2003 GMC Yukon Denali problems
Owners have filed 97 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 GMC Yukon Denali. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 27% of complaints. Next are brakes (20%) and engine (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 97 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 97,000 miles 81 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 | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 5 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 6 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 8 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 15 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 13 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 8 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 5 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Of the 81 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 97,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 82,000 miles (19 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 1 injury reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 15 model years of the GMC Yukon Denali with enough data (35 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 GMC yukon denali. While the contact was driving approximately 30 MPH on wet road conditions; approaching a traffic stop light, the brake pedal traveled to the floor with pressure applied. The vehicle failed to slow down and crashed into a pole. The contact sustained injuries to the head and body. There was no mention of a police report filed for the incident. The insurance company did not investigate the failure.
My heated seats stopped working. When my truck was in the shop with my mechanic I asked if he could look and see what the issue is. When he took apart the seat the heating pad was burnt to a crisp. He called the GM dealer near by and asked what the issue could be and they said a short in the heating pad wire. This part obviously caught fire in my vehicle. I called GM corporate today and they said since the repair was not done at GM there is nothing they will do for me.
I came up on an accident that was already happening and had to slam on brakes. At that time my 2003 yukon denali did not stop in time and I hit another car going at least 45 miles an hour in the rear. My whole front end was smashed in and the passenger hit the dash but my airbags did not deploy and the onstar stopped working.
Randomly, the truck will go from driving completely normal to getting a message saying "reduced engine power" and then it cuts off power. This has happened 10 to 12 times, the last time it happened I could not drive more than approx 35 MPH even with the gas pedal floored. We have replaced the supposedly defective part(s) to no avail.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 GMC yukon denali. The contact stated that the traction control and the reduced engine power warning lights illuminated and caused the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the engine, which resumed normally. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 213,000.