2020 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 443 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 331. What they were about is the unusual part: 6.8% of them mention cylinder, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 3 of the GMC Sierra 1500, which began in 2019. 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 | 443 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 331 |
| Involving a crash | 11 |
| Involving a fire | 5 |
| Recalls | 12 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
What the complaints were about
- cylinder — 6.8% of this year's complaints, against 1.9% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: cylinder, certified.
- window — 7% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.9×). Owners wrote it as: window, rear window, mold, leaks.
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
Rear window leak causing whole inside back to get soaked. Have paid hundreds of dollars to have sealed didn’t work. New window didn’t work it still leaks. It’s going to cause interior to mold and body to rust. Dealership and glass business both say it’s body i…
The rear window was leaking a substantial amount of water soaking the back seat. Had the service bulletin done, which did not work. Then under further inspection found cracks in the rear power window track. Dealer told me GM would not cover replacement because…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V115000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
- 19V888000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 20V792000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 20V684000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
- 20V446000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V814000 SEAT BELTS Fixed free of charge.
- 19V837000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 21V985000 TIRES Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 12. 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 2020 GMC Sierra 1500? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…