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.
Driving home from dropping my daughter off at school. When slowing down at stop sign, car locked up brakes completely, almost went through stop sign, car shut down engine and placed vehicle in park. Diagnosis is a vacuum pump failure, causing reluctor wheel to spin freely from camshaft. This happened without warning at 70k miles. Diagnostic report from three weeks prior showed no bad diagnostics with engine or drivetrain components, or brake components. Had to have car towed from intersection where i was impeding traffic due to sudden failure. Garage is concerned regarding potential for debris and engine damage, as well as timing issues due to sudden failure of vacuum pump. GM has authorized vacuum pump recalls on other makes from prior years, not Terrain for some reason. This is how becoming highly reported failure among GMC/Chevy vehicles with shaft driven vacuum pump design between 2019-2022. GM has stopped using this design on 23 and newer models. They should absolutely recall these older models for this issue. Sudden vacuum pump failure can lead to unrepairable engine damage due to design.
My transmission keeps sticking when I shift into drive or reverse. Just a couple of days ago, it happened the worst it has ever done before. I shifted into reverse and my vehicle was completely stopped when I shifted. I began to let off of the brakes and gently push the accelerator to start moving back, my vehicle then punched itself into reverse. I felt after that incident, something had to have been damaged. I-??m almost afraid to drive my vehicle after that. When my vehicle punched itself into reverse, I was literally jolted towards the steering wheel and thankfully my seatbelt caught me. Incidents with the the shifting into drive or reverse have happened before, but never nearly as intense. About a year ago, I brought my vehicle in to my local GMC Dealership for a concern with my transmission shifting weirdly and holding itself in gear at an unnecessarily high RPM speed. The technician stated to me, -??with these 9-speeds, they tend to get confused at various speeds-??. I asked him to elaborate and he could not. These issues have now gotten worse. With my suspension, every turn I take, I get a kreaking sound from my front driver side wheel well. It sounds as if my tire if going to break off. I-??ve done visual inspections and nothing out of the ordinary is noticeable to the eye. My vehicle is a 2019 with less than 40,000 miles on it. I should not be having all of these issues. I-??m genuinely concerned for my safety.
My daughter was driving her 2019 GMC Terrain at 15 - 20mph when she suddenly lost her brakes. Fortunately she had just turned into a new housing development where the road ended into an empty field. This could have been catastrophic for her & other citizens on the road. The following morning she would have been heading to work on a highway with heavy traffic with a posted speed limit of 65mph. We towed the vehicle home & after some investigating I found a vacuum pump failure. This vacuum pump broke apart internally sending chunks & shards of metal into her valve train. This issue is mentioned several times in Terrain forums & someone needs to address this issue before it becomes a fatality.
First the car started jerking while drive over 50mph, next day driving down the street and the car shut off, stating loss of power. I replaced the battery, it was giving battery low codes, only to get a certified mechanic say the timing chain was out. Just purchased the car in March 2022.
- Duncanville, TX, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
My 2019 gmc terrain, vaccum pump failed at about 45000 miles, was driving on the highway and brakes were hard to stop, almost crashed. About 52000 miles, vacuum pump failed again, also while driving on the highway. Brakes were hard to stop, again almost causing me to crash. 69000 miles again vacuum pump failed while driving on the highway, again almost causing me to crash. All times pump was replaced under warranty and now this has caused my engine to fail. i was denied factory warranty, pre certified and extended warranty. Now im stuck with a car with with three years left to pay on
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the accelerator was depressed to overtake a vehicle; however, the vehicle hesitated, and RPM revved to 4,000 RPM. The vehicle then shifted into gear with a jerk, causing the vehicle to shake abnormally. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while accelerating from a stop. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle but was unable to retrieve a fault code. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but persistent. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
There are 3 recalls and one open on this car I was sold by a dealership, none of them ever fixed. I drive to work in the highway the car never had any warning light on but the RPMS would occasionally go up for no reason. I told the dealership the second day that it had issues, they took it and say they fixed the back brakes but did nothing about the engine or transmission whatsoever ever. This was the beginning of may and it was in the shop two weeks. I called my lender to even get out of the loan and a saleswoman even tried assisting me into talking her manager out of the loan because of all the issues. Fast foreword to august I had just gotten a new job and was driving in the night after hearing that ticking or slight knocking noise and I went to my job and as i tried to park the brakes went completely stiff on me! I could not get the car to slow down I had to weave through other cars and people in till it finally coasted to a stop. So I put it in park and immediately after the check engine light came on. I tried to start it and it would start, putter and turn off over and over. I had to end up calling OnStar to have a diagnosis which she said something like solenoid and something being clogged. So it was towed to my residence and before i could get it towed to s shop they lender came and repossessed it because I had missed payments due to losing my job unexpectedly, completely unexpectedly. I told the lender of the problem and the unfortunate troubles I was having to pay for the car but I had just landed a job and could start payment but she didn-??t care. She said she is going to tow it. I had my friends dad who is a licensed mechanic look at it before it was towed and he said the car was trash, basically a lemon that there was oil clogged and instead of passing through like it-??s supposed to do it being pushed the opposite way and ending up in other reservoirs it shouldn-??t be in. I obviously didn-??t do that type of damage oil and trans problems I was scammed
In July 2022 vacuum pump failed and created a hard brake situation going 55 mph downhill. Vehicle removed from roadway safely, transported and vacuum pump replaced. In May of 2023 vacuum pump again failed driving at around 25mph, vacuum pump failed catastrophically and blew up inside cam cover. Taken to garage via flatbed and reported car needed a new engine or alternatively we could try a new cam and vacuum pump with hopes pieces did not make it into engine. Now vehicle sits while I still owe money as I do not have 3-5000 to repair it. The fact that this is such a common issue and has happened frequently with other GM models is criminal. I feel as if GM should offer a buyback on affected models or reimburse customers for damages done. Vehicle is outside of warranty currently at 83k first vacuum pump failure occurred at around 70k.
