2003 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 problems
NHTSA has received 60 complaints about the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 3500, and 42% of them involve brakes. After that come fuel system (12%) and electrical system (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 60 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 42% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 83,000 miles 59 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 | 17 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 59 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 83,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 85,000 miles (25 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a fire. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 87% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 15th most-complained-about out of 23 model years of the Chevrolet Silverado 3500 with enough data (24 complaints in that window).
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.
First complaint for this problem was reported on 10/21/10. Complaint #10361641. Same problem again dtr light on right side out,smelled burning wire saw that the same thing happened again. Wires leading to light assembly melted and also melted the socket again. I think this could possibly lead to some sort of electrical fire in the engine compartment. I fixed the problem myself the first time and will do so this time.
Paint peeling off fender and rocker area. I had paint peeling off the door but the dealership and the company representative saw fit to repair that but now it is called paint chips. The paint is flaking off the vehicle. Stone chips do not flake.
Brake lines are all rusted as are fuel lines, brake line developed leak after hard stop, pedal went to floor, repair shop is now replacing brake lines.
GM had a injector problem (recall ) in 2006. They replaced mine on sept,27 2006. On may 21 20013 I had the same problem in which GM conveys they can't fix it again. The mileage on may, 21 was 84362, just about how long the others lasted. I was told from my local GM dealer that they are several other owners with this same problem (thousands). I just waited to pass my grief along to let someone else know how you are treated by one of the companies that we bailed out with our monies.