Coscienzios

Model years to avoid

Chevrolet Suburban

What it says about you

Opinion

The longest-running nameplate in the country, bought because the alternatives were not big enough. Nine seats and a trailer.

Not measured, not from the data, and offered in fun. Everything below this is not.

18 model years on record, 1,719 complaints filed.

The years to look at closely: 2023 (restarted), 2022 (other), 2021 (fuel pump), 2009 (unlock), 2008 (locks), 2007 (handles), 2005 (speedometer). Everything else drew a normal number of complaints for this model.

What owners report, and when

Faults that dominated the complaints of more than one model year. Not the same question as which year to avoid — a car can have an ordinary number of complaints every year and have most of them be about the same thing.

  • oil 2021, 2022, 2023 peak 54.7% of that year's complaints
  • engine 2021, 2022, 2023 peak 54.4% of that year's complaints
  • dash 2007, 2008, 2009 peak 29.2% of that year's complaints
  • takata 2007, 2008 peak 30.3% of that year's complaints
  • warning lights 2022, 2023 peak 30.2% of that year's complaints

Every year

  1. 2026 0 recalls 10 complaints
  2. 2025 0 recalls 27 complaints
  3. 2024 1 recall 37 complaints
  4. 2023 restarted 114 complaints
  5. 2022 other 106 complaints
  6. 2021 fuel pump 184 complaints
  7. 2020 4 recalls 0 complaints
  8. 2019 3 recalls 0 complaints
  9. 2018 4 recalls 0 complaints
  10. 2017 5 recalls 0 complaints
  11. 2016 6 recalls 0 complaints
  12. 2015 11 recalls 0 complaints
  13. 2014 3 recalls 0 complaints
  14. 2009 unlock 161 complaints
  15. 2008 locks 314 complaints
  16. 2007 handles 481 complaints
  17. 2006 1 recall 56 complaints
  18. 2005 speedometer 229 complaints

What does a Chevrolet Suburban say about you?

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Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints — compared against itself rather than against other cars, so popularity and age do not decide the answer.