‘I Legit Have Nightmares:' Customer Buys Chevy Suburban From Dealership. Then She Runs Into This Issue 3 Weeks Later

Motor 1

8 hours ago

A mom shared scary footage of her
Chevy Suburban's
brakes allegedly failing while she was on the road, just three weeks after buying it. Tiffany Maillet (@upholsterygirl239) uploaded the viral clip on TikTok, where it accrued over 5.9 million views. In it, her evident panic was captured in the moment, along with how she worked with an officer to get her car to stop.
The mother of five writes in a text overlay that's visible from the onset of her video, 'Just got a Chevy Suburban from the Chevy Dealership and experienced something out of my nightmares. I'm a mom of 5 kids and I HAVE to have my car. I just paid for summer camp for Monday. Today is my son's birthday. This is so awful.'
Her TikTok shows dashcam footage recorded while she's on the road. Next, she suddenly makes an exclamation that would make any driver's heart sink and stomach churn: 'My, my, my car's not braking! My car's not braking!' The vehicle in front of her appears to come to a stop, its red brake lights engaged.
Suburban Brake Failure
On the TikToker's dashcam, she can be seen lurching ahead, nearing the stopped vehicle. On the opposite side of the road, a white SUV with flashing emergency lights is parked. The car on the road in front of her slowly moves up, creating enough room for her to veer into the far left lane. It's separated by a concrete curb divider, which the TikToker careens toward as she honks her horn several times.
'It's not braking!' she says with a cracked, fearful voice.
Following this, she drives up on the curb, stopping right beside the white SUV, which has the word 'Sheriff' written on the side. Once she's adjacent to the police officer's vehicle, she shouts out to the officer. 'My car won't brake! I'm pushing so hard on the pedal!' she says.
Quickly, the law enforcement official informs her to 'put on the emergency brake.' She hesitates and then quickly asks, 'Where's the emergency brake?' He repeats again, 'emergency brake.'
She states, 'I'm pushing so hard on my brake!' and as she does so, a radio can be heard going off in the background of the clip.
Emergency Brake Engaged
Next, it seems she's managed to locate the emergency braking mechanism while the officer exits his vehicle to assist her. 'This thing?' she asks, sniffling.
'Yes, push that down,' he says.
The mom then tearfully says to her husband on the phone, 'I'm next to the cop right now,' before explaining what happened to her vehicle. 'I was stopped back at that stop sign, and ... I was holding the brake down, and it kind of felt like it crunched for a second.'
The officer replies, 'Yeah.' She continues, 'And it just started sliding and it wouldn't stop going, and I'm like holding it down as hard as I could.' Then, she addresses her husband on the phone, 'Can you call your mom because she's behind me and I want her to know. All right, bye.'
At the end of her video, she tells the officer that she just recently purchased the car 'three weeks ago.'
What Should You Do If Your Brakes Fail?
Ideally, no driver would ever have to deal with brake failure. However, there are methods folks can adhere to in order to safely bring their car to a stop in the event their brakes give out.
First, commuters should
attempt to pump their brakes
in case they've locked up. In some cases, repeatedly engaging the brakes can 'unlock' them, bringing vehicles to a stop. If that doesn't work, defensive driving school
iDriveSafely
recommends immediately putting on one's hazard lights. This will alert others on the road to steer clear of your car.
Following this, place your vehicle into a lower gear. Doing so will 'slow down your car.'
Conversely, the outlet cautions against immediately placing the car in neutral. That's because it 'will take away the engine braking effect.' Consequently, one's car won't start to decelerate. Furthermore, instantly shutting off one's car will also disable power steering, making it harder to control.
Once your car is slowing down, slowly guide it to an area away from regular traffic flow. This can be a shoulder, outlet, or slightly raised curve, or even on the outskirts of the left or right-most lane.
Next, iDriveSafely recommends engaging the emergency brake. Often, this brake's engagement system is in the form of a lever located near the car's center console. Many vehicles place it in the form of a small pedal left of the standard brake, so be cognizant of where it is and how to activate your e-brake.
Chevy Dealership Admits Fault
