Loss of braking on the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe
Only 4 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When loss of braking gets reported
There are 14 reports of loss of braking on the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe, 4 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 94,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$3,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 18 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 2 miles, and latest on the 1996 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2001 carries the most reports, with 36; the 1997 has 14. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Over the past 2 years have had multiple incidents of low speed brake failure/inadequate braking, especially on down hill grades. Parking lots. Feels like ABS is malfunctioning. Multiple mechanics have worked on system, all relate it to ABS malfunctions. Awaiting info on ne recall due to salt corrosion affecting ABS. News media stated the entire system would have to be replaced to correct situation. Only luck has prevented an accident so far.
Dt: the contact complained anti lock (ABS) brake system. The ABS will activate while driving at slow speeds. The speeds when the ABS activate varied from 3-10 MPH. This happened under any driving conditions. No indicator lights came on to indicate there was a brake failure. The dealership was called and asked him to bring the vehicle for repairs at contact's expense. There was a recall but it ddid not include this vehicle. *ak
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 chevrolet tahoe. The contact stated that the ABS engages when the ground is dry and pulsates very hard when stopping the vehicle. The failure was noticed while driving 10 MPH. He stated that this should only happen when there is snow on the ground or when it is wet. In november of 2000, there was a voluntary recall and chevrolet repaired the brakes. There were no failures for 18,000 miles. Currently, at 40,500 miles, the failure has recurred. The contact called the manufacturer and they stated that there was no recall for the brake failure. The failure mileage was 40,500. Updated 10/16/08. *lj the dealer replaced the left front hub. Updated 10/17/08. *jb
Also reported on the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe
Other steering problem
ABS module or sensor failure
Wiper or washer failure
Other powertrain problem
Fuel pump failure
Other brake problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 14 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 14 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does loss of braking happen on the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe?
Across 4 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is loss of braking on the 1997 Chevrolet Tahoe?
14 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 16 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed