2025 GMC Acadia Brake Problems

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2025 GMC Acadia owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

We filled a report on 04/04/2026 with NHTSA at 12:16 pm but can't find a copy of the whole report. My husband John Chandler was driving our 2025 GMC Avadia Elevation. He was backing out of a parking place when he noticed it wouldn't stop while putting his foot on the break. He was able to put it into drive and it lundged forward and wouldn't stop. He kept pushing with both feet on the break and wouldn't stop. I tried pushing the start button to stop but because his feet were on the break it would restart so then pushed the park button and it stopped as we hit the building. The air bags did not depoy so not going that fast. I pushed the button for 911 and they came on to assist and call police. They asked if everyone was al right and other questions. Lucky no one was hurt and thank God for that. Tow truck was called and taken to local tow yard. …

I have had my 2025 GMC Acadia Denali for 1 week with 336 miles on it. When I went to start it on the evening of [redacted], I felt the brake pulse. Then the dash lite up with message to Service ESC. The brake icon was lite up red and ABS was lite up yellow color. I took my vehicle to our local Jeff Fender GMC dealership the next morning. The service tech did a brake pressure test which passed. He cleared the codes. When I went out to leave the dealership, the codes came back on. The service tech said it is NOT safe to drive because my brakes can fail at anytime. Service said they need to replace the master cylinder. With this issue, my brakes could fail & a horrible crash could occur causing injuries and/or death. Service rep told me this has happened to a new Yukon too. My husband called the dealership in Lake City, FL, where we purchased the Acadia from & spoke to a service rep. …

Car driven off the lot 06/14/2025 On Sunday 07/06/25 (21 days from purchase) while driving home from a 30 minutes away from home trip with 3 young children with me, the car gave multiple alerts and service warnings. "Service Brake Assist" and "Service ECS" Lights / Symbols related to the following were also displayed: Traction Control System (TCS)/ Electronic Control Stability Light, Anti-lock Brakey System (ABS); Brake System Warning Light, Forward Collision Alert and BREAK light I stopped the car immediately and pulled to the side of the road. After restarting vehicle, lights were still displayed and service alerts still on. Power steering was very diminished and the breaks were struggle to break. Acceleration was also impacted and every time I breaked it appeared as though the car was trying to accelerate. I was able to drive the car home slowly following back roads. …

I purchased the car on [redacted]. Drove the car about 8000 miles and then all of a sudden the dash lights all lit up for the brakes, ABS, traction control. I pulled the car over and turned it off. When I restarted my car, the lights continued to stay on and it told me to service immediately. I called my dealer and they could not get me in within 2 weeks so I took it to another local GMC dealer who could get it in to look at it that week. I took it in on July 9th, and then received a called a couple days later telling me that it had a bad Brake control module that they needed to order. A week later was told the part was on backorder. Two weeks later was told the part came in but it was still missing the brake master cylinder and reservoir. At that time, I was told the ETA was unknown and I have been calling back every week. …

Today, June 11, 2026, my wife and 9 month old baby were on their way home from running errands in town when the vehicle started to violently shake, becoming frightened my wife tried to apply pressure to the brakes. When she pushed down on the brake pedal nothing happened and the pedal hit the floor. Our brand new 2025 GMC Acadia AT4 had just suffered catastrophic brake failure. So she pulled off onto the side of the road in hopes the uneven terrain would slow her down just enough to put it into park. Luckily enough it did. If it would have been 10 seconds later she would have been on a one way bridge where the speed limit is 60mph with no brakes. Four days prior to today on June 07, 2026 I sent a message to the individual that I bought the car from at the GMC dealership and told him that we had warning lights come up on the dash. He had me try and reset the screen but nothing happened. …

New 2025 GMC Acadia Denali vehicle with only 5,600 miles driven. When starting SUV I pressed start button and brake pedal. I felt the brake pedal pulse down. Once started, the dashboard lit up with warnings of Service ESC and Service Brake Assist. Quickly took to dealer, they ran diagnostic tests and revealed the Master Brake Cylinder is out. Dealer said I should Not drive it due to danger of brakes completely failing! Dealer has other 2025 Acadia's come in with no brakes at all due to same issue and they are still there waiting on same part. Dealer and GM have NO estimate of when they will have a new Master Brake Cylinder as this part is on back order. A case has been created with GM regarding part availability delay. My research has revealed numerous owners of 2025 Acadia, Traverse and Enclave with this same Master Brake Cylinder failure and no parts available waiting months. …

We had complete brake system failure while driving the car on the highway. The brakes went all the way to the floor when applied and we came inches going into fast moving oncoming traffic before the vehicle stopped. I had to push the break with both feet with all the strength I had to get the brakes to respond at all. The brake assist failure warning light came on and another warning light came on that said SERVICE ESC. I have this on video. This was the first time the warning lights have ever come on. It's a brand new 2025 car with only 800 miles on it. We were advised by the dealership who sold us the car to get OnStar to tow the vehicle to our local GMC dealership where we bought the car. When the car was hooked up to the diagnoses machine it said brake system failure. I have not received any invoices or paperwork to send you at this point. …

2/10/26. Driving down the highway behind a truck and horse trailer at 60 mph, electric brake system stopped working, couldn't stop, a turn lane saved me from rear ending the horse trailer. I thought i was going to die and kill or injure animals and people in my path. Police came and tow truck. 2/10/26 Vehicle was towed to the closest GMC dealer. MERIT GMC Duncan, Ok Vehicle is at service department. There has been 3 events of complete power failure with the vehicle. It had to be towed three times before. All within the last 6 months. It had never happened while driving! When it happened, a brake light appeared on my dash with the message "electric brake failure" and "speed limited". I slammed the Brake pedal to the floor repeatedly with nothing happening. …

I purchased the vehicle, and twelve days later while operating the vehicle I experienced full braking power failure. My foot was to the floor board while trying to get the car to slow down. Up until the point of brake failure, there were no warning lights or "symptoms" that would alert me as to an impending problem. My young child was also in the car so that was extremely scary also. During this time, the "service brake assist" light and ABS light came on. I was able to slow the car down enough, restart the car, and the brakes seemed to work, however all of the related braking lights were on my dash. It was brought to the dealer the next day. The dealer has noted that its the master cylinder that needs to be replaced. However, they replaced it, and the new master cylinder has also failed, so they'll need to try and replace it again. …

Brake assist warning message and BRAKE light appeared a couple of weeks ago, along with others. Brought the car into the dealer, who initially thought they cleared the errors and reported no additional issues when they ran the diagnostics. Nothing was cleared. Vehicle application and monitor also does not show an issue, even though the warning appears at each start up and none of the related safety systems work (ABS, ESC, AEB, etc.) that rely on the brake pump. Information from the dealer and owners manual are in conflict, with the dealer allowing me to drive while the owner's manual indicates it should not be driven with the BRAKE light lit. They have now "diagnosed" a "failed" master cylinder unit that includes electronics and the pump. The car had about 4500 miles on it when the issue occurred. I am at a loss for if it should be driven and trusted or not.

NHTSA investigations

Brake complaints in other Acadia years