Owners have filed 900 complaints on the GMC Safari, covering 1986–2005. The system named most often is Service Brakes (242 reports). Worst years by volume: 1995, 1997, 1996; cleanest: 1986, 1988, 2005. 82 reports describe a crash, 18 a fire, 1 a death. On average the car was 4.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on GMC Safari
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 900 Safari complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 242 Read
The contact owns a 2003 gmc safari. The vehicle was parked and the contact smelled something burning. He lifted the hood and noticed the clamp that held the brake line was on fire. The contact extinguished the fire, and the vehicle was towed to his residence. He changed the brake line hose, and drove the vehicle for…
Vehicle had brake failure while going down an incline. Brake pedal went all the way to the floor but didn't hold. The vehicle was totaled. Consumer felt gm should replace the vehicle. *ak *cb
The contact owns a 2001 gmc safari. While driving 7 mph and when t depressing the brakes the ABS activated, and there was a buzzing noise. He was unable to stop the vehicle for approximately 20 feet. The ABS sensor was replaced. However, six months later the problem reccured. The failure mileage was 88,000 miles, and…
Visibility 100 Read
Poor connection of heater switch caused switch to overheat/start fire
Driver's side mirror has a vibration causing viewing distortion. *mr the drivers side mirror experienced severe vibrations which caused various degrees of distortion. This problem caused the consumer to have nausea, head aches, and body tension. Road conditions, weather/temperature, and the speed of the vehicle have…
The heater blower motor doesn't operate in high humidity unless I unplug and replug the connection at the motor under the hood. It is an 02 gmc safari cargo van with 48k mi
Suspension 86 Read
I was involved in an accident when yielding to oncoming traffic at night. The car who hit me was totaled. Also my headlights and tail lights r always shorting out. My dash lights don't work now
While driving low to high speeds experienced intermittent front suspension failures, vehicle wanders all over road, right to left, dlr's replaced steering gear box, tires and realigned vehicle six times, dlr can't correct, problem persists
No ABS brake performance, during normal braking in wet pavement at 25 mph. *ak no braking was experienced causing an accident, consumer feels failure was due to a worn wheel bearing
Steering 63 Read
There were two cases: first I was involved in a wreck with a car hitting me in the rear so hard that my back compartments wont open and now the air bag light is on and wont go off. Another case was as I was driving slowly to the laundry matt my power steering quit while my brakes went to the floor. It scared me to…
While driving vehicle at 60 mph vehicle went out of control. Driver was ejected from seat because the lap belt did not hold. Furthermore vehicle would pull to the right when going over 55 mph
Driver noticed that the steering system did not work properly. It took approximately four to five attempts to make a complete u-turn. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic claimed that it was normal
Electrical System 55 Read
Engine fire. Started by a faulty ignition module
2001 gmc safari van caught fire burned to ground after started. White smoke came from dash immediately after started
Vehical distroyed by electrical fire
Power Train 51 Read
Gmc safari van year 2000 jumping out gear while on cruise control, causing the car to go into neutral and spin off the road down an embankment and hit a pole
The battery cable line hanging over the the top of the transmission cooling line going into the intake/outtake maniford, which cut it in half. The transmission caught on fire.contacted the dealer
- the contact stated that while fueling the 1994 gmc safari (15 with the vehicle running the transmission switched gears from park to reverse,, resulting in striking the vehicle behind it. The contact reentered the vehicle, shifted the loose gear into drive and moved the vehicle forward to a parking space. The vehicle…
Engine And Engine Cooling 48 Read
Dampner failed, purchase van with this problem 3 months ago and still have not received the dampner part from gmc. *bf the vehicle was purchased with only 60 miles on it. During the test drive, prior to purchase, there was a harmonic roar noise vibration coming from the rear
The right front propeller shaft is defective on the vehicle, per the manufacture. You can feel the vibration of the engine as well as hear it. The manufacture will try to place more installation on, however they stated the defect is not reversible
Engine stalls as vehicle slows down. Intermittent problem as progressed by not restarting after it stalls. This will be the fifth time going in, and cannot be duplicated. Dealer was notified. Pleae provide more information
Structure 41 Read
2005 safari with defective frame**nar**cc the frame holding the a frame had rusted through, which allowed the bolt holding the a frame to cut its way through the frame and drop the lower a frame. The consumer stated the frame dropped while backing out of a parking spot
Consumer noticed when raining /or going through a car wash rear of vehicle would have standing water on floor. Also on the back panel, when you open door the light doesn't go on. The vehicle has been in the shop four times . *ak
Bumper fractured like glass when bumped by a vw leaving sharp edges and material dangerous to passersby. The temperatures were in the mid twenties and clearly within the design parameters of the component. Gm representatives hold that this is not a defect when the bumper not only failed to perform in a minimally…
Safari 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Steering | — | — | |
| 2004 | Fuel System, Gasoline,equipment | — | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 2 | 2 | |
| 2000 | Electrical System | 10 | — | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 3 | 1 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 8 | 2 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 19 | 2 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 10 | 2 | |
| 1993 | Electrical System | 4 | — | |
| 1992 | Child Seat | 3 | 1 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 4 | 2 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1988 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1986 | Seats | 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 | 492 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.8 |
| Worst single series | 13 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.4 years |
A model average of 1.8 hides a worst series at 13. 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 Safari?
By complaint volume, 1995, 1997, 1996 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 Safari years are the cleanest?
1986, 1988, 2005 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the GMC Safari have?
900 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1986–2005. Of those, 82 describe a crash and 18 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.