2008 GMC Canyon problems
Owners have filed 68 complaints with NHTSA about the 2008 GMC Canyon. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 22% of complaints. After that come engine (21%) and brakes (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 68 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 72,000 miles 55 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 | 8 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 17 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 5 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 8 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 55 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 72,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 70,000 miles (12 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 88% 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 2008 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 14 model years of the GMC Canyon with enough data (19 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 GMC canyon. While driving approximately 70 MPH, the contact noticed a burning odor. The air conditioner was on speed 2 as smoke and plastic particles emitted into the interior of the vehicle. While switching to speed 1, there was no response. There was also no response for speed 3. The air conditioner functioned at speed 4, but was later turned off due to the failure. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence and parked due to the failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 GMC canyon. While attempting to park the vehicle, it gently touched the median and independently accelerated. The vehicle failed to stop until it crashed into the side of a building. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was not injured. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 34,000. The VIN was not available. Updated 1/12/16
This is a new 2008 extended cab 4x4 GMC canyon. The doors rattle all the because the rear doors are not mounted to the frame but only to the skin of the vehicle. This means there is constant flexing and vibrating between the two doors and the door frame. This vehicle has been to the dealer 4 times in the month I've owned it and they say "that's just the way it is". There is also an intermittent knock in the rt front of the vehicle that the dealer can't find.
The initial problem is that the vehicle ignition engages on its own while parked without the key being in the ignition. I would notice the radio playing on occasion. When I opened the door the bells sound like the key is in the ignition but it is not. On other occasions the battery would just be drained dead. I took it in to several different GMC dealer several times and each time I was told since they could not duplicate the problem there was nothing they could do.