen. Luckly it wasn't rush hour, and driver was able to let the vehicle roll to the freeway exit on ram and use the up ram to slow the vehicle until it almost stop and changed gear to Park to stop the vehicle. Driver then restarted the vehicle and the problem is gone.
NHTSA ID
11541953
Incident
Aug 24, 2023
Brakes
Filed Aug 11, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving at 25 MPH, the brake pedal seized while depressed, and the vehicle failed to stop immediately. The check engine warning light was illuminated, and "Brake System Failure" and another unknown message were displayed. The contact coasted to the shoulder of the road and parked the vehicle before shutting off. The contact's husband then restarted the vehicle and drove to the residence while the vehicle made an abnormal grinding sound when the brake pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the master brake cylinder needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
NHTSA ID
11537998
Incident
Aug 6, 2023
Mileage
30,000 mi
BrakesDriver assistance
Filed Sep 13, 2022
Crash reported
In traffic, approx. 10-15 MPH car in front stopped short. I put foot on the brake pedal and pushed the brakes pedal to the floor. The car did apply the brakes equally as hard as I was Appling brakes at the pedal
NHTSA ID
11484256
Incident
Aug 18, 2021
BrakesDriver assistance
Filed Jun 21, 2022
I was driving on the freeway about 65 mph on Saturday June 18. In a sudden instant, there was a message on my dash "brake module failure" and "speed limited to 62 mph". Also warning message that "forward collision warning was off" , etc. The ABS light, the "check brakes light", and the check engine light all were on. Also, the power brakes went completely out and to stop I had to press really hard with manual brakes. I don't think a small framed person would have been able to stop and if I had been at a moment where I needed to stop quickly I don't think I would have been able to stop had there been a need to stop quickly. The dealer tells me that the brake master cylinder failed. The car has 43,000 miles and has been well maintained.
NHTSA ID
11470210
Incident
Jun 18, 2022
BrakesDriver assistance
Filed May 4, 2022
While driving, I received a notice identifying a problem with the ESC system and that there was a brake system failure. I have received an advanced diagnostics alert about the antilock braking system. the vehicle was difficult to stop and required excessive pressure on the brake pedal.
NHTSA ID
11463392
Incident
May 1, 2022
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Other components reported on this vehicle
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own