2009 Chevrolet Avalanche problems
Owners have filed 96 complaints with NHTSA about the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 43% of complaints. Next are body & structure (8%) and cruise control (4%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 96 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 43% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 75,000 miles 61 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 22 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 13 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 61 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 75,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 76,000 miles (20 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2009 ranks 11th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the Chevrolet Avalanche with enough data (24 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Ipcw inprocarwear.com from california-USA. I purchased tail lights for my truck from this website, the lights started on fire and almost burned my truck down. I purchased a second set thinking the first where faulty and the second set also failed to work properly and have electrical arc marks inside. I am not the only complaint with this brand of lights on the internet.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet avalanche. While the contact was stopped with the vehicle in drive the vehicle suddenly accelerated without warning causing the contact to crash into a garage door. The acceleration could only be stopped by placing the vehicle into the park gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealership where the contact was informed that the failure could not be reproduced. There were no prior warnings and the current and failure mileages were 11000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet avalanche. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked on a slight incline when a loud bang was heard and the vehicle began to roll away, in reverse. The rear tail lights were illuminated as the vehicle rolled away before crashing into a body of water. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact's insurance company inspected the vehicle and determined that the failure was either contributed to the park pole or the teeth fracturing in the transmission. The VIN was not available.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet avalanche. The contact stated that while driving approximately 75 MPH the vehicle stalled, then automatically restarted independently. All of the warning lights in the vehicle illuminated after the failure and the door locks began erratically functioning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for approximately one month however, within that month they were unable to duplicate or diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was contacted and offered no assistance.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet avalanche. The contact stated that the dashboard was cracked. The vehicle was taken to cutter chevrolet (711 ala moana blvd, honolulu, hi 96813) where the contact was informed that the dashboard needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the failure was a common and that the dashboard would be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.