2015 GMC Yukon Xl Brakes Problems

The contact owns a 2015 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH and exiting the highway, the brake pedal was depressed but the brake pedal was stiff and stuck, requiring that the transmission be shifted to neutral(N), and to stand on the brake pedal with both feet. The contact continuously pumped the brake pedal, but the vehicle slowly responded and almost crashed into other vehicles. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact's wife and daughter were also inside the vehicle during the failure and were frightened and concerned for their safety during the failure. The dealer was contacted and was provided a description of the failure over the phone. The dealer informed the contact that the vacuum pump and an unknown part had possibly failed. The contact was advised that the failure was possibly related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V645000 (Service Brakes, Hydraulic); however, the VIN was not included in the recall, and there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle for the failure. Additionally, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 143,000.

NHTSA ID

11726283

Incident

Mar 22, 2026

Mileage

143,000 mi

Service Box appears indicating - "Trailer Brake System" with a loud BING, BING, BING Alert sound. It continues every few minutes... Please note: we aren't using a trailer... I have googled/youtube it and found that this is an issue with many owners. They indicate that the wire harness in between two of the body control modules is defective. It is known to have faulty wire connection. This is intermittent, goes for months and stops for months, and then starts up again. Starting the vehicle, while driving slow or fast, it doesn't matter.

NHTSA ID

11665834

Incident

Jun 15, 2020

I purchased a 2015 GMC Yukon in March 2024 I drive the vehicle 9 mons, 7500 miles the vehicle has been in service at my local dealership since Dec 13, 2024, for engine and transmission replacement, I have had the vehicle back 3 weeks not the warning light and service warning chime for the "Service Trailer Brake System is on, I have not ever use a trailer with the vehicle, I was told the vehicle needs a wire harness, I have read this a problem in these vehicles that has not been addressed GMC with a recall, I have put A LOT of money in the vehicle. This is an well documented failure in the trailer brake system that GM should repair at no cost to the consumer

NHTSA ID

11663384

Incident

May 23, 2025

Brake vacuum pump faulty again.

NHTSA ID

11650130

Incident

Mar 24, 2025

This is a complaint for my vehicle Gmc2015 Yukon. My Truck brake system(vacuum pump is defective). my large truck is a safety hazard on highway and street . when i attempted to park while depressing my brake pedal it instantly before very hard to press to stop my truck. i have to apply lot of force to my foot inorder to stop vehicle. my mechanic inspected vehicle and it show a bad (defective vacuum pump) . base on former complaints about this same problem (2019 NHSTA campaign number 19v645000 ) it show and state the exact problem with my vehicle. this problem started early last year. Also, when driving on highway and slows down,the brake vacuum pump and brake pedal locks up (very difficult to stop something). this happens intermitting times. very scary trying to stop from crashing into cars in front of me sometime.

NHTSA ID

11628866

Incident

Dec 3, 2024

There has always been break problems with this vehicle. Some recalls have been done. Now there is a new problem, I took it to the dealership. There is a special coverage to fix this issue. GM denied to fix it because the special coverage expired on 06/06/2024. But the vehicle is under the miles and the problem just started.

NHTSA ID

11627708

Incident

Nov 4, 2024

My power vacuum brakes system is not properly working. In order to stop truck I must depress brake pedal very hard just to stop truck. Crunching noise every time. Made several trip to mechanic . I changed many part ( brakes) rotors , still and brake vacuum sensor ( purchase from gmc dealer . Still have this problem. Mechanic states, need new vacuum pump. Very dangerous to drive. Very difficult to stop . Please investigate this VIN for common complaints.

NHTSA ID

11627260

Incident

Oct 1, 2024

Defective wire harness between 2 body control modules, causing alarm to go off repeatedly "Service Trailer Brake System" and also "Stabilitrack" will come on randomly and lock my brakes up and all of the features in my dash. This has been very scary to drive and has brought the vehicle close to collision more than a handful of times now.

NHTSA ID

11618127

Incident

Oct 4, 2024

I keep getting a warning on my display on dash about my trailer brake system is not working. Also my temperature gauge stops working and I have to take off negative cable on battery to reset it. Temperature control sensor has been replaced but the problem still continues to happen.

NHTSA ID

11617294

Incident

Aug 21, 2024

On several occasions, have noticed the brakes failed to operate properly when vehicle is at low speed. The pedal becomes extremely hard to push and there is almost no braking power. This has occurred in stop and go traffic and nearly caused an accident.

NHTSA ID

11581577

Incident

Mar 1, 2024

Trailer brake service malfunction

NHTSA ID

11523898

Incident

May 25, 2023

This vehicle was purchased on 7/05/2019 with miles 52,000 and the TRAILER BREAKE SYSTEM has gone bad 2 times already and I haven’t never used the trailer hook for anything is just so expensive to fixed it and goes bad again and all part we’re purchased from the dealership even the dealer said is a manufacturer error and this will keep happening because is manufacturer error was not designed correctly as a consumer I feel that I shouldn’t be paying for their mistake GMC should do recall and get this issue fixed as soon as possible and fixed it 2 times I have been at the dealership to get this issue fixed and I’ll probably be back again to get fixed and like mentioned is not cheap to fixed please do something about this matter I’ll gladly appreciate

NHTSA ID

11496505

Incident

Aug 14, 2020

My vehicle Has a Service Trailer Brake System notification in my dash that dings as well. It does it on cold mornings with no trailer attached. I don’t trailer often.

