1994 GMC Sonoma problems
NHTSA has received 297 complaints about the 1994 GMC Sonoma, and 52% of them involve brakes. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (19%) and engine (5%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 297 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Brakes 52% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 23 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 11 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 115,000 miles 17 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 | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 17 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 115,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 23 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 11 injuries reported; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1994 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the GMC Sonoma with enough data (170 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.
While driving, on muld/snow/ice, experienced ABS failure, when anti-lock brakes release tire from stopping, resulting in rollover.
Battery leakage caused an underhood fire. Dealer notified, and repairs were being made at consumer's cost. Feel free toprovide further details.
While driving vehicle I tried to adjust pass. Side mirror,mirror would not move so since I live in michigan I figured mirror might be frozen.a few moments later I exited my vehicle and smelled smoke as I looked around to see what was burning I noticed smoke in my vehicle coming from the driver door panel.I managed to remove the cover from the switch and extinquished the flames.had I not noticed this my vehicle would have burned.I believe their may be a problem with the switches used in these vehicles and would…
My winshield wipers stop working and then start working again without warning. This is the same problem that the NHTSA had found and issued a recall for for a truck that is 1 yr younger than mine. GMC says its not their problem.
Driving my 1994 sonoma at approx 50 MPH on a highway when all of the sudden the gas pedal started to move away from the bottom of my foot and the vehicle began to accelerate on its own (as if the cruise control was taking over). I think that I then tapped the brake and the vehicle went back to normal speed, which was to decelerate as my foot was still off the gas pedal. I do not use cruise control, but cruise control switch was in the on position.