2008 GMC Sierra problems
NHTSA has received 84 complaints about the 2008 GMC Sierra, and 36% of them involve air bags. Next are electrical system (18%) and body & structure (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 84 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 36% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 69,000 miles 66 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 | 3 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 13 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 10 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 21 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 8 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 66 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 69,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 69,000 miles (21 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 3 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2008 ranks 19th most-complained-about out of 26 model years of the GMC Sierra with enough data (39 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 sierra. While driving approximately 25 MPH on normal road conditions the contact became unconscious and crashed into a utility pole. The police and ambulance arrived and the driver was transported to the hospital. The contact sustained minor injuries and a police report was filed. The air bag system failed to deploy with the massive level of impact. The vehicle was completely destroyed. The contact has concerns of the safety risk involved.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 GMC sierra. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, she lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. Upon impact, the air bag did not deploy contributing to the injury of the contact. The vehicle was destroyed. The failure and current mileages were 69,000.
On october 15, 2013, approx 7:45 am, single occupant, was entering the exit ramp from freeway when truck crashed and rolled twice. The air bags did not deploy. Truck was completely totaled. Occupant required medical transport to hospital and was kept for a week for testing and treatment for injuries. County sheriff attended to crash site and submitted traffic report. With all the recent recalls of GM products - like in other crashes, the air bags did not deploy. Ignition.
We have had three of the power locks go out - first was front passenger, which was under warranty and covered free of charge, so was the second - the front drivers side. But, the rear passenger side went out a year later and now they will not cover it under warranty. My concern is that, having small children, I have had them locked inside the vehicle and the unlock doesn't work, so I have to climb through to access the door lock. In an event of an emergency, where time is of essence - this is a severe issue.
Warning light came on about air bag, took to GMC dealer as GMC had no recall on this warning GMC dealer ran test determined the passenger air bag sensor had corroded and I had to replace it and it was not cov by warranty, so pd 317.00 to have replaced. Something this important in the vehicle should have been recalled and sensor moved to other location as it was corroded from weather?