2020 Chevrolet Trax - Brakes failed!

while driving at 40 miles an hour and needed to come to a stop my brakes failed and steering was extremely hard and hit the car in front of me, I think the system shut off while I was driving, (everyone thinking about buying a chevy Trax needs to be aware, one of the scariest thing that has happened to me. luckily NO one was hurt.

There are a few similar reports for previous year Trax. (What is the plural of “Trax” anyway?) A 2020 should be under warranty. If you don’t get satisfaction from the dealer there should be a number for GM Corporate in your Owner’s Manual.

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Thank you for your info.

Glad to offer my meager “help.” My wife test drove a 2016 Trax last year but decided it was too small. I’m glad now we bought something else. Best of luck.

I would recommend filing a safety report with NHTSA too. If they receive enough complaints about a certain model-year, it will trigger an investigation and possible recalls (if the investigation turns up anything)

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Even if the car itself malfunctioned, due to a design flaw or manufacturing defect, you probably got ticketed by the police, and will lose a bunch of money as a result. I am also curious about what GM will do with regards to warranty. If a warrantable defect caused an accident, but now the car is seriously damaged due to said accident, what if anything will the manufacturer do?

I don’t know yet

My best guess, from afar, is that the engine stalled, based on this:

More than likely, the power assist for the brakes and for the steering were compromised by an engine stall situation. GM has been marketed this Daewoo- designed vehicle as both a Chevrolet and a Buick for several years, but the quality of its ultra-cheap design is highly suspect.

I sincerely wish the OP an equitable resolution to this problem, which is almost surely the result of poor design. I really hope that GM assumes some responsibility for the design of this cheapo vehicle’s design defects.

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Thank you and I hope so too

Your car stalled and you lost the power assist for your brakes, but your brakes didn’t fail. If this happens again, press the pedal as hard as you can, possibly even with two feet.

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Yeah, car stalled, brakes didn’t fail. They were still there just with no assist. Worse than the old manual brakes. Happened to me too going 70 on the freeway when the belt broke. Steering was a killer-worse than brakes. So at any rate when you complain to the dealer, focus on stalling at 40 and not the brakes so they know what to look at.

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The power brake booster retains vacuum after the engine stops, the power brakes should operate for two applications after an engine stalls.

I have observed a couple dozen of these complaints, the brakes only fail during an emergency situation and the investigation comes up empty, the brakes are operational and the condition cannot be replicated. Customers complaining of brake failure without a collision is a less frequent occurrence.

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I’m just letting people know what happened to me and I’ve read of other similar situations were the vehicle shut down while driving

Trax has vacuum assist hyd brakes? That don’t work? Was it designed in Asia? Thought they were smart?