GMC Terrain Complaints

3,167 consumer complaints on file.

#11638157January 23, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
I was slowing down to turn and I couldn't push my brake pedal down it completely locked up. If I wasn't already slowing down I would've hit a power pole and potentially lost my life. My ABS light never came on and it's still not on. After I got parked and shut my car off the check engine light came on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11637620January 22, 2025
ENGINE
There is a well known piston ring gasket issue with various GMC Terrain model years. GMC had recalled some for the engine defect but not all years with the affected engine. The 24L Eco tec engine is faulty. The motor uses excessive amounts of oil between oil changes and all kinds of systems are affected by carbon buildup. The engines run rough and stall out WHILE DRIVING. GMC refuses to recall all of the vehicles with this problem and that includes my 2015 model year GMC Terrain with the 24L engine. This would cost me thousands to fix myself. This is a serious issue and also a safety issue that they can get away with selling such faulty vehicles to families and no one makes them fess up and fix the engines at their expense not ours. My wife has had the vehicle stall out constantly while driving and with our partially disabled child in the car. It has happened countless times to me as well. This will also eventually cause the motor to have a much shorter life. There is also a chance of the timing chain breaking and causing the engine to break. These defects should be fixed via a recall. This is a WELL KNOWN MANUFACTURER DEFECT please look it up. It affects thousands of GMC Terrains and other GM vehicles with the 24L Ecotec motor.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11637691January 22, 2025
ENGINE
Engine failure at low mileage. 60,300 miles. Piston 1 failed. Broken rings. Needs full engine replacement. GM will not stand by their product and repair it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11636381January 16, 2025
ENGINE
I was driving my vehicle to the gym when I noticed it was driving weird, it would not accelerate like normal, was having a hard time getting going and was making a weird noise. I had just put some oil in the car because we had known for a little while that it had a problem with burning oil because of the make and model (as told by other mechanics previously), when I got to the gym I heard a pop noise and the car stalled on me, I eventually got it started up again after 2 hours of being stranded at the gym. The next day I had to drive 40 minutes away for nursing school Clincial where on the way home it was back to driving weird and making a loud horrible noise from the engine. I was only 5 minutes from home when it was really bad and once there I noticed the burning smell from the engine. When I checked the oil level after an hour and half of cooling down I could not get any oil reading on the dipstick, after adding almost 4 quarts there was still no reading on the dipstick. We finally drove the car to my mechanic (8 minutes away) and it was already back to making the loud noise, having trouble accelerating, and producing the foul odor. I was told the PCV was restricted and caused the engine to over pressurize and that lead to the Main Rear bursting and all the oil in my car being thrown over the entire underside and probably the roads. They also checked the oil filter in the car to see if the engine itself was salvageable, where they found metal flakes in the oil filter and deemed the engine failed and are saying the engine needs replaced in order to fix the car I’ve had for 15 months… I’m still paying this car off and I have only driven it for less than 17,000 miles. It is a 2016 GMC terrain that only has 91k miles, I truly hope GM makes this right seeing as so many have come with the same exact problem due to poor design and vehicle quality. My car has had regular oil changes and I check the oil every week because of the prior burning problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11636398January 16, 2025
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, SERVICE BRAKES
Driving home from dropping my daughter off at school. When slowing down at stop sign, car locked up brakes completely, almost went through stop sign, car shut down engine and placed vehicle in park. Diagnosis is a vacuum pump failure, causing reluctor wheel to spin freely from camshaft. This happened without warning at 70k miles. Diagnostic report from three weeks prior showed no bad diagnostics with engine or drivetrain components, or brake components. Had to have car towed from intersection where i was impeding traffic due to sudden failure. Garage is concerned regarding potential for debris and engine damage, as well as timing issues due to sudden failure of vacuum pump. GM has authorized vacuum pump recalls on other makes from prior years, not Terrain for some reason. This is how becoming highly reported failure among GMC/Chevy vehicles with shaft driven vacuum pump design between 2019-2022. GM has stopped using this design on 23 and newer models. They should absolutely recall these older models for this issue. Sudden vacuum pump failure can lead to unrepairable engine damage due to design.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635972January 14, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2020 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, while attempting to slow down, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the brake pedal felt abnormally stiff. In addition, the vehicle hesitated to come to a complete stop. The contact became aware that the driver's side and passenger’s side struts had failed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake vacuum pump needed to be replaced. The brake vacuum pump was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 17,361.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635979January 14, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
my vacuum pump went out. my brakes went out at 86k miles. very pour design.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635970January 14, 2025
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I purchased the car August 2024, I have had it for 4 months and while driving down the road a large fuel tank pops up stating low fuel and the car comes to an abrupt stop.The 3x the gas tank was never low. Parking brake comes on and car doesn't not move. All lights on dash come one. It has done it 4 times and thankful each time I was in a 30 mph zone. If I was going 55 I am sure the result would have been bad. The car last did it on December 29, 2024 and has been in the dealership for 3 weeks now and they cannot fix it. I told them 3 days into my purchase I wanted a full refund and they denied me. ?? I had that right I am still fighting with them to take it back because one of these times I am going to get in a bad accident. I don't feel safe in the car and I told them each time.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635285January 10, 2025
