2014 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 108 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 54. What they were about is the unusual part: 45.4% of them mention headlights, against 0.7% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 108 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 54 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 18.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- headlights — 45.4% of this year's complaints, against 0.7% across the model's other years (64.4×).
- dim — 33.3% of this year's complaints, against 6.2% across the model's other years (5.3×). Owners wrote it as: dim, sides, projector, very dim.
- lighting — 39.8% of this year's complaints, against 11.6% across the model's other years (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: lighting, little, many complaints, areas.
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
THE FRONT PROJECTOR HEADLAMPS DO NOT PUT OUT ENOUGH LIGHT TO SAFELY DRIVE ON UNLIT ROADS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. THERE IS ALSO LITTLE LIGHT PROJECTED TO THE SIDE MAKING TURNS UNLIT. I RECENTLY HAD A NEAR HIT WITH A PEDESTRIAN ON AN UNLIT STREET BECAUSE OF NO SIDE L…
THE ORIGINAL HEADLIGHTS ARE TOO DIM WHEN IN THE LOW BEAM STATE. HIGH BEAMS ARE SLIGHTLY BETTER. A BRIGHTER COLOR WOULD BE A GREAT IMPROVEMENT.
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.
- 18V267000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 16V651000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V414000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 16V209000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 17V437000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V245000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2014 GMC Sierra 1500? What happened to yours?
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