Model years Chevrolet Suburban
2005 Chevrolet Suburban
Complaints about this year name speedometer far more often than the model's other years — 34% of them, about 84× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 229 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 27 |
| Involving a crash | 7 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 7 |
What the complaints were about
- speedometer — 33.6% of this year's complaints, against 0.3% across the model's other years (105.6×).
- line — 14.8% of this year's complaints, against 2.1% across the model's other years (7.1×). Owners wrote it as: line, fluid, rusted, brake fluid.
- readings — 7% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the model's other years (34.9×). Owners wrote it as: readings, speedometer began, erroneously, speeding.
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
- speed — 18% of complaints, 14× usual
- other — 14% of complaints, 34× usual
- just — 11% of complaints, 27× usual
What owners wrote
Speedometer stops working intermittently. This is a safety hazard as the operator cannot tell the speed that the vehicle is operating. It seems to occur randomly.
THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE BEGAN "CATCHING," NOT MOVING SMOOTHLY. AFTER ABOUT 2 WEEKS IT WOULD NOT RESET TO 0 WHEN STOPPED THEN AFTER 1 MORE DAY IT QUIT REGISTERING COMPLETELY.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 05V103000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 06E043000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 05V055000 POWER TRAIN Fixed free of charge.
- 06V289000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 04V376000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
- 05V163000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 05V043000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
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 2005 Chevrolet Suburban? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…