CSR

GMC · NHTSA safety record

2017 GMC Sierra 1500

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

351

Complaints

14

Crashes

4

Fires

7

Injuries

0

Deaths

Owners of the 2017 GMC Sierra 1500 have filed 351 safety complaints with NHTSA between January 2017 and July 2026. The most complained-about system is the power train, named in 116 of them (33%). The typical failure was reported at 38,968 miles, the median across the 137 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

NHTSA has issued 5 recalls covering this vehicle.

Recalls (5)

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:ANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP:WHEEL SPEED SENSOR/TONE RING

19V761000 · October 24, 2019

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Yukon, and 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles equipped with a 5.3-liter engine, a 3.08-ratio rear axle and four-wheel drive. If a wheel-speed sensor fails, while the vehicle is traveling between 41 and 60 mph in four-wheel or automatic mode, the Electronic-Brake Control Module (EBCM) software may activate the driveline-protection system.
The risk
Unintended activation of the driveline-protection system will cause unintended braking on the wheel on the opposite side of the failed sensor, causing the vehicle to pull to one side unexpectedly, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the EBCM, free of charge. The recall began December 11, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N192261050.

General Motors LLC · up to 652,967 vehicles across all model years covered

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:POWER ASSIST:VACUUM

19V645000 · September 6, 2019

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Cadillac Escalade, 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, 2015-2018 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon vehicles. The amount of vacuum created by the vacuum pump may decrease over time.
The risk
As the vacuum level drops, the brake assist decreases, increasing braking effort, extending the distance required to stop the vehicle, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Electronic Brake Control Module, free of charge. The recall began October 8, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N192268490.

General Motors LLC · up to 3,456,719 vehicles across all model years covered

CHILD SEAT:TETHER: CONNECTOR/CLIP

17V487000 · August 3, 2017

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and GMC Sierra 1500 trucks. The owner's manual for the affected vehicles may be missing instructions on how to use the tether anchorage and child restraint anchorage systems. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage Systems."
The risk
If the instructions are missing from the owner's manual, the child seat may be installed incorrectly and not be properly secured, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will provide a corrected insert for the owners manual, free of charge. The recall began on September 25, 2017. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-222-1020 (Chevrolet), or 1-800-462-8782 (GMC). GM's number for this recall is 17307.

General Motors LLC · up to 29,647 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

17V437000 · July 10, 2017

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Trax, Suburban and Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Yukon and Yukon XL vehicles, and 2015-2017 GMC Sierra HD 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16V-651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
The risk
A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on August 4, 2017. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17287.

General Motors LLC · up to 40,683 vehicles across all model years covered

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

16V651000 · September 8, 2016

The defect
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500, Trax, Caprice Police Pursuit Vehicle, GMC Sierra 1500, Buick Encore, and 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse, Chevrolet Spark EV and SS vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (SDM) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
The risk
A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
The remedy
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on October 13, 2016. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 16007.

General Motors LLC · up to 3,640,162 vehicles across all model years covered

What owners report

Complaints naming each system. One complaint can name several, so these add up to more than 351.

POWER TRAIN 116 33%
SERVICE BRAKES 100 28%
ENGINE 56 16%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 54 15%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 35 10%
STEERING 25 7%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 11 3%
VISIBILITY/WIPER 10 3%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 9 3%
STRUCTURE 8 2%
SUSPENSION 8 2%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 7 2%

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2022 at 57.

2017 2022 2026
2017 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

2 injured · crash · towed

I was hit broad side, by driver running red light. He was doing over 50 MPH I was hit left side forward of left door. My steering wheel airbag did not deploy fully. The crash caused only the steering wheel bag to deploy but it only came out maybe half way, it smoldered so bad I panicked seeing all the smoke and had to crawl out of my truck after kicking open the passenger door because the nose of the truck is racked to the right the passenger door would not open. Other car had full airbag deployed, all curtains and steering wheel

NHTSA complaint 11444983. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING

1 injured · 13,000 miles

ON AUGUST 24TH 2018 WHILE DRIVING MY NEW 2017 GMC SIERRA THRU WEST BRANCH MICHIGAN THE POWER STEERING FAILED AND COMPLETELY WENT OUT. I COULD BARELY GET THE VEHICLE OFF OF THE ROAD SAFELY. STEERING THE TRUCK WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. I CALLED THE GMC DEALER AND THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT PERSON SAID TO TURN OFF THE VEHICLE, WAIT A BIT AND RESTART THE TRUCK. I DID THIS AND EVERYTHING REENGAGED. A WHILE LATER DOWN THE ROAD IT HAPPENED AGAIN. POWER STEERING SHUT DOWN. THIS VEHICLE IS A REPLACEMENT VEHICLE WE CHOSE AFTER OUR NEW 2016 GMC SIERRA CONTINUED TO SHUT DOWN OVER 30 TIMES WITH ECM PROBLEMS WHILE DRIVING AT ALL SPEEDS. MY WIFE WAS TERRIFIED AND RELUCTANT TO EVER DRIVE THAT VEHICLE AFTER THAT.

