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Chevrolet · NHTSA safety record

2010 Chevrolet Suburban

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

117

Complaints

1

Crashes

1

Fires

1

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2010 Chevrolet Suburban have filed 117 safety complaints with NHTSA between January 2013 and March 2026. The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 52 of them (44%). The typical failure was reported at 90,000 miles, the median across the 74 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 3 recalls covering this vehicle. A further 1 defect investigation is open and unresolved.

Recalls (3)

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

21V054000 · February 5, 2021

The defect
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally GM is recalling certain 2011-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL and 2011-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AZ, AR, DE, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, PA, TN, VA, and WV or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010-2014 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL and 2010-2013 Cadillac Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MT, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI, and WY or "Zone C." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
The risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on May 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on January 24, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328800.

General Motors, LLC · up to 1,778,128 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

21V053000 · February 5, 2021

The defect
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming or "Zone C."
The risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 24, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328790.

General Motors, LLC · up to 692,526 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE

21V050000 · February 5, 2021

The defect
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 2500 and Sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2007-2008 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." These vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant. These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
The risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328760.

General Motors, LLC · up to 2,641,272 vehicles across all model years covered

Defect investigations (1)

An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.

Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture

EA21002

Still open engineering analysis · opened September 17, 2021

the air bags

From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited. The rapid burning can cause the inflator to rupture during deployment, potentially causing serious or even fatal injury to vehicle occupants. See 2016 Blomquist Report at www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/expert_report-hrblomquist.pdf.Consequently, all frontal inflators using propellant 2004 that do not contain a "desiccant" (a substance that traps and holds moisture) in US vehicles are under recall. These "non-desiccated" inflators either have been or are required to be replaced.In some cases, the remedy part for these recalled inflators was, or will be, an inflator using either propellant 2004 or 2004L that does contain a desiccant. None of these "desiccated" remedy parts (which were installed in older model year vehicles) are currently under recall for a degradation concern. Certain subsets of desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004 for use as original equipment, however, have been recalled for a degradation concern. All Takata inflators produced with propellant 2004L contain desiccant, and none of these desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L are under recall for a degradation concern. There have been no reported field ruptures in any non-recalled desiccated PSAN inflators.It is understood that desiccants fully saturate at some threshold, at which point any additional moisture will not be captured. This means the degradation process observed in non-desiccated inflators using propellant 2004 may also occur in non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004, assuming additional moisture enters the inflator and high temperature cycling occurs. Based on available information, desiccant saturation can occur within the first five years in the worst environments, and the time required for full saturation is affected by multiple factors. While no present safety risk has been identified, further work is needed to evaluate the future risk of non-recalled desiccated inflators using propellant 2004.Three entities -- Takata (now known as TK Global), the Independent Testing Coalition, and Exponent -- have been studying the long-term behavior of Takata desiccated PSAN inflators using propellant 2004L (as well as 2004) in the presence of moisture and temperature cycling. The research efforts, which include development of predictive modeling techniques and field sample analysis, are ongoing. To date, none of the researchers have identified field evidence showing that propellant 2004L is undergoing a degradation process that leads to aggressive deployment and potential rupture. However, the time in service of such inflators remains short compared to that of the inflators using propellant 2004. Further study is needed to assess the long-term safety of desiccated inflators using propellant 2004L.The Office of Defects Investigation is opening this investigation to examine whether a safety defect related to propellant degradation exists in non-recalled desiccated PSAN frontal inflators manufactured by Takata. This investigation will require extensive information on Takata production processes and surveys of inflators in the field. Lists of recall actions that may have used desiccated PSAN inflators as remedy parts, as well as the makes and models originally manufactured with them, is available with the downloadable version of this document (see nhtsa.gov/recalls?nhtsaId=EA21002 -- note this information is subject to change/revision as the investigation proceeds). This investigation does not supersede EA15-001, which remains open.

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 117.

AIR BAGS 52 44%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 46 39%
STRUCTURE 28 24%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 9 8%
ENGINE 6 5%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 3 3%
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 2 2%
SEAT BELTS 2 2%
SERVICE BRAKES 2 2%
STEERING 2 2%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 2%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 1%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2016 at 28.