When trying to accelerate, the car will not accelerate. It will start to jerk back and forth and I had cut it off completely in the middle of the road at a stop light.
My car automatic transmission is acting up when shifting from gear 5-6. It slips and it feels like the car is on Neutral for few seconds ( the engine RPM goes up to more than 4000 RPM)after it shifts to the 6th gear. When It shifts it feels like somebody hit us from the back. This is happening in internal roads, intermittently and on speed around 30mph. I'm worried this will cause the cars behind us to hit us when it happens. Everytime it occurs my baby starts crying. I'm concern about the safety of my family when we drive this car. I took the car to the dealership multiple times and they said that there's nothing wrong with the car.
I bought this car a couple of months ago. This problem didn't happen when I took it on a test drive from dealership. It happened after I bought it. Specifically when I start driving it more often. Sometimes a slipping occurs when shifting between gears 5-6. This happens intermittently on internal roads, not at high speed. When the car shifts the RPM goes up to 4000 RPM, sometimes even more, it feels like the car is in neutral for a few seconds, before it switches to the 6th gear. I have to remove my foot from the gas pedal to not let the RPM get very high. When this happens it feels like somebody hit us from the back. Last time my baby started crying when this happens. I'm a little concerned about our safety when we drive this car. The issue is that this problem is difficult to duplicate. Sometimes it happens more than once in 1 day and sometimes it doesn't happen for a while. I did some research online about similar cases with GM SUVs and some said that their problem was resolved after changing a defective valve Body and TCM and some said it's the clutch. It also can be transmission fluid but this car has a low mileage (28500) I doubt the transmission fluid need to be changed. Based on the GMC maintenance schedule, the transmission oil should be changed when this car reaches 45k. I took this car to the dealership multiple times, they check it and they tell me that they're unable to duplicate this issue. I'm not sure what else to do! I love this car. I'm disappointed that I had to deal with this issue that I believe is a safety hazard and could cause accidents. I need your help please!
The car failed to shift into gear. Message displayed, "transmission unable to shift","2 gears selected " or "service transmission". Issued started in June 2022 while in drive thru line, when shifting from park to move the car would not shift. Had to turn car off for about 10 minutes and car was able to shift and drive normal. Check engine light came on about a week later and had checked for code p07b5. A couple of days later, light went back off. About 3 days later getting ready to leave home and car would not shift into gear again but turn car off and back on a couple of times and car shifted and drove normal. On July 13 2022 was driving in traffic and message displayed, unable to shift and service transmission. When I changed lanes and released the gas petal, the car went into park, stopped, and set the parking brakes, but did not turn off, jerking me forward and throwing things around in the car. Cars behind me had to slam on brakes to keep from hitting me because there was no initial brake light. I put on the flashers and turned the car off. Parking brake was stuck so I pressed it about 5 times before it finally released. I restarted the car 3 times and it finally shifted and drove as normal. I called gm to inquiry about a recall and was told there were none. I called for a diagnostic test and schedule is in about 2 weeks. The car has not been inspected by anyone listed above?-??
The autoshutoff of the vehicle should be optional this vehicle goes on and off so many times and after it starts is acting up on braking and transmission deeler says no dtc all good but still doin
I received a "service brake assist" message which came on then off. Took the car to a local mechanic who looked it over and said to see dealer as they saw nothing obvious. internet search revealed that many people with terrain said this warning came on when battery was low. Made a service appt for NJ dealer for 12/6/21. on 12/3/21, began a 1200 mile drive from Florida to NJ, after 2 hours, check engine light came on. Took the exit ramp from I 75 and at end of ramp, there was a total braking failure. I had to press very hard to eventually stop. Shut off car, attempted to restart but it would not. Towed to a mechanic who found fluid leakage and a repair bulletin on GM site involving vacuum seal camshaft. #pip5598A diagnostic tip. Internet search reveals many anecdotal instances of same problem. On Monday, 12/6/21, I received an email from GMAC saying that the on board diagnostics had shown a "low battery" concern. The catastrophic loss of braking seems to be connected to a low battery situation. This needs to be looked into by NHTSA.
My 2019 GMC Terrain has 21K miles and noticed a oil or transmission leak this morning. I see recalls for other vehicles but none for mine. Linking from a bolt just as the other recall is for.
Transmission would rev up between 4th and 5th gear only in the on the first drive. After that it would shift normally. Went into dekalb GMC Illinois and was told it was some pistons and other parts. They had it for a week or two because of other trans jobs ahead on mine. Got car back and it was working fine for a month or so and then it started to shift bad again between the same two gears only longer gap between shifts this time. Took it back to the dealer and the tech ordered more parts to repair the trans and said I would possibly get it back on October 19th by end of day. Is this going to be an ongoing problem? if so what is the law about 3 or more repairs for the same problem. This is the second repair so far.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ontario, NY, USA