NHTSA complaint 11129770, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS

1 injured

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 GMC SIERRA 1500. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE VEHICLE WOULD INTERMITTENTLY STALL AS THE INSTRUMENT PANEL WOULD DRAW BLANK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD RESUME TO NORMAL DRIVING WITHIN FIVE SECONDS OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT ALSO MENTIONED THAT HE HAD INJURED HIS LEFT WRIST WHILE TURNING THE STEERING WHEEL AS THE VEHICLE STALLED. LANDERS BUICK GMC(78 GOODMAN RD E, SOUTHAVEN, MS 38671) WAS MADE AWARE OF THE DEFECT BUT HAVE YET OFFER ANY ASSISTANCE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE CONTACT HAD LINKED THAT FAILURE TO THE FORWARD COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.

NHTSA complaint 11414942. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured

This complaint is about the automatic extending/retracting foot steps on my GMC Sierra. The step is supposed to extend outwards when the door is opened and retract back under the truck when the door is closed. Instead, when the door is opened the step extends and at random will retract back inwards. Aside from being annoying this is actually dangerous as the other day i was exiting my truck with one foot on the step and the other reaching down to the ground when the step started retracting. The foot on the step was pulled under the truck and got stuck in the step. This threw me off balance and the other foot hit the ground at an angle and twisted my ankle. I called a local gmc dealership

NHTSA complaint 11478294, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
When I accelerate the vehicle, the gears shifts every 10mph when it shouldn’t. It does it all the way up to 60mph. It has been an on going problem since we got the truck

NHTSA complaint 11753626. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

VISIBILITY/WIPER
Truck was started using auto start and I drove roughly a mile down the road smelt burning and looked in the back seat, I saw smoke and promptly pulled to the side of the road shut the vehicle off then I heard a loud pop and saw the back drivers side window shattered.

NHTSA complaint 11737629. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
I drive this vehicle on higher speed roads to work everyday. Roads also used by large tractor trailers and like larger vehicles. I was told by dealer that I had broken exhaust manifold studs at a previous oil change. While driving the truck it seemed to lose power for a short time but I was in traffic and assumed the loss of power at that time was related to a possible exhaust leak.I scheduled a appointment to have the repairs addressed. When I picked up the vehicle I was told that there was a ticking noise in the top of the motor. They stated it was the lifters and needed to be repaired for $7136 dollars. I researched the problem and found out how big of an issue this is specifically for

NHTSA complaint 11732205, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

towed · 99,700 miles

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal tapping sound coming from the vehicle. The check engine warning light and an unknown warning light were illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while traveling out of state. The dealer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was informed that the repair was not covered under recall. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with lifters failure. The contact was informed that the lifters and camshaft needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the lifter's failure had damaged the camshaft. The

NHTSA complaint 11728246, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The rear window on my 2017 GMC Sierra shattered unexpectedly without any impact. The vehicle had been remote started in very cold weather and the rear window glass suddenly shattered while the truck was parked. There was no rock strike or external damage that would explain the failure. I later learned about GM Customer Satisfaction Program N192265660 regarding rear window defroster thermal events affecting certain 2014–2019 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado trucks. Based on the sudden failure and the conditions at the time, this appears consistent with that issue. The Auto Rear Defog feature in the vehicle settings was turned off, however the truck had been started using the remote start

NHTSA complaint 11725091, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Rear glass window shattered due to the defroster getting too hot. Some smoke was noticed

NHTSA complaint 11723547. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the GMC Sierra 1500

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 77 2
2025 95 1
2024 328 1
2023 432 3
2022 545 6
2021 534 7
2020 444 12
2019 622 10
2018 296 7
2016 340 7
2015 713 9
2014 737 9 1
2013 115 3
2012 107 3
2011 284 5
2010 167 4

Other 2017 GMC models

Every GMC on this site — 144 vehicles, 425 recall campaigns and 3 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