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2014 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that the oil reservoir was constantly needing to be refilled. The contact stated that he had to have the oil changed and added every 4 weeks. The contact stated that the check engine warning light had been illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the catalytic converter had failed due to engine oil deposits and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred, he saw the check engine warning light was illuminated and was again having to add oil due to excessive oil consumption. The vehicle was taken back to the same independent mechanic who advised that the catalytic converter was going to fail again due to oil deposits. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11635162January 9, 2025
ENGINE, SERVICE BRAKES
In September 2024 i was driving down the freeway and my car shuttered like the transmission was slipping. I then proceeded to get over into the right hand lane incase i needed to pull over thankfully, because then i lost use of my breaks, and then my ability to accelerate and steer. Then my car just shut off and would not stop. My vacuum pump just broke with no warning, it has been replaced and my car still won't start, it's going on 5 months now and they still can't figure out why.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11634605January 7, 2025
BACK OVER PREVENTION
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while reversing the vehicle, the display screen failed to display an image and was instead displaying a blue screen. The backover prevention system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 55,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633480January 1, 2025
POWER TRAIN
The engine in my 2020 GMC Terrain is consuming oil at an alarming rate, burning through a full supply within one hour of operation. This excessive oil consumption has repeatedly caused significant damage to the coils and spark plugs, rendering them ineffective within 24 hours. The issue has led to multiple cylinder misfires, poor vehicle performance, and a transmission stall, posing a serious safety risk while driving. The GMC mechanic at Jim Ellis Buick GMC diagnosed the problem as internal damage to the pistons, which they state requires a full engine replacement. They also confirmed an internal oil leak within the engine, which is contributing to bad emissions and further degrading vehicle performance. This defect not only compromises the reliability and safety of the vehicle but also raises significant environmental concerns due to the excessive oil burning and emissions. I am requesting a thorough investigation to address this issue and determine whether it is part of a broader manufacturing defect affecting similar vehicles.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633346December 31, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
Faulty Brake Vacuum Pump triggered my brake to get stuck while I was driving ended on the side of the express way to avoid traffic and prevent a crash.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633432December 31, 2024
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera displayed a blank image. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633244December 30, 2024
SEAT BELTS
Issues with the passenger side seatbelt not pulling to lock. It's jammed off and on. Doesn't work.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633068December 30, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, ENGINE
I got my car out of the shop a week ago for my brakes the car was in the shop for a month and this past weekend my car is doing the same exact thing a week later I was on I 75 also hit a semi truck
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11633081December 30, 2024
ENGINE, SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2018 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving 40-45 MPH, the vehicle started coasting and stopped unintendedly. The contact stated that the vehicle drove for a while and then coasted and stopped. The message that the “Engine Power Reduced” was displayed. The contact stated that the brake system warning light was also illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who determined that the camshaft had disintegrated into the engine. The mechanic informed the contact the vehicle was unrepairable. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632946December 29, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES
No warning, the brake pedal went stiff as a board. No brakes could not stop doing 35 on a residential road. Had to coast to a stop in neutral.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632952December 29, 2024
STRUCTURE:BODY
The strike plate on my rear driver door fell off. The plate and bolts are in perfect condition but the backing is gone. Multiple body shops have attempted to locate the backing, which is somewhere between the interior and exterior metal body pieces, and gave been unable to. Every body shop I've taken it to also says that they have never seen anything like this happen before. They are reluctant to fix it because that would mean cutting through the body to replace the backing for the strike plate then welding, sanding, and painting in the area they cut and they worry about the integrity of the striker and functionality of it as well, as they've never had to do a repair like this before. One of the body shops was also a certified GM repair shop at the dealership from which the car was purchased and even they have said the same as the others. They also encouraged me to report this to the NHTSA and GM as well because they've never seen it happen or heard of it happening and they are concerned because it is a safety issue. I know that there is a similar recall on some newer GMC Terrains and wonder if my issue would be related to the recall or if it's is a separate issue all together. The striker was barely touched and someone exited my back seat and fell off into a parking lot, I was able to recover the striker and both bolts which are completely undamaged and unworn. This is my only vehicle so I now have to hold my door shut with bungee cords and tape in order to use my vehicle. I have a child who is still in a car seat and must remain in the back seat for safety but now my backseat is also not very safe because of the door. A few days prior to the striker falling off my door would not close fully flush with the rest of the vehicle but still closed, locked, and remained closed with no other issues.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11632538December 26, 2024
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The brake system failed. No warning. When the brakes failed, driver ran the car into a tree to stop instead of hitting pedestrians or other vehicles
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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