2013 GMC Sierra problems
NHTSA has received 46 complaints about the 2013 GMC Sierra, and 15% of them involve air bags. Next are drivetrain & axles (11%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 46 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 7,000 miles 43 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 | 29 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 43 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 6,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 92% 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 2013 ranks 18th most-complained-about out of 26 model years of the GMC Sierra with enough data (44 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 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.
My husband was driving home in traffic when a woman driving the opposite direction decided to pass a vehicle. He swerved to avoid a head on collision which meant he had to go off of the road. When he attempted to get back on the road the truck shot across to the other side of the road. The dps officer told my husband he hit a culvert and flipped 5- 6 times. Witnesses had to pull him out of the truck and had mentioned there was a slight fire that they put out. During all of this none of the airbags deployed.
While driving in the mountains, I swerved to miss an animal, took the ditch, hit two trees, some boulders and the airbags did not deploy. I was traveling at about 47 MPH. The accident report showed damages to every part of the truck except the roof and tailgate. We had a grill guard installed at a GMC dealership upon purchase, and had it not been for that guard, the engine would have been in our laps. The truck sustained 20,000 dollars in damages, yet all GM had to say was that the airbags operated as designed.
Mice, rabbits etc. Chewed through wires because GMC puts peanut oil on their wires. GMC dealer said they would fix wires but the problem will persist because peanut oil is bait for these animals. This is a problem that was reported on a 2012 vehicle. This could cause fires etc and needs to be fixed. The vehicle wasn't running right, engine light was on and chewed wires were discovered. Were told by GMC dealer there is no permanent fix because they use peanut oil because its cheap!
Power steering gear box leaks oil out of front adjustment nut seal. After three replacement gear boxes it still continually leaks. The last attempted fix by a GMC dealer ended with power steering spraying all over everything under hood including exhaust which is a significant fire hazard. Also, when fluid level gets low steering is significantly hindered.