2012 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 197 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 426. What they were about is the unusual part: 12.7% of them mention dealer where, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the GMC Sierra 1500, which began in 2007 and ran to 2013. 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 | 197 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 426 |
| Involving a crash | 12 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 3 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
What the complaints were about
- dealer where — 12.7% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (3.8×). Owners wrote it as: dealer where, dealer confirmed, whenever, mileages.
- trucks — 13.7% of this year's complaints, against 5% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: trucks, over side, guardrail, tried turn.
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 VARIOUS SPEEDS, AN ABNORMAL SEWAGE ODOR EMITTED FROM THE AIR CONDITIONING UNIT. THE FAILURE RECURRED NUMEROUS TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE CABIN FILTER FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE W…
TAKATA RECALL - WE RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF THE RECALL BUT HAVE YET BEEN CONTACTED OR ABLE TO HAVE THE BAGS REPLACED. HEARING OF MULTIPLE DEATHS, IS MY CAR SAFE TO DRIVE?
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V267000 EQUIPMENT Fixed free of charge.
- 21V054000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 21V051000 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 2012 GMC Sierra 1500? What happened to yours?
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