2016 Chevrolet Tahoe Brakes Problems

I have been having issues with the brakes on my 2016 Chevy Tahoe for as long as I can remember. When going very slow, such as in a parking lot or pulling into a parking space, my car feels like I am driving on ice when I brake. I am not sure if I am actually going to stop or hit a car/person. The brake pedal also gets very hard. It makes a squeaking sound and also sounds "airy". It is an intermittent problem and does not happen every single time I press on the brakes when going slow. I received a recall notice back in 2019 for increased brake pedal effort and the dealer reprogrammed something. This however, ultimately did not fix the issue and I have never received any follow up information or recall alerts pertaining to this issue. I have mentioned this a few times to both the dealership and an independent mechanic in the last 6+ years, but the car never has the issue when it is in for service. I was told the last 2 times that I took my car in for service that I needed new brake pads and rotors. so both have been replaced twice in the last 4 years. The issue with the brake pedal happened again the other day, only this time, I received a warning message to service brake assist and I smelled what I can only describe as burning brake dust. I also noticed what looks like brake dust on the floor of my garage. I was once again irritated and decided to start googling and that is when I found a special coverage warranty on GM's site for the exact issue I have been having all of these years. The warranty expires December 15, 2026 or at 150211 miles. I called the dealership and GM to see if they would honor the warranty since I only had 150,350 miles on my car, however they both said no. What can I do? I guess they would rather I hit and injure someone than fix an issue they are obviously aware of? Why was I never notified that there was a special coverage warranty on my car? When these incidents occur it is scary and poses a danger to both myself and others.

NHTSA ID

11752862

Incident

Jul 21, 2026

Hello, I has problems driving my car like by brakes braking out of nowhere. There was even a couple times I felt like the car swerved, even though I did not do anything to the steering wheel. Then I found out I had a recall that said not to drive the car because it was dangerous so I parked it in my driveway and I have not driven it for many months as I’ve been getting rental cars. Eventually, I brought it into Antelope Valley Chevrolet and they told me they were going to fix it but then they actually told me that I had to pay around $1000 for a part that I found out later only cost under $100 and takes three minutes to put in. This is apart from Chevrolet and not some knock off from China that I found for under $100 online. So I’m a little upset that I came in for a recall and they’re trying to get me to do a repair for almost $2000. They never even offered me a rental car and they’re threatening me saying that if we don’t move forward with it, they’re gonna charge me $50 a day for storage. I feel like they’re intimidating me to try to make me traded in for a new one, but I am not ready to get a new one. I just want to get my car on the road again.

NHTSA ID

11722325

Incident

Jun 15, 2025

At first it started with my brakes. I was at DQ and all of a sudden the brake peddle was hard and would barely go down. I then put my car in park. Now I have all new brakes, rotors, etc. Then now the car after 139,000 miles and only owning it for 3 years has this hesitation to go. It stumbles and once would go at all. I had to park right where I was, and restart the car. I have 5 kids, one at which is always with me whom is only 3 years old. This vehicle is not safe. Why it it that so many of us are having the same issue, but no recall has been done? I go this weekend to take the car in. Praying for some sort of miracle. And no other warning signs. Just starting acting crazy. Lights just came on this week.

NHTSA ID

11713361

Incident

Dec 2, 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and depressing the brake pedal, the pedal was soft and was almost depressed to the floorboard. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but was a recurring failure. The contact stated that the ABS/ESC warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the warning lights then started flashing. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the Electronic Brake Control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the vehicle had been repaired by the previous owner. The contact had to pay out of pocket for the repairs. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and advised the contact that the recall had been previously repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.

NHTSA ID

11692529

Incident

Jun 23, 2025

Mileage

102,000 mi

There are times that the brake assist will stop working. The bake assist light has started coming on once in a while. I looked up the vin and it said all recalls were repaired. I have a concern that the vaccume brake issue was not properly taken care of at whatever dealership that claimed to fix the issue.

NHTSA ID

11669587

Incident

Jun 25, 2025

-MALFUNCTION---WHILE DRIVING, WHEN I PRESS THE BRAKES TO COME TO A STOP, IT SEEMS AS IF THE BRAKES CATCH BUT THEN RELEASES AND THEN CATCHES AGAIN. AS IT RELEASES, IT CONTINUES TO ROLL. VEHICLE IS AVAILABE UPON REQUEST. -SAFETY RISK--- BECAUSE THE BRAKE RELEASES AND/OR EVENTUALLY NOT CATCH AT ALL, THIS IS UNSAFE BECAUSE I CAN ROLL INTO TRAFFIC -REPRODUCED AND/OR CONFIRMED--- I HAVE BROUGHT MY VEHICLE TO A SERVICE CENTER TO REPAIR A RECALL AND WAS TOLD TO THAT THE ISSUE SHOULD BE RESOLVED ONCE THE RECALL WAS COMPLETE. THE ISSUE WAS TEMPORARILY RESOLVED FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH OR SO, AND NOW IT IS BACK TO BREAKING AND RELEASING. -ONE CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE VEHICLE AND/OR ITS COMPONENTS HAVE BEEN INSPECTED GIVEN THAT I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO THE SERVICE CENTER, STATED THE ISSUE, AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ISSUE SHOULD BE RESOLVED AFTER IT HAS BEEN SERVICED.  -THERE WERE NO WARNING LAMPS, MESSAGES, OR OTHER SYMPTOMS OF THE PROBLEM PRIOR TO THIS ISSUE.

