2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE — Complaint #507512
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about PARKING BRAKE:CONVENTIONAL filed November 19, 2004
NHTSA complaint #507512 (ODI reference 10100221) concerns a 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE and was filed on November 19, 2004. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 12, 2004. The report was geocoded to Minnesota based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as parking brake:conventional, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. No VIN was supplied by the filer, so this complaint contributes to model-year trend data but cannot be tied to a specific vehicle.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same CHEVROLET AVALANCHE cohort independently describe similar parking brake:conventional failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
PARKING BRAKE FAILURE INVOLVING 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE OR INJURY. HOWEVER, WHEN BROUGHT IN FOR REPAIR, I WAS GIVEN A REPORT THAT STATES, ACCORDING TO CHEVROLET TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE "PARKING BRAKE IS NOT DESIGNED TO HOLD ON A DOWN SLOPE AND ONLY DESIGNED TO HOLD AT 8% GRADE ON UP SLOPE." THIS RUNS COUNTER TO THE 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE OWNERS MANUAL, SECTION 7-20, ENTITLED "PARKING BRAKE AND AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION PARK MECHANISM CHECK WHICH INSTRUCTS AS FOLLOWS: "PARK ON A FAIRLY STEEP HILL, WITH THE VEHICLE FACING DOWNHILL" AND PROCEEDS TO GIVE STEPS FOR CHECKING THE PARKING BRAKE FUNCTION THAT CREATE A CLEAR EXPECTATION THAT THE PARKING BRAKE SHOULD FUNCTION "ON A FAIRLY STEEP HILL." SINCE BRINGING MY VEHICLE FOR REQUESTED ADJUSTMENT/REPAIR, I CONTINUE TO FIND THAT THE PARKING BRAKE WILL NOT HOLD WITH THE VEHICLE FACING DOWNHILL ON EVEN A MODEST SLOPE.*AK KNOWING THAT I CANNOT RELY ON THE PARKING BRAKE, FOR NOW I WILL TAKE OTHER STEPS TO ASSURE SAFETY.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 507512 |
| ODI Number | 10100221 |
| Date Filed | November 19, 2004 |
| Failure Date | November 12, 2004 |
Similar PARKING BRAKE:CONVENTIONAL Complaints for 2002 CHEVROLET AVALANCHE
BRAKES WERE PULSATING AND TOOK TO LOCAL BRAKE SHOP FOR CHECK. REAR BRAKE JOB COMPLETED. LEFT REAR ROTOR NEEDED REPLACING DUE TO DAMAGE FROM PARKING BRAKE. PARKING BRAKE ALSO REPLACED. SERVICE TECHNICI
1) ANTI-LOCK BRAKE UNIT FAILED; ) PARK BRAKE NEEDS ADJUSTING EVERY 4 MOS EVENTHOUGH USED DAILY; 2) BOTH FOUND IN DRIVEWAY; NO ACCIDENT 3) REPLACE ABS UNIT AT $950 , AND READJUST PARKING BRAKE AT $80
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.