Following her harrowing road incident, Maillet posted other videos pertaining to her experience.
In this particular
TikTok
commenting on the situation, she shared the outcome of her correspondence with the dealership. According to her, the reason she wasn't able to stop was due to aftermarket brakes. Additionally, she says a service tech informed the sales team that the brakes would need to be swapped out prior to the sale for safety reasons. However, she says the sales manager didn't want to eat the cost of a brake swap. Ultimately, Maillet added that upon escalating the issue, the dealership admitted fault.
At the end of her clip, Maillet speculated just how much more dangerous a situation she could've found herself in.
'I MEAN I COULD HAVE BEEN GOING 80 DOWN THE HIGHWAY AND MY FAMILY WAS AT RISK. complete negligence,' she writes in a text overlay.
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What Maillet found even more troubling was the fact that her five children were with her when she bought the car, meaning the sales team had no qualms with putting all of them in a vehicle that had potentially faulty brakes.
'I legit went to the dealership with my 5 kids and he still thought it was a good idea to stick me in the Suburban absolute shame on @chevrolet,' she writes in the caption.
When Dealerships Give You a Dud
Unfortunately, used car sales isn't exactly known to be the most scrupulous of vocations. But just because a car is previously owned doesn't mean buyers aren't legally protected by what
Lemon Car Law
refers to as 'implied warranties.' This effectively means 'the dealer guarantees the vehicle will function as it is supposed to,' the outlet states.
However, there is some nomenclature to consider. If you purchase a vehicle 'as is' from a dealer, then you are assuming all liability for any repairs to the vehicle. This doesn't seem to be the case with Maillet's purchase, as she explained the Chevy dealership took responsibility for not swapping the brakes.
But not everyone is so fortunate as to have purchased a car from a dealership that's willing to own up to its mistakes. And if you didn't enter an 'as-is' agreement and the dealership lies about any damage incurred to the vehicle, you could have a claim against it. Furthermore, as Lemon Car Law states, if integral components are compromised, then drivers could take legal action.
There are several steps involved in this process. First, Lemon Car Law recommends contacting your
state's consumer protection office.
This will allow you to start a record of lodging a formal complaint against the dealership that sold you the vehicle.
Moreover, lodging a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) may also help garner more attention to your claim. While possessing no legal authority, many companies take BBB ratings seriously. So, bad marks against the company could incentivize it to take action.
Additionally, should your vehicle still fall under the manufacturer's base warranty, Lemon Car Law also suggests filing with the National Center for Dispute Settlement.
Commenters React
Maillet also narrated in the video, 'Just talked to the general manager of Chevy, and they told me they never should have sold me that car, and that they were in the wrong, and they're sorry.'
Several folks who replied to her video concurred with the general manager's statement that the dealership was in the wrong.
One user penned, 'You have a lawsuit!' urging Maillet to take legal action against the business.
Another echoed this sentiment, stating their admittance of fault may ultimately assist with her claim: 'Call a lawyer - IMMEDIATELY! They just admitted fault and incompetence. Go get your coin.'
'Huge huge lawsuit. You cannot release a car with compromised brakes,' someone else wrote.
Others on TikTok shared experiences working in auto sales that were similar to Maillet's close call.
'I hated doing used cars because of stuff like this. Sales only want to do enough to get it to roll off the lot. Who cares about customer safety right?'
According to this user, refusal to perform component swaps is a common occurrence. 'Happens all the time. And the service department always gets the blame.'
However, there was someone else who appeared confused about the hate directed toward third-party vehicle options. 'What's wrong with aftermarket Brakes? There are millions of cars/trucks on the road with non oem brakes on them and have no issues.'
Motor1
has reached out to Maillet via TikTok comment for further information. The story will be updated should she respond.
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