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.
Headlight lighting is useless, night driving is dangerous. Light output is so low/dim that it is easy to out drive the headlights. High beam is no better as it just disperses the beam actually making it appear dimmer. Something needs to be done to address this concern before someone gets injured by these unsafe headlights.
The headlights on this vehicle are horrible, low beams are of no use except in the city traffic and high beams are only slightly better. High beams are not sufficient for driving on dark roads. Hopefully GM will offer to repair/replace these before there are deaths to report.
I've had my 2014 GMC Sierra for nearly a year now, first night I had it I couldn't believe how poor the light output was from the headlights. I've had numerous GMC Sierra trucks over the years and this truck by far has the worse headlights I've ever had in a truck. There are a lot of people online complaining, I'm definitely not the only one upset with how poor these headlights are. There are a few guys in town with this same truck they all hate the headlights too. These headlights just seem very dim, they don't shine the ditches up very well, they don't shine ahead very far either. I have better luck running the headlights on low beam and fog lights on, it almost seems like less light on high beam so I rarely have them on high, I've had multiple occasions where I nearly hit a moose, these headlights are very dangerous I'm worried that one of these days I'm going to hit a moose or worse a person! I really hope somebody does something about these headlights GM didn't listen to anything I had to say.
The headlights on this truck are horrible. I can barely see the road or sides of the road. At night cars behind/beside me flood out my lights. I have the interior lights turned completely down and still the lights are very weak and dangerous.
The factory headlights are almost useless at night especially if there is any moisture on the roads. They are absolutely horrible at dusk and dawn as well.
- Hope Valley, RI, USA
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The projector style headlights this truck is equipped with are insufficient for safe night driving when not in a city driving condition. The low-beams are satisfactory for lower speeds (ie <45mph) but are extremely easy to out-drive at highway speeds. The beam pattern is also not wide enough to illuminate anything other than the area directly in front of the vehicle. The high beams are even worse. The headlights in this truck use one single filament bulb for each headlight. When the high beams are turned on, a mechanical shutter opens to allow more light through the projector lens. The lens is designed such that this additional light is aimed so high as to be useless. Parked 20ft from a wall, the center of the high beam patter is already several ft above the bulb level on the wall. When driving on a straight and level road with no trees, it is actually impossible to even tell the high beams are on since there is no extra beam to illuminate the sides of the road and the center beam is pointed up into the trees.
The large 8" intellilink radio screen in this truck has separate brightness control from the rest of the dash lights, including the instrument panel. Due to it's size and colored background, the lcd radio screen is much brighter than the rest of the interior lights. The fact that the system has no night scheme, meaning it doesn't shift to a mostly black background at night makes this problem even worse. While it is possible to lower the brightness using a dash-mounted dimmer switch, the dimmer must be lowered to minimum in order to get the radio screen to be a comfortable brightness level for night driving. At this point, the instrument cluster lights are so dim as to be extremely difficult to see and as a result require much more time and effort to read speed information. The only way to completely turn off the radio screen is to go through several menus into settings and manually turn off the screen. Not only is this a dangerous distraction while driving but if any vehicle setting such as radio volume, or HVAC controls are adjusted, the screen automatically turns back on and the process must be repeated. I have contacted GM several times about this issue due to its distracting nature when driving at night and have been told repeatedly that the system is "operating as designed." I feel this is a safety issue since the bright light in the cab ruins night vision while also distracting the driver's eyes from the road. My recommendation is for a software update for the intellilink/radio system to be designed to add a brightness setting in the system menu to allow driver's to set the radio screen brightness independently of the instrument cluster lights and to also program a "night mode" color scheme that would shift from the blue illuminated background used in the daytime to something that is mostly black.
Headlights do not provide adequate illumination for night driving. Should be considered a safety hazard to occupants and others on the road. Poor design and/or specifications on GM's part to allow the usage of this headlamp configuration on any vehicle on the road today. This issue needs to be addressed and resolved asap.
These are the worst headlights. I live in rural Alabama and cant see edges of road or more than 50' ahead. Cant change the bulb to improve it. Very dangerous at night for me and anyone else on the road!
When I first started driving my new 14 GMC I had never had a truck with projector headlights so I was unsure if it was just me that had to adjust to the beam of light they provide or if it was a problem with the lighting itself. After having driven my 14 silevrado work truck with standard lights I realize there is a huge problem with the GMC projector lights they are so bad it makes you think there is a faulty ground wire or something extra ordinary wrong with the headlights. It is so bad that I even looked into upgrading the bulbs but you can't even do that because philips owns the rights to produce them and wants to over charge the aftermarket for the use of the design, so I am stuck with a headlight system that is worse then a 6V headlight from the 40S.
