all vehicles · every Sierra year · method

GMC Sierra 2008

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.23 per 1,000

better than this nameplate’s own median · from 38 complaints filed in the first three years, of 553 ever. 95% lower bound 0.15.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.23	38
2009	0.19	27
2010	0.13	16
2011	0.24	33
2012	0.16	25
2013	0.19	33
2014	1.33	264
2015	1.13	247
2016	0.41	92
2017	0.52	114
2018	0.48	106
2019	0.80	181
2020	0.58	141
2021	0.45	113
2022	0.73	178
2023	1.22	328

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Air Bags 331 complaints

takata	187	56%
takata recall	170	51%
confirms	110	33%
tool	110	33%
confirms parts	109	33%
tool confirms	109	33%

Unknown Or Other 57 complaints

airbag	31	54%
places	11	20%
cluster	10	18%

Electrical System 52 complaints

door	26	50%
lock	21	41%
door lock	16	31%
unlock	13	25%
locks	12	24%

When it breaks

18% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 69,000 miles, from 300 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

3 investigations covering this model year, 1 of which list a recall campaign.

NON-CRASH ENGINE COMPARTMENT FIRES

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10205681 · 10221007 · 10221026 · 10226298 · 10228306 · 10230525

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.