2016 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 47 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 426. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.4% of them mention diesel, against 0.1% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 2 of the GMC Sierra 1500, which began in 2014 and ran to 2018. 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 | 47 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 426 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Involving a fire | 1 |
| Recalls | 7 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
What the complaints were about
- diesel — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 0.1% across the other years of this generation (31.9×).
- local — 17% of this year's complaints, against 6.4% across the other years of this generation (2.6×).
- dealers — 6.4% of this year's complaints, against 1.2% across the other years of this generation (5.3×).
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.
What owners wrote
Catastrophic engine failure while traveling 40 mph. Dealership diagnosed as cylinder walls being scorched and rods blown through. No warning signs existed - just had a loud thud before the check engine light started flashing and grinding sound started coming f…
she had noticed the frame had rusted in two places. No warning lights were illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, who confirmed there were no open recalls. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V645000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 19V761000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 16V651000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V256000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 17V437000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V504000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V736000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the GMC Sierra 1500 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 2016 GMC Sierra 1500? What happened to yours?
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