Model years Chevrolet Suburban
2009 Chevrolet Suburban
Complaints about this year name unlock far more often than the other years of this generation — 9% of them, about 22× the usual rate of 0.4%.
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 | 161 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 27 |
| Involving a crash | 1 |
| Recalls | 5 |
What the complaints were about
- cracked — 28.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation (7.6×). Owners wrote it as: cracked, dashboard cracked, above, places.
- airbag — 28.6% of this year's complaints, against 7.1% across the other years of this generation (4×). Owners wrote it as: airbag, instrument, corner, passenger airbag.
- dash — 29.2% of this year's complaints, against 7.9% across the other years of this generation (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: dash, dash cracked, cracked dash, cracked around.
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
- above — 8% of complaints, 8× usual
- lock — 8% of complaints, 6× usual
- may — 11% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
VEHICLE CONTINUES TO HAVE RANDOM ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS AFTER ADDING NEW GROUNDS, NEW ALTERNATOR, NEW BATTERY, CHECKING CONTACTS. IT'S BEEN AT 4 REPAIR SHOPS INCLUDING A CHEVY DEALER AND CONTINUES TO HAVE PROBLEMS. DOORS CYCLE ON LOCK/UNLOCK, LIGHTS CYCLE DIMMING…
THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE DOOR FAILED TO UNLOCK. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE DOOR WOULD ONLY UNLOCK MANUALLY FROM THE INSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR A DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE [VIN] WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V052000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V053000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V050000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 09V154000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 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 2009 Chevrolet Suburban? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…