Model years Chevrolet Suburban
2008 Chevrolet Suburban
Complaints about this year name locks far more often than the other years of this generation — 10% of them, about 9× the usual rate of 1%.
Generation 1 of the Chevrolet Suburban, which began in 2007 and ran to 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 314 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 27 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Recalls | 4 |
What the complaints were about
- takata — 30.3% of this year's complaints, against 4.4% across the other years of this generation (6.9×). Owners wrote it as: takata, takata recall, tool, confirms.
- airbag — 25.5% of this year's complaints, against 8.9% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: airbag, plastic, above, passenger airbag.
- dashboard — 25.5% of this year's complaints, against 9.4% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: dashboard, cracked, cracks, crack.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- lock — 9% of complaints, 6× usual
- warranty — 6% of complaints, 5× usual
- working — 7% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR QUIT WORKING COMPLETELY. THE PASSENGER SIDE FRONT DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR WORKS INTERMITTENTLY.
WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCKS WOULD UNLOCK INDEPENDENTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHNICIAN ADVISED HER THAT THE FAILURE MAY BE DUE TO THE LOCK ACTUATORS. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS CON…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V052000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V050000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 08V441000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 10V240000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Suburban was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Chevrolet Suburban? What happened to yours?
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