2005 GMC Yukon Denali XL problems
NHTSA has received 50 complaints about the 2005 GMC Yukon Denali XL, and 20% of them involve electrical system. Next are brakes (16%) and engine (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 50 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 20% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 85,000 miles 47 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 | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 10 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 12 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 47 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 85,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2005 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 11 model years of the GMC Yukon Denali XL with enough data (23 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.
Car: 2005 GM yukon denali occupants: father, driving; 16-year old son, passenger front; mother, left window seat middle row; 9-year-old daughter, lying on right and middle seats, of middle row. (daughter has cerebral palsy; unable to walk unassisted; wheelchair stowed in rear. ) both rear seat heaters on. Time: 9 a.m. 2/3/07 our family was almost 2 hours into a 3-hour trip, when I smelled an unusual odor.
Vehicle safety standard no. 102 concern transmission shift lever. The shift indicator in the instrument panel does not illuminate. When the shift lever position indicator does not illuminate, the driver does not know which gear the vehicle is in. D,r,n,p..ect.
Was driving about 30MPH and hit the brake pedal, the brake pedal went to the floor and we ran into a trailer. The brake lines were rusted so bad that they busted, and caused the brake fluid to leak out. The estimate to repair the brake lines alone is $2800.
While driving on the highway with my cruise control set between 50-70MPH, I began noticing my speedometer beginning to jump between 0-120MPH causing the limiter to kick in and me losing the ability to control speed. Keep in mind I'm only going between 50-70MPH. This later began occurring without the cruise control on. Shortly after this began happening another problem started.
While driving I noticed that the speedometer needle was erratic going from zero to 120 MPH. When I stopped the needle was stuck at 30 MPH. At the same time the gear shift indicator light went from dull to non existent preventing me from knowing what gear I was in. This was happening sporadically but now the speedometer needle is always on zero and the gear shift indicator is never lit.