1997 GMC Sierra problems
NHTSA has received 302 complaints about the 1997 GMC Sierra, and 25% of them involve brakes. Next are steering (21%) and wipers, windshield & visibility (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 302 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 79,000 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 | 2 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 9 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 15 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 59 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 79,000 miles. For brakes specifically, the median reported mileage is about 76,000 miles (15 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 4 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 83% 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 1997 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 26 model years of the GMC Sierra with enough data (174 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.
While driving 45 MPH consumer's vehicle crashed head on into a tree. Driver's side air bag did not deploy, however passenger's side air bag deployed. Driver sustained dislocated knuckles.
While driving 25-35-MPH over some bumps in the road, the driver's and passenger's airbags deployed, causing injuries to driver. Previously, the airbag light was coming on / off. Dealer said it was a problem with the airbag chip, and they would not deploy. But in this case, they did.
Front wheel speed sensors failed causing the brakes to lockup while driving down low grade resulting in the vehicle hitting a bank, turning on it's side and hitting a mail box. Nlm
Power steering goes out occasionally. This has been noted many times on the nhsta web site as well as other consumer compliant web sites explaining the same problem. There needs to be a recall on this vehicle series. The windshield wipers were intermittent.
Anti-lock brake system fails repeatedly. Upon applying brakes the brakes do not engage. The anti-lock system cycles repeatedly and unnecessarily, causing extended stopping distances. Narrowly averted accidents a number of times.