2013 2016 2026
2013 to 2026, the last of them a part year

In owners' own words

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · 135,000 miles

TL* TAKATA RECALL. THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE AIR BAG WARNING INDICATOR REMAINED ILLUMINATED AND THE ELECTRONIC STARTER FAILED. IN ADDITION, WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN REVERSE, THE REAR ASSIST SENSOR FAILED. AS A RESULT, THE CONTACT CRASHED INTO A TREE. THE CONTACT SUSTAINED NECK INJURIES, BUT DID NOT REQUIRE MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS NOT FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 16V381000 (AIR BAGS); HOWEVER, THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. THE

NHTSA complaint 10957648, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

fire · 45,000 miles

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING IN INCLEMENT WEATHER AT 55 MPH, ALL OF THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS ILLUMINATED AND ACCELERATION POWER DECREASED AND THE VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO EXCEED 10 MPH. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT A BURNING ODOR WAS EMITTED AND THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTS ILLUMINATED BUT WAS UNSURE OF WHICH LIGHT SPECIFICALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS MOVED TO THE SHOULDER WHERE THE VEHICLE WAS SHUTDOWN AND RESTARTED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE THROTTLE SENSOR HAD FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF A MANUFACTURER'S RECALL PERTAINING TO A

NHTSA complaint 10491771, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:INSTRUMENT PANEL:SPEEDOMETER/ODOMETER

242,765 miles

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2010 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was restarted and driven; however, approximately one minute later, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was restarted and driven to a nearby parking lot. A certified mechanic arrived and inspected the vehicle. The mechanic diagnosed the vehicle with rod bearing failure, which caused damage to the engine. The vehicle was driven to the residence, and the contact was advised not to drive the vehicle to prevent a blown engine. The vehicle was not repaired. After the failure, it was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy.

NHTSA complaint 11726397, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

EXTERIOR LIGHTING
*From day one of purchase there is a random, frequent loud buzzing/whining through the speakers(with our without the radio on). Dealership had no idea how to fix and Chevrolet said there was no known issue, so no help. *The running lights constantly short out. We continually replace them and they short out again! *We have replaced all four door handles! Cheap chrome plastic is not going to hold up. These should actually be metal to insure holding up! *The tires seem too big since they rub the fender well if you cut sharply to either side. You can actually hear them rubbing on the well as you cut hard to either side! *The dash cracked about five years after we purchased it. We kept it under

NHTSA complaint 11569806, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
While driving down the road a large piece of the dash exploded violently projecting a sharp plastic piece of the dash, hitting driver in the face, narrowly missing the eyes, bouncing off and landing in the 2nd row seating area. Thankfully, there was no infant or child in those seats or they could have been injured. The temperature outside was 100+ in the summer in Texas. The cracking dash issue has been reported by us and by numerous other complainants many times previously. This is an ongoing problem that has clearly not been taken seriously by GM.

NHTSA complaint 11561177. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
Takata recall. The contact owns a 2010 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V054000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not available. The dealer was contacted, and an appointment was scheduled; however, the contact was notified that parts were not available for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

NHTSA complaint 11533269. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY
I took my vehicle to have to air bag repaired and it has a cracks all over the dashboard now. I contacted to representative and was informed this is a Hazzard of this vehicle. It is a known issue but it has not been addressed by the GMC company. How many people have to be injured or killed before it becomes and actual safety issue? Whose life is considered expendable? If it is a known issue and it has been, in good faith, brought to GMCs attention, why has it not been corrected?

NHTSA complaint 11459073. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My dash is completely cracked in several places, I believe it’s a 2 piece dash the section closest to the windshield and the other half has the vents passenger airbag. There is approximately a 1 inch gap between the 2 pieces as well as multiple cracks. Also the rear sensors on the bumper I had replaced one and the part cost me $20 or less. I am disabled and was able to have a friend get under the rear of the truck and change 1 sensor. There still was a code and I had nobody around that could help me and I was due for inspection and thought I may get failed if they see a code. With that I brought my vehicle to Schumacher Chevrolet in Livingston NJ. So they told me I had another bad sensor

NHTSA complaint 11446274, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Chevrolet Suburban

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2024 37 1
2023 114 3
2022 106 4
2021 184 12
2020 42 4
2019 76 3
2018 81 4
2017 141 5
2016 217 6
2015 428 11 2
2014 59 3
2013 118 4
2012 101 4
2011 148 3

Other 2010 Chevrolet models

Every Chevrolet on this site — 298 vehicles, 747 recall campaigns and 5 open investigation s.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. What each state asks for , read from the statutes.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst