2020 GMC Sierra 1500
This year drew an ordinary 54 complaints for a GMC Sierra 1500 — the model's median is 63. What they were about is the unusual part: 20.4% of them mention towing, against 4.1% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 54 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 63 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 12 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 17.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- towing — 20.4% of this year's complaints, against 4.1% across the model's other years (4.9×). Owners wrote it as: towing, camper, fifth, december.
- sensor — 9.3% of this year's complaints, against 3.5% across the model's other years (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: sensor, undisclosed, driving undisclosed, undisclosed speed.
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
Engine Coolant Low error constantly appears. GM Service provider states that engine coolant level is fine, but sensor may be defective.
WHILE TOWING A FIFTH WHEEL CAMPER, THE EXHAUST WAS SO HOT IT MELTED THE CAMPER DIRECTLY BEHIND IT. WAS CAUGHT IN SIDE MIRROR BEFORE ANYTHING CAUGHT ON FIRE.
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…