This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while her son was seated in the driver's side front seat with the door opened, the key was not in the ignition, the doors inadvertently locked and unlocked. The contact's son noticed that there was smoke coming from the dash and exited the vehicle. Upon inspection, the contact and her son detected a burning odor and noticed that there was smoke coming from underneath the hood; however, there were no flames. The contact's son opened the hood and disconnected the battery. The fire department arrived and inspected the vehicle. The fireman informed the contact that the alternator and battery connectors were extremely hot. The fire department assisted in moving the vehicle away from the residence. A fire department report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer; however, the vehicle was diagnosed but still hasn't been repaired. The contact related the failure to a faulty electrical system. The vehicle was not yet deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 133,000.
Vehicle continues to have random electrical problems after adding new grounds, new alternator, new battery, checking contacts. It's been at 4 repair shops including a Chevy dealer and continues to have problems. Doors cycle on lock/unlock, lights cycle dimming, ABS and other indicator lights come on, lose acceleration and vehicle stalls and dies. Seems to happen more frequently in cold weather and after a 'rest' may or may not start no rhyme or reason. Has baffled mechanics for over 2 years. Pls help.
1st: Back ac/heater turns on by itself.blows only hot air 2nd. Car engine sometimes is hard to start, or won"T start, some times when turning on the ignition will get start as it was still powering on, and when turning off it won"T turn off even if ignition is off. The speedometer/RPM will go to 0 while on freeway.
- San Diego, CA, USA
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The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Suburban. While the contact was reversing out of the driveway, the door locks began to lock and unlock independently. The failure stopped when the vehicle was placed into drive. After driving 40 mph for a while, the check engine, stability, traction, and various other warning indicators illuminated. Also, the rpms revved from 1 to 5, the odometer fluctuated up and down, and the locks malfunctioned again. The vehicle was turned off, but the revving did not stop right away. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the body control module was contaminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The failure mileage was 195,889.
Driver window stopped working, replaced the switch that didnt help, not have no power to the left side of my vehicle, my doors dont lock and unlock, we believe it has something to do with the computer control module. Took it to the local Chevy dealer and they didnt fix it with the window switch
Passenger seat motor overheated. Initial indication was smell. Seat is powered (forward and back only). Seat switches were not in use at the time. Vehicle was in powered and in motion. Smoke followed w/I 20" of initial smell. Vehicle stopped at sight of smoke and driver was able to locate plugs for motor under passenger seat. Driver removed plug, burned hand significantly in the process.
Door lock/unlock actuators are failing to operate, which poses safety concern for children in these vehicles. I've had two fail. This is a common and wide-spread issue with many 2007-2013 GM trucks and SUVS. Just for my particular vehicle (2009 Suburban) I counted 13 other complaints (with NHTSA id #S) on this website for this issue. Apparently the electric motor in the actuator module for each door lock is poor quality and prone to failure. Given the safety risk and number of vehicles involved, I'm surprised that a recall has not been issued.
Within the first two years of owning the vehicle it developed cracks all along the dashboard. The cracks got bad enough that recently a large piece of the dashboard fell out. I have attempted to get Chevrolet to help pay for replacing it but they are unwilling and I cannot afford the entire bill alone. I am worried that the airbags will not work and that having electrical and mechanical exposed will cause harm to myself or the vehicle.
While driving, vehicle suddenly goes into "reduced engine power" mode ("limp mode") with console message "traction contol disabled, service stabilitrak, engine power reduced". generally occurs when temperatures are lower than 25 degrees farenheit. Shutting down vehicle for several minutes and restarting leads to normal operation, however vehicle will generally repeat same problem within 5-15 minutes if outside temperature is cold enough (below 25 degrees farenheit). Error code P1235 (throttle position sensor 1-2 correlation...) is set, but may not persist in memory. GM is providing owners with additional protections for 10 years/120,000 miles under csc-10047220-3332 (bulletin no. 11273), however not all vins are included. Vehicle had throttle body (including sensor) replaced in 2010 and appears to be exhibiting exact problems covered by this bulletin, however GM dealer and GM are not extending protection for this vehicle. Dealer is recommending another new throttle position sensor and/or throttle body (including sensor), along with computer reset. This intermittent problem has occurred for more than three years and poses a significant safety risk when the vehicle is in motion at normal highway speeds (drastic sudden deceleration in traffic).
My 2009 Chevrolet Suburban began stalling in the middle of intersections after it had rained heavily the day prior. The shop discovered that the issue was the fuel system control module. There was a recall on this, but GM informed me that it excluded my VIN #. the problem with the module was exactly what is listed in the recall and was not related to "wear and tear" as suggested by randy with GM (senior advisor), but a faulty seal intended to prevent water infiltration. I am requesting a recall that includes my VIN...I am not sure how this can happen on the exact year and car listed in the recall, yet be excluded. I have found additional 2009 Chevy owners with the same issue through online blogs that also were denied this recall.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start without warning. The contact had to disconnect and reconnect the battery or the electrical box under the hood in order to get the vehicle to start. The failure occurred three times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 103,089.
Accelerating in traffic on a three lane road. At approximately 30 mph, the vehicle power steering, brakes, and acceleration locked up. I could barely turn the wheel and the brake pedal was unresponsive. I could not accelerate at all. I was able to muscle the car into a parking lot and jam on the breaks to coast to a stop. The power was still on the car, but the ac was not blowing as hard. After a restart, it worked normally.
Vehicle driver side back door would not unlock using remote control. Cost over $300 to have Chevrolet dealer fix. Now in Feb 2014 with 7600 miles it started not working on the passenger side back door stop working with remote control. All other locks would open but not the rear door at that time. It appears their are issues with these door locks. The door locks will only open manually when they fail which is a pain due to the size of the vehicle.
The discovery of the defect was on September 2012. There is a crack on the dash above the vehicles instrumentation I.e. speedometer, oil pressure, gas level, etc. I reported to local GM dealership (henry brown Chevrolet) about the defect and my concern for safety. They said there is no available safety recall for this problem. Thinking that this was an isolated case I did not pursue the matter. Then recently when I surfed the internet I came upon a group of GM vehicle owner with the same type of vehicle and the same type of issue. So I investigated further. Going to different web blogs, I found more GM vehicle owners with the same problem. Everybody have the same issue. They have cracked dash on their GM vehicles. Some have the cracks on both side where the passenger airbag is. The danger is that this might puncture the airbag and render it ineffective. The main concern is safety because I don't want my vehicle to fail on me and my family. If for some reason water gets in the vehicles instrumentation and causes an electrical short, me and my family could be in danger of a vehicle accident. I am trying to be proactive and have this problem resolved rather than wait to be a victim of an unsafe vehicle or cause another driver to be in an avoidable accident. We need this vehicles recalled so that GM can take responsibility and fix an unsafe vehicle.
The door locks intermittently work. Seems to happen to a lot of people. Safety issue. Can't get in or out of vehicle. We had one fixed and now all of the doors are doing it. Sometimes the car locks itself.
About a year ago the rear passenger door lock wouldn't work, now all door locks will not lock or unlock with remote or switch. Also will not lock/unlock when put into gear or back into part. Locks move slightly when you push the button but will not fully engage or disengage when manually pushed. No recall data available but I see many complaints.
At 21,000 miles right read door lock would not operate electronically. Had to manually move door lock button. Dealer replaced lock actuator. At 49,000 miles driver's door lock also became inoperable. Dealer replaced actuator. This seems to be a chronic defect.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- French Settlement, LA, USA