2004 Chevrolet Suburban problems
NHTSA has received 265 complaints about the 2004 Chevrolet Suburban, and 27% of them involve electrical system. Next are brakes (19%) and engine (6%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 265 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 7
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 65,000 miles 211 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 | 33 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 21 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 33 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 32 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 28 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 15 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 15 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 10 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 5 |
| 200k+ miles | 7 |
What the data shows
Of the 211 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 65,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 58,000 miles (59 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 7 complaints mention a fire; 13 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 17th most-complained-about out of 35 model years of the Chevrolet Suburban with enough data (158 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 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.
Vehicle fire- started truck, turned on front and rear heater and defrosters. ~2-3min later, the truck was completely engulfed in flames and smoke. Caught a second car on fire and house on fire.
When the consumer was hit at 30 MPH, the side air bags did not deploy. There were minor injuries. The consumer had the vehicle towed. Please provide more information.
Update to complaint 10098773. Brakes failed to stop 2004 suburban during hard stop at under 40 MPH. Lost power assist and some steering capabilities. Felt like the rotors were defective. Brake pedel was firm but would not slow. Impact @ around 20MPH cause over $10,000 damage including a bent frame. I had a davis instruments carchip reader recording several metrics including speed. Car was new in august with less than 8,000 miles. I have all the carchip logs for this car from around the time I acquired it.
Terrible knocking in turning steering wheel--repaired under warranty--states shaft, intermediate replace-mileage was 35k now at 55k same problem only louder and wheel seems loose--called dealer--needs to replace shaft again for a cost of $300--I drive my grandchildren to school and take long trips--dealer said car is safe-I am about to make along trip and cannot get the car serviced until my return in a week--this is worrisome when I feel I could lose control of the car if something should break-why would a second…
Vehicle speedometer displays an incorrect reading on the dash panel gauge. While in park or stopped, the gauge will show anywhere from 20-30 miles per hour and while driving will erratically jump from speed to speed. RPM gauge is not working at all. Gas gauge, upon filling up, is slow to register to full.