2004 Chevrolet Suburban 1500 problems
Owners have filed 220 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Chevrolet Suburban 1500. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 38% of complaints. Next are brakes (19%) and steering (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 220 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 38% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 85,000 miles 200 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 | 7 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 30 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 34 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 48 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 18 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 22 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 9 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 11 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 6 |
What the data shows
Of the 200 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 85,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 78,000 miles (73 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 81% 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 2004 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the Chevrolet Suburban 1500 with enough data (112 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500. While driving approximately 45 MPH, the contact fell asleep and crashed the vehicle into a tree. The frontal air bags failed to deploy. The driver received injuries to the face and neck. The insurance company stated that the vehicle was destroyed. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 190,000.
Tl* the contact owned a 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500. While driving 15 MPH, the vehicle accelerated independently and the contact lost control of the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle left the roadway, ran into a ditch, went airborne and flipped onto the passenger side. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under technical service bulletins: pit3598 (seat) for adjustment to the brake and accelerator pedals. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic.
I bought a new 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500 ls in early september 2005. One evening I went to a restaurant to eat, went inside and was seated. Maybe 5 minutes passed, could have been less. The owner began yelling that a vehicle in the lot was on fire. I looked out the window and saw what I thought was a car next to mine bellowing smoke. I ran outside to move my 2004 suburban away from the burning car and to my amazement discovered it was my suburban!
The speedometer regularly fails to work, usually reading an incorrect speed (checked against a handheld GPS device) and occasionally does not work at all.
At random you will just be driving down the road and a message comes on that says reduce engine power and the t/c light comes on along with the check engine light. This has happened several times, is very unsafe, and is getting worse. We have had work done to try and fix the problem but its still happening. We don't have tons of money to fix this, live in the country, and have 5 kids. This is our only transportation and we have a rather large loan on the thing and its turning into yard art.