NHTSA ID

11652114

Incident

Mar 1, 2025

Brake vacuum pump

NHTSA ID

11644924

Incident

Feb 23, 2025

I bought my Tahoe from Dan Vaden Chevrolet in Savannah, GA with approx 58k miles. At around 88k miles I noticed the transmission hesitated when putting into reverse or drive from the park position. I had my transmission fluid changed at 70k and 100k miles. Now, at 112k miles, it has significantly gotten worse with shuddering between gears 1-3 and jerking when in reverse. Major hesitation when accelerating at any speed and high pitched whining noises that randomly happen, even after putting it in park and turning it off. Also, my ABS and Stabilitrak lights will illuminate and then go off every few days. As well as another random icon that randomly comes and goes. This Tahoe is now unsafe to drive but it’s the only transportation I have. I already missed a radiator replacement recall by 1,500 miles and had to pay for that out of pocket. Now Chevrolet isn’t recalling this transmission when it has over 190 complaints on this website alone, and thousands of others on other online forums. What will it take for the manufacturer to do the right thing? Will someone have to die in order for this to become an issue they stop ignoring? We have all spent money we worked hard to earn and deserve a vehicle that’s safe for our families.

NHTSA ID

11630258

Incident

Dec 11, 2024

Driving down the freeway at 75 mph and the headlight started flickering any time I would use my blinker. 5 minutes later the car automatically breaks hard all by itself along with the dash lights going off and the doors locking and unlocking. 3 days later driving in town taking a hard left suddenly I get alerts on the dashboard saying, "parking assist off" and "stabilitrak" then suddenly my steering wheel JERKS VIOLENTLY all the way to the right. This happened 2x when I am driving!!! It is available for inspection upon request. If this steering wheel malfunction happens to someone driving down an interstate someone could die. It just happened yesterday so I have not gotten it in to be looked at yet. There was zero warning it all happens suddenly and out of nowhere.

NHTSA ID

11628572

Incident

Dec 2, 2024

The brake vacuum pump is bad. It was hooked up to solious and that's the codes it's throwing. Out of no where while driving on the highway my brake pedal became very stiff and difficult to push down. I could barely stop in time off the exit. Now when the truck is in Drive it doesn't even move. When you do go u have to put all your might into pressing the brake down to stop. Even then the pedal won't go down. Very dangerous especially since I had my [XXX] daughter with me. Very scary situation. I looked up recall for VIN but I have 0. Which is weird because there's a recall on 2016 chevy tahoes for this exact symptoms and part. Now I did go to [XXX] and found a recall under my Vin and also a warranty for this part under my Vin. Why doesn't it list a recall for me INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11620726

Incident

Oct 11, 2024

I called my local Chevrolet dealership to get the recalled on my Tahoe fixed and they can’t fix the recall for a full month. I’m very concerned because it’s a recall on the vacuum pump so it affects my brakes. My truck is a daily driver so I will have to gamble for a month on the streets and pray the brakes don’t get any worse.

NHTSA ID

11618491

Incident

Oct 7, 2024

Increased breaking effort, vehicle didn’t and currently doesn’t allow me to stop as quickly as needed Aligns with recall number: 19V645000

NHTSA ID

11613888

Incident

Sep 10, 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the stabili-trak, ABS and traction control warning lights remained illuminated, and the vehicle would not immediately stop while depressing the brake pedal. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the ABS module and ABS pump were faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.

NHTSA ID

11610176

Incident

Mar 1, 2024

Mileage

150,000 mi

While pulling up to the drive thru window to pick up our food, at very low speed, vehicle would not stop had put all of my body weight on brake pedal to get it to stop and avoid hitting car in front of us.

NHTSA ID

11561953

Incident

Dec 26, 2023

Brake Assist failure at low speed making vehicle extremely hard to stop. GM recall N182202780 does not cover all VIN numbers of the model years affected. GM states this VIN number is not covered yet the vehicle has the exact failure outlined in this recall.

NHTSA ID

11556961

Incident

Nov 1, 2023

While driving at low speeds, the brake pedal became very difficult to engage and the car did not stop as intended. This affects the ability of the vehicle to stop in areas with frequent pedestrian traffic such as driveways and parking lots creating a substantial safety risk. The vehicle has not been to a repair shop or dealership to investigate further at this time. There are no warning lights or messages from the vehicle computer system. This issue sounds like an issue researched on the internet for Chevy vehicles, but this VIN is not covered by a prior recall. The symptoms seem to be the same as described in NHTSA Campaign Number 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic).