NHTSA ID

11495487

Incident

Nov 9, 2022

Trailer assist error. Brakes not working. Ac compressors been replaced and the fan runs after the vehicles off and ac only blows warm air

NHTSA ID

11486969

Incident

Sep 28, 2022

Tail light failure with no ability to change out bulb. Entire assembly must be changed which costs nearly $1000.

NHTSA ID

11478524

Incident

Jun 1, 2022

brake pedal takes much more effort to push I was parking the car and thankfully was only going about 2 mph because I had to press the brakes with two feet to stop it from hitting the car in front of me. We just arrived from a 2 hour trip and this happened at the end of our trip. Lucky it wasn’t on the highway or with a pedestrian in front of me. No injuries

NHTSA ID

11461422

Incident

Apr 19, 2022

The service brake assist warning message keeps appearing. Additionally, when the vehicle is completely stopped, but then you let off the brake to roll forward a little bit (such as at a stoplight), when you press the brake again it does not have stopping power. Must pump the brake several times as the vehicle rolls. This is particularly dangerous in downhill stops. It appears there is a safety recall on the power assist vacuum for brakes on 2015 GMC Yukon XL, but for some reason, my VIN is not included in the recall. I would like to know what it would take to include my VIN in the recall because it is the same year, make, and model.

NHTSA ID

11458038

Incident

Mar 23, 2022

Brake Assist Light came on. Pierre brakes failed and had to press down hard manually to get the car to stop. Felt antilock breaks were assisting. We felt very unsafe. It’s very scary.

NHTSA ID

11444482

Incident

Dec 18, 2021

Rear LED taillight assembly. Connection is faulty and they illuminate sometimes and other times they do not.

NHTSA ID

11442675

Incident

Dec 1, 2021

Breaks are faulty, lights continue to go out in the rear after only a year after purchase. I’ve read other complaints about these issues. could be wiring or electrical issue with the breaks. Engine sounds like a plane is about to take off, has had starting problems. Overall horrible vehicle. There are a lot of problems with the vehicle, the lights are extremely dangerous as person behind would not know if I’m stopping when they fail to work and can cause a serious accident. Engine is a major concern as well.

NHTSA ID

11436599

Incident

Sep 1, 2021

I was dropping my daughter off at school in the car line. I was at low speed trying to brake and with the brake all the way down couldn't stop immediately. I was able to stop but then went to go again and when tried to stop again, couldn't and hit the car in front of me. It was making a sound while trying to brake but wouldn't engage my brakes. Luckily it didn't leave any damage and the other driver said it was OK and accepted my apology as my brakes were not working correctly.

NHTSA ID

11434987

Incident

Sep 30, 2021

Driver side brake lights don't work again. This will be the 3rd time that I know of that this piece of equipment has been changed out.

NHTSA ID

11432765

Incident

Sep 6, 2021

LED Brake Lights fail due to design error typically on both side of the vehicle. I have found multiple reports of a failure on a circuit board that was poorly designed. A copper tracing is very narrow and fractures due to vibration resulting in Brake Light failure. Because the entire module must be replaced the repair costs $800-$900 per side.

NHTSA ID

11426400

Incident

Jul 24, 2021

ISSUE WHEN BRAKING. LOTS OF FORCE NEEDED AT TIMES TO STOP.SEEMS TO OCCUR MORE AT SLOWER SPEEDS.

NHTSA ID

11405379

Incident

Jan 2, 2021

Mileage

100,000 mi

THE BRAKES FAILED IN MY CAR CAUSING A REAR COLLISION WITH AN OBJECT IN MY DRIVEWAY. AFTER INSPECTION FROM A CERTIFIED GMC DEALERSHIP, THE BRAKE FAILURE WAS NOT CAUSED BY SERVICE NEGLECT OR AGE OF BRAKES, IT WAS DUE TO THE VACCUM PUMP FAILURE TO PROVIDE PRESSURE. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO YEARS THIS PART HAS CAUSED MY BRAKES TO FAIL. THE DEALERSHIP REPLACED THE PART AT NO COST THOUGH THERE IS NOT FORMAL RECALL ON THIS PART. BOTH TIMES THIS PART FAILED THE CAR WAS IN MOTION. THE FIRST TIME IT WAS TOWED OUT OF A CITY TO BE REPAIRED AS IT WAS DANGERSOUS TO DRIVE AND THE SECOND TIME THE FAILURE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO COLLIDE WITH A LARGE DUMPSTER IN MY DRIVEWAY CAUSING EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR. THANKFULLY THERE WAS NOT PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO ANY PERSONS IN EITHER OF THESE TWO INCIDENTS WHICH BOTH WERE NO FAULT OF THE DRIVER OR OWNER OF THE CAR.

NHTSA ID

11378243

Incident

Nov 29, 2020

Mileage

136,000 mi