Owners have filed 6,186 complaints on the Chevrolet Suburban, covering 1983–2024. The system named most often is Service Brakes (1,007 reports). Worst years by volume: 1994, 1999, 2001; cleanest: 1983, 1984, 1985. 483 reports describe a crash, 114 a fire, 12 a death. On average the car was 5.1 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Suburban
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 6,186 Suburban complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 1,007 Read
The brakes on this car have been replaced 8 times and each time was a premature wearing and most of the time covered under warranty. I paid $100.oo deductible I think 5 times. On 4/11/00 the dealership told me it was not a warranty covered item and so I had to pay for it. Then on 6/28/00 the new reason they gave me…
ABS brakes failed numerous times, once resulting in a collision and fire
The vehicle anti-lock brake system failed, causing an accident. Dealer said it was due to a defective anti- lock sensor
Air Bags 495 Read
The contact owned a 2022 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated while his wife was driving at approximately 30 MPH she crashed into another vehicle striking the driver's side door of the other vehicle, which then crashed into another vehicle in the rear having been redirected from the force of the impact. The vehicle…
Safety Defect Complaint Vehicle Equipment: - Anti-lock Brakes - Full Front Air Bag - Passive Disabling Anti-theft Device Introduction: I am the registered owner and primary driver of a 2021 Chevrolet Suburban. I am filing this safety complaint regarding a serious system malfunction that occurred during an accident in…
I was involved in a 40 mph frontal impact collision with another vehicle. The initial impact occurred on the driver side front corner of the vehicle. During the initial collision me head swung sideway striking the b post window area and knocked me unconscious for a short time. I then t-boned a truck and finally came…
Electrical System 444 Read
The 2022 Suburban lost all power and came to a dead stop in the travel lane of a busy major highway. The vehicle becoming disabled in the middle of flowing travel resulted in a rear end crash from a vehicle traveling approximately 60 MPH
The vehicle caught on fire in our garage The Vehicle had been parked outside than moved into the garage nothing smelled like smoke after it was parked other than the exhaust after I got out of my suburban I have a good idea what caused this but until its done being ispected I happened to look back and saw a flame in…
Vehicle was parked in driveway overnight. Owner heard horn going off at 3am and looked outside and saw a small fire on driver side front hood near tire area. Fire burned intensely throughout left side of engine compartment
Power Train 240 Read
The contact owned a 2008 chevrolet suburban. The contact stated while driving at 55 mph, the rear axle fractured. As a result, the brakes would not engage when the brakes were suppressed causing the contact to crash into a concrete barrier. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed.the contact sustained…
I had my 2004 chev suburban parked in my garage. My 8 years old daughter was in the back seat listening to the radio. I had the gear in park and the key in the accessory position so she could listen to the radio. From the back seat she reached up to turn off the radio and accidently hit the gear shift. The car went…
Consumer stated that his 2 yr old son was able to pull his vehicle out of park without stepping on the brakes. He stated that the child was in the vehicle and was apparently playing with the gear shifter. He then moved the shift level causing the vehicle to roll backward hitting a pole and bending his front passenger…
Engine 218 Read
I parked at my home, approximately 5 minutes after arriving home my grandson ran in yelling papa your car is on fire. The engine was on fire, shooting flames onto the windsheild. The cause of fire is unknown at this time
My car was hit on the side passenger back door in a parking lot while parked and nobody inside- had it look at by the chevrolet dealer- diagnosis is it needs a new engine??? Make this make sense??? Super disappointed with this car from the very beginning! Will never buy chevrolet again
The contact owns a 2002 chevrolet suburban. The contact smelled a smoke odor coming from the air conditioner and the vehicle caught fire on the passenger side. The contact extinguished the fire before the fire department arrived. There were no injuries and a fire report was not filed. The vehicle was not diagnosed.…
Fuel System 192 Read
Parked in a wet, muddy field, not running, my 2004 chevrolet suburban, caught fire and exploded
While my carwas just sitting at a light and the moment I tried to pull off the car stalled as if it was not receiving any gas. It putted and then it stop in the middle of the street. While the car behind me was clearly not paying any attention I was rear-ended. The dealership stated it was due to my fuel pump. I just…
The contact owns a 1999 chevrolet suburban. The contact, who is a mechanic, stated that the vehicle would crank, but not turn over. He removed the fuel tank and fuel pump assembly and noticed that the connection to the fuel assembly had melted. There was a NHTSA campaign id number 05V155000 (fuel system,…
Steering 178 Read
The contact owns a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 30 MPH, the steering wheel locked at an angle, and the message "Power Steering Not Active" was displayed, causing the vehicle to strike a curb. The steering column, control arm, radiator, fender, and wheel were…
I was hit on the head inside my 2002 suburban, wearing my seat belt at 48 mph by an oncoming mazda miata. My steering column collapsed, I went into oncoming 3 lanes of traffic, went up a curb, went through a brick retaining wall, and hit a telephone pole. My airbag did not deploy on any of the 3 impacts. Why? Also, my…
I had just pulled away from my home ( approximately going 5 mph) and my steering wheeled locked to the right and I side swiped 2 parked vehicles. I had both hands on the wheel, was seat belted, not on my cell phone nor was I texting...my full attention was on driving and I had no control over the steering for a few…
Engine And Engine Cooling 169 Read
I bought a new 2004 chevrolet suburban 1500 ls in early september 2005. One evening I went to a restaurant to eat, went inside and was seated. Maybe 5 minutes passed, could have been less. The owner began yelling that a vehicle in the lot was on fire. I looked out the window and saw what I thought was a car next to…
Upon turning the vehicle on, the air bag deployed. There was a fire in the engine. There were no injuries. Please provide any further information
The contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban. After having the oil changed at an independent repair shop, the contact began to smell a burning oil odor coming from the engine. The contact began to notice the vehicle was consuming oil excessively and would replace the oil approximately two to three times a week.…
Suburban 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Air Bags,structure,engine | 1 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags,seat Belts | — | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,engine | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 6 | 1 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 5 | 10 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | — | 3 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 6 | 4 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 11 | 9 | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 18 | 3 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 22 | 6 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 39 | 8 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 9 | 6 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 46 | 11 | |
| 1998 | Electrical System | 5 | 3 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 19 | 11 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 14 | 6 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 35 | 5 | |
| 1994 | Electrical System | 126 | 7 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | 70 | — | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 31 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 3 | 6 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 2 | 3 | |
| 1989 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | 1 | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1987 | Electrical System | — | 2 | |
| 1986 | Child Seat | — | — | |
| 1985 | Seats | 1 | — | |
| 1984 | Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 1 | — |
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 | 2,171 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.8 |
| Worst single series | 30 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.1 years |
A model average of 2.8 hides a worst series at 30. 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 Suburban?
By complaint volume, 1994, 1999, 2001 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 Suburban years are the cleanest?
1984, 1985, 1986 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Suburban have?
6,186 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1983–2024. Of those, 483 describe a crash and 114 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.