2003 Chevrolet Silverado problems
Owners have filed 852 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Chevrolet Silverado. Brakes is the most reported problem area, at 33% of complaints. Next are electrical system (14%) and steering (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 852 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 49 and 19
- Injuries and deaths
- 30 and 5
- Typical mileage
- 39,000 miles 690 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 | 228 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 118 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 97 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 93 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 65 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 32 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 22 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 13 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 9 |
What the data shows
Of the 690 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 39,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 67,000 miles (252 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 49 complaints mention a crash; 19 complaints mention a fire; 30 injuries reported; 5 deaths reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 26 model years of the Chevrolet Silverado with enough data (575 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
This is the second of three fatal collisions investigated this year by my office involving chevrolet pickups that caught fire after being involved in frontal collisions. This was an off set head on, passenger side to passenger side. Passenger in pickup was pinned in vehicle due to crush and consumed by fire.
Dt:contact stated the braking system was defective. The pedal went down very far and was spongy. It took a long time for the truck to stop. The consumer stated pumping the pedal did not help. Contact bought vehicle new and was having this problem somewhat since he purchased it, but did not realize it was so bad until he drove other vehicles. This happens at any speed. The dealer said it was operating as designed. The consumer stated the ABS light came on.
Due to a sudden bursting of the brake lines, 3 of the 5 lines in the cluster below the drivers door, the master cylinder emptied out causing the truck to have no brakes. This happened when my daughter and her three children were driving in a busy washington, dc suburb. Thank god no one was hurt! Very dangerous! After inspection, the brake lines were corroded in several locations inside the plastic retainer clips that hold them to the frame.