2009 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 42 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 63. What they were about is the unusual part: 21.4% of them mention illuminated, against 6.9% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 42 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 63 |
| Involving a crash | 3 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 16 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- illuminated — 21.4% of this year's complaints, against 6.9% across the model's other years (3.1×).
- engaged — 7.1% of this year's complaints, against 1.3% across the model's other years (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
WHILE DRIVING AT AN UNKNOWN SPEED, THE AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT REMAINED ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE [VIN] WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 89,000.
2009 GMC SIERRA. CONSUMER WRITES SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIRS RELATED TO TAKATA AIRBAG SAFETY RECALL. THE CONSUMER STATED THE AIRBAG LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALER STATED THE AIRBAG RECALL HAD ALREADY BEEN PERFOMED ON THE VEHICLE. THE CONSUMER PAID TO HAVE…
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.
- 21V053000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 18V267000 EQUIPMENT 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 2009 GMC Sierra 1500? What happened to yours?
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