NHTSA ID

11556793

Incident

Nov 25, 2023

While driving in atleast in awd and I think it happened in 2wd. My abs light comes on with stabilitrack and trailer break. Once that happens driving feels weird like breaks are closing in. Turning is extremely difficult cause it feels like all this are breaking. Then once I stop the car it kicks forward after the car is off

NHTSA ID

11553293

Incident

Oct 4, 2023

I have a 2016 Chevy Tahoe LTZ. It has the air ride suspension. I need all new shocks and struts and a new air ride air suspension pump. Reported this issue when the vehicle had 60-66k miles on it. I was never told what was wrong until about 2 weeks ago. The grand total of replacing these issues is over 6k. I called Chevy/GMC theres nothing they will do as it’s out of any warranty even though the problem has been reported/documented way before it hit 84k. Jim Shorkey Chevy is a joke and Boby Rahal has no clue what warranty they’re selling people. This makes for a very loud, very rough ride that’s hard to control going any speed. There was also a valve that would squeak when it went from the V4 to the V8. In order to fix that i needed a whole new exhaust and muffler. Chevy would not cover any of this even though there is warranty for emissions through Chevy I can’t remember the year but i know the miles were 90k. I don’t have that on the car and for whatever reason an exhaust and muffler are not considered emissions even though if there was a hole or malfunction with them I wouldn’t pass the emissions here in PA. Make that make sense. All of these problem were reported within the year of buying this car back in 2020. I didn’t get a diagnosis for these problems until 2023 and 30k miles later. I did and still do have issues with the brake even though the vacuum pump was replaced back when I bought it. My antenna also leaked and I had to pay for that out of pocket. I’d love to stay with a gmc/Chevy but if I’m going to constantly have to pour money into it I’ll never go back.

NHTSA ID

11550976

Incident

Jun 3, 2020

While driving at low speeds, the brake pedal became very difficult to engage and the car did not stop as intended. This affects the ability of the vehicle to stop in areas with frequent pedestrian traffic such as driveways and parking lots creating a substantial safety risk. The "Service Brake Assist" message also appeared after this incident. I contacted my Chevrolet dealer who cannot schedule an appointment for at least 15 days. The car is currently at an independent mechanic who advised that this sounds like a familiar issue for Chevy vehicles, but this VIN is not covered by a prior recall. The issue seems to be the same as described in NHTSA Campaign Number 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic).

NHTSA ID

11549202

Incident

Oct 9, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the brake pedal went to the floorboard while depressed. While driving 10–15 MPH, the brakes operated as designed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the brakes were replaced; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall for the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The contact referenced the NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic) as a possible cause for the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

NHTSA ID

11543375

Incident

Sep 1, 2022

Mileage

75,000 mi

I was driving down highway and saw a wall of cars and brake lights in the distance, so naturally my foot tried to push the brakes. The pedal was hard, and I panicked because my tahoe was not stopping at all! I continued to stomp on brake pedal all the way until my car actually hit 3 vehicles and then the guardrail! My brakes did not work , because if they did then I would have easily prevented this accident!!

NHTSA ID

11540033

Incident

Apr 21, 2023

Purchased the car new for a local dealer in Surprise, Arizona. Over time the brake pedal has become spongy, soft and pulsating. This happens mostly at slow speeds like backing out of the driveway or garage. Did a search of the NHTSA web site and see that there was a recall on my model year vehicle to replace or reprogram the vacuum pump. However I never received a recall notice. I am now afraid to drive the car because I am concerned over a complete brake failure. I do know that during one of my normal service maintenance appointments I was approached by the service advisor about his concern over a suspected brake issue. He wanted to replace my entire brake system, master cylinder, vacuum pump, etc for a cost of about $1,500 as I recall. I declined the repair as I was not aware of that the problem I was experiencing was including in the recall. Again I never received any notice of a recall of the vacuum pump for the brakes but clearly I am experiencing the symptoms as was described in the recall notice on your website.

NHTSA ID

11536574

Incident

Aug 4, 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Tahoe. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the message "Trailer Brake System" was displayed, and an alarm sounded. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it diagnosed that the trailer brake system module needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that he would be charged a repair fee. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 85,000. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ID

11530635

Incident

Jun 25, 2023

Mileage

85,000 mi

Brakes barely stop at low speed

NHTSA ID

11522569

Incident

May 10, 2023

I bought this 2016 Tahoe in January of 2023. I was very excited to purchase my first Tahoe and sunk my savings into paying for it. A couple weeks after I purchased it, I got a service trailer break message that came up on my screen. I have had several different mechanics look at it, but still, it hasn't been fixed. This message pops up probably 60 times while I am driving, and continuously. It flashes across my screen, and when I dismiss it, it will go away for a second and then pop up again. This dinging message continues while I'm driving it. I feel that it is a safety hazard as I am very distracted by it when I am driving the car. I don't have any other choice, as I spent all my money I had for a car on purchasing this car, and don't have another car to drive, so I have to drive this one. I would really like for GM to issue a recall for this, and tell technicians how to fix this. The technicians I have seen tried replacing the battery and a corroded wire. We've replaced the switch, but still this message returns. I am very frustrated by this, as I traded my old car in for this one, because I was having car trouble. I wanted to trade to avoid car problems, but just got a car with more problems. I am going insane with this message and not having a fix for it.

NHTSA ID

11513312

Incident

Jan 16, 2023