The headlights do not adequately illuminate the road. There is no light to the side of road. I came very close to driving into a ditch. When driving down or up grades the road is in complete darkness. No discernible difference between high and low beams. It's very dangerous driving on unlit country roads near my home in upstate NY. When raining the problem is even worse. The headlamps on all 4 of my previous GM trucks 9jimmys, Yukon and Suburban) were far superior to those on my new $55,000 Sierra. This truck should not be driven at night but that's unavoidable, someone's going to be hurt or killed!!!
The headlights do not light the road. No light on the side of road. I have missed my driveway and came very close to driving into a ditch. When driving down or up grades the road is in complete darkness. I have gave GM a year to fix the safety issue but they do nothing is correct the problem. When raining the problem is ten times greater. This truck should not be driven at night, people will get injured or killed.
The headlights on this $50K truck are just plain unacceptable! finally took in to the dealer as the brights were "raccoon hunting" but the dim setting is almost no light at all. Living in a rural area, I have to decrease my speed to nearly a crawl in order to watch for obstacles in the roadway or for wildlife. I've owned 6 GMC vehicles (Sierra or Yukon) since 2000 and none of them had the poor and dangerous lighting that this 2014 Sierra has. When the dealer adjusted, the dims are now pointing down to the road about 30' from the bumper and the high beams are both pointing at the middle of the road about 75-100' with no lateral lighting at all. It's so bad, I have to make wide turns to light up the driveways or streets I'm turning into to keep from running into ditches or miss the turn all together. On a 55mph straight road, you can out run you lights! the fogs help the lateral vision a tiny bit but they are not all that good either. GMC needs to address this or risk paying out on a big lawsuit over someone getting badly injured or worse.
I discovered only after buying this vehicle that the headlights are absolutely terrible, and clearly an immediate safety hazard. They are a "new" projector bulb style - single bulb with no independent high beam. The light is dim on both high and low beams, very narrow, and when the low beams are at the right height the high beams are up in the air. I thought at first they were just poorly adjusted, but the dealership was unable to improve the situation. They did not reveal to me that there have been numerous owner complaints about these lights, easily found by doing an internet search. There should be an immediate recall and fix on these lights. According to internet reports, the traditional two individual beam headlights on the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado are apparently fine.
While driving in town at 25 mph, almost hit a pedestrian who was crossing the road due to insufficient headlamps on the truck. This was ever with the fog lamps on which seem to put out more light then the headlights.. extremely dangerous... have to rely on the street lamps to see where we are going when driving in town.. disappointed to my wits end that the dealer tells me that there isn't any fix for this yet.
Of all the vehicles I have owned, this 2014 GMC has the worst headlights of them all.. $47,000 and basically a bic lighter on the front of the truck for lights.. while out driving on my way back from fort kent, with the truck on high beam I nearly hit a moose that I didn't see until I was right on it due to not having enough light down the road.. have to drive 40 not to outrun the headlights. Very very frustrating and the dealer tells us that GM knows about it but has no fix..
Headlights are too dim in 2014 GMC Sierra. To the point of dangerous to pedestrians and wildlife. The lights hinder the ability of drivers to see and avoid anything that may wonder into the vehicles path. By the time the headlight illuminate the object it'll be too late! "save some life", persuade General Motors to fix future vehicles and possibly recall existing ones.
The headlights on this truck are unsafe, they do not project enough light ahead for safe driving at night. One has to depend on the street lighting or stars. I have come close to hits others on the roads for the lack of projection of these lights. The truck becomes a hazard on the highway do to the slow speed one has to travel to stay within the headlights. Please address this with GMC before someone is hurt or killed.
Headlights are worthless. On low beam less than 95' of forward area lite up. At 55 mph, that gives you about a second for reaction time. Just a little better on high beam. Peripheral lighting is worse.
The headlights (both low and high beams) are ineffective and inadequate. The forward throw is bad, but the peripheral throw is even worse. There is essentially no peripheral light and this makes for very hazardous conditions when negotiating a dark curve. I am constantly checking to see if the headlights are operating - even when the 'icon' on the dashboard says they are 'on', it is impossible to know that they are working due to the dim output. I don't sse any similar complaints regarding the headlughts on the Chevrolet Silverado (same platform as GMC Sierra) - so I assume that GM can 'fix' this safety issue if they wanted to.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Waynesboro, VA, USA