Owners have filed 6,315 complaints on the Chevrolet Blazer, covering 1981–2026. The system named most often is Service Brakes (766 reports). Worst years by volume: 1995, 1996, 1997; cleanest: 1981, 2026, 1983. 671 reports describe a crash, 128 a fire, 27 a death. On average the car was 4.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Blazer
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 6,315 Blazer complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 766 Read
On friday october 20, 2006. My son and 3 friends were leaving a friends house. When my son applied his brake to slow, the brakes failed. When they failed the engine revved completely up, throttled out and shut down the vehicle. He of course had no brakes, but now no steering, and the engine was off. Not having any…
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH and depressing the brake pedal to reduce speed, the vehicle failed to respond as intended and crashed into the rear end of a second vehicle at approximately 5 MPH. Moments later, a third vehicle crashed into the…
While driving my 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV, the vehicle suffered a sudden, complete failure of the power braking assist system. The failure was accompanied by a rapid cascade of three sequential dashboard warning messages in immediate succession: First Warning: "Service ESC" illuminated alongside the "Brake Park"…
Power Train 417 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Blazer. The contact stated that upon driving into a parking space and placing the vehicle into park(P), the vehicle independently accelerated into a building. The air bags deployed upon impact. The contact was treated at the scene by paramedics for minor scrapes and bruises. A police…
2003 chevy blazer transfer case control module problem causing it to have trouble shifting the transmission. *ts ***no answer required*** after the repairs were made, the next day, the consumer experienced transmission problems again. The consumer had problems shifting to and out of 4 low, and it would not go into 4…
On this occasion we had a heavy snow that day and as I was driving on the road I switched to 4 wheel drive. As I turned the corner, thinking I was in 4 wheel drive my car went out of control when it hit ice and I hit boulders and landed on a tree. Earlier when we purchased the car we noticed a light kept coming on…
Suspension 362 Read
While driving, vehicle veers to the left, as if out of alignment. Upon putting foot on brakes to slow down, vehicle did not stop. Consumer had an accident, there were two injuries. *ak consumer states rear axle seal is leaky, when stopping vehicle or slowing, the brake pedal gives way, air bag failed
The Esc display came up then sutbality sensor show and my back wheel went right. My car flipped twice and then landed on the guardrail
Driving on straight road going speed limit. Heard a pop behind me like a tire pop. Car fish tailed uncontrollably and ended up crashing into a Ranch Fence on the right side of the road. 2 of my kids and myself had injuries. When we got off the vehicle witnesses and I saw A rear link broken which keeps the tires…
Visibility 355 Read
- the contact's vehicle caught on fire while parked. She stated that this was the second time that she has had a fire in the truck. The contact stated that itwas the driver's side mirror motor that caught on fire again. She will have a police and fire report to state the cause of the fire
The contact owns a 1996 chevrolet blazer. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when the interior caught on fire. The fire department came and extinguished the fire. The fire department informed the contact that the origin of the fire was from the heater. Three weeks prior to the fire, the vehicle had regular…
While driving at normal speed driver closed the driver's side electrical window and started to smell wires burning inside the cab of the vehicle. Driver saw flames coming out of the rear driver's side door panel. Driver exited car and called the fire department
Electrical System 332 Read
On June 1 I parked my blazer in the driveway and went into the house and came back out to my car in flames. I have had lots of electrical issues with the vehicle had it in the dealer to be repaired and reset several times. It was never fixed and now it has gone up in flames
I was returning from las vegas on a ruff paved desert hwy in my 2005 5 speed 2 door chevy blazer when I notice a slight smell of electrical smoke. I turned on the dome light and notice the turning signal switch arm bouncing a lot with some smoke coming out there at the column ! I slowed from 65 to 40 with my flashers…
The contact owns a 2004 chevrolet blazer. While driving 60 mph the vehicle automatically brakes abruptly. This failure occurred seven times. The mechanic stated that the fuel could be the cause of the failure. Another failure was what the mechanics called surging. She stated that the vehicle automatically surged with…
Engine And Engine Cooling 260 Read
Defect in engine oil cooling lines-crimping on end of hose, malfunctioning causing oil leak
The vehicle stalled and then caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. Please provide further details
Engine fire
Steering 211 Read
Driver lost control of vehicle, ran into a house, ejecting driver from vehicle. A small fire started in the engine, someone tried to extinguish the fire, but it kept burning , causing damage to house and totaling vehicle. Fuel pump did not shut down. Seatbelt may have failed; there was a recall to replace belts…
The contact owned a 2021 Chevrolet Blazer. The contact stated while driving 69-70 MPH, the steering wheel strongly pulled to the left side and into the roadway median. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle hit the median and bounced, facing incoming traffic. The contact slammed on…
While turning left at 5 mph, the steering wheel locked up, as result the consumer hit a light pole, the vehicle was totaled. *jb
Exterior Lighting 204 Read
Rear brake lights & third light were staying on intermit. White smoke is now coming from steering wheel after the brake light switch was replaced today. This switch should have been to the subject prior recall of blazer brake light and multi function break light switches. According to the repair shop, the old break…
(1) we own a 2001 blazer. In the past our vehicle has been rear ended twice, my wife suffered a neck injury in the 1st accident. The 2nd accident just happened about a month or so ago. (2) 2-19-2005 I was following my wife home ,after having my other vehicle serviced,and noticed the stop lamps were not working. I got…
While vehicle was parked and consumer was taking the key from the ignition switch steering wheel caught on fire, independent mechanic determined that hazard warning switch melted, and caused the fire. Also, turn signal and brake lights were inoperative
Blazer years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Forward Collision Avoidance | — | — | |
| 2025 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | Electrical System | 3 | — | |
| 2022 | Back Over Prevention | 2 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | — | 1 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 9 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 12 | 6 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 27 | 3 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 34 | 4 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 28 | 7 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 30 | 13 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 48 | 17 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 123 | 24 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 110 | 15 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 77 | 5 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | 63 | 7 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 38 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Air Bags | 27 | 6 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 3 | 5 | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 7 | 2 | |
| 1988 | Electrical System | — | 4 | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1986 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1985 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | 1 | |
| 1984 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 3 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,728 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.7 |
| Worst single series | 59 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.1 years |
A model average of 3.7 hides a worst series at 59. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Blazer?
By complaint volume, 1995, 1996, 1997 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Blazer years are the cleanest?
2026, 1984, 1986 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Blazer have?
6,315 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1981–2026. Of those, 671 describe a crash and 128 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.