general problems of the 2013 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 - part 1

The frame is completely rusted my mechanic said it is paper thin and is in danger of falling gm is not offering to fix this even though it is a TSB it is very dangerous to drive.

Frame rust through.

The frame on my truck will not pass inspection do to the frame being unsafe to operate. Gm knows about their failing frames but won’t acknowledge. Like decorating my frame will repair the the missing metal on my frame.

2013 silverado lt 100k miles can't inspect due to frame rot state doesn't allow frame repairing keeps saying to repair the frame. I'm in a northern state with a failed frame costing. I just purchased this vehicle for 11,500 it's worth 15k until the company's negligence to fix the frame issues. Frame swap is upwards of 10k. If the frames were properly coated they wouldn't rot. Also warranty states if you use aftermarket undercoating the warranty is void. I haul a trailer for a living to have a truck with frame rot is unsafe but I have no options. Gpm needs to starts fixing this I've seen 2018s in the junk yard for this reason.

Just bought this truck 6 months ago and found out frame is rotted out. After further research it seems this is a very common issue and may be alot of these trucks on the road with people also not knowing this issue. 100% safety issue!.

Frame rusted just about in to !!!!!.

The frame needs to be fixed because when the truck was built it is something with the metal.

Truck failed inspection due to cracked frame and excessive rust.

My dashboard is cracking and I am concerned that it may be dangerous during a collision if the the airbag deploys and creates a shrapnel situation.

The frame on my vehicle is cracked and rotted through. It failed an inspection on 12/01/2023 at memorial highway Chevrolet 1 chevy dr, winder,PA 15963 tel. No. 814-467-2220. The service tech told me the frames on this model traps water. I was referred to another garage for a possible repair. This truck is ten years old with 120k miles on it. It has always been service at a chevy dealership. I am filing this complaint because gm refuses to do anything about a problem they caused. If this vehicle or others like are involved in collisions this defect can cause serious injury or death. How many vehicles are on the highways operating in this condition? how many are running around in states where they do not conduct safety inspections? please help!.

Frame is extremely rusted. Integrity of the frame is compromised making vehicle unsafe to drive. Vehicle is available for inspection. If the frame breaks, I and others involved in the possible resulting crash would be injured and/or killed. The independent service center inspected the frame and confirmed the damage due to the manufacturing defect. The vehicle was inspected by the dealer that sold me the vehicle: mark wahlberg Chevrolet, 833-699-0792, 3900 west broad street, columbus, OH 43228, before they sold it to me and they claimed it passed their thorough inspection. I purchased the truck on 6/28/21, 28 months ago, and have driven it 7,044 miles. The truck has been driven 92,971 total miles. The frame should not be rusted to the extent it is now and should not have passed the dealer inspection until it was repaired. The rusted frame is the warning prior to the failure and the rust first appeared years ago on this truck and on many other Chevrolet and gm trucks. General motors and mark wahlberg Chevrolet likely know about this frame defect and should be made responsible to fix it or refund the $20,000 I paid for the truck or other agreed upon compensation.

My 2013 chevy silverado's frame is rotten and cracked on both sides to the point where it may be unrepairable. I originally pulled the bed and dropped the fuel tank due to a broken cross member. That is when I found that all three cross members under the bed were completely rotten out and both the main frame rails were cracked. The driver side has a crack over 6 feet long and has began rotting at the crack. The passenger has a crack about 3 foot long. It is clear that the crack on the driver side has been there for years while the dealership continued to inspect the truck. I have driven this truck over 20,000 miles from coast to coast this year and the body is rot free. This broken frame could have caused a catastrophic accident had it let loose on the interstate. I have done my research and found hundreds, possibly thousands of individuals on different forums and other websites that have similar experiences. And in fact was told by a salesperson at the local dealership that they continue to see these same issues in the 2019 and even 2020 models. This is horrible, Chevrolet knows they have a problem and has not taken any recourse to fix the problem. My truck is currently sitting in my driveway with the bed and gas tank removed and the frame is able to be easily inspected.

Frame severely rusted through at back of cab by gas tank. Dangerous life threatening if frame would break. On 98,000 miles on vehicle. Was taken to same dealer for all oil changes and repairs and was just told of this issue. Very upset as we have been chev owners for almost 50 years!.

Rear drivers side frame near gas tank and rear cross member both rusted through. -- now it fails inspection without major repair--has under 95,000 miles on it.

I purchased this vehicle and a few days later found out the frame has practically rusted / rotted and will have to be repaired.

108k miles and complete frame rusted to the point of not being road safe.

Frame is rusted with holes will require expensive repairs to ensure it’s safe to drive .

The frame on my truck rusted through. 52519 miles. There is no rust anywhere else on the truck. The frame could break causing an accident. Frame has been inspected by 2 different body shops. My frame has been repaired by a qualified repair shop. Needed to be replaced but was told by gm there are no new frames for this truck. Could not find a good used one either. My rusty frame was discovered by a technician at discount tire when having a tire rotation. As of [xxx] I had no idea the frame was rusted through. Found out after my truck was being repaired that there was a bulletin on it. I have also found out there are many gm vehicles with this problem. Bulletin #[xxx]. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Stabiltrack system, traction control system, reduced engine power. Since purchase of the vehicle, intermittent immediate failure or previously stated vehicle systems caused critical safety concerns for occupants and other drivers while operating. Vehicle looses power enters safety "limp mode" due to faulty engineering. Upon inspection by state police and fire/ems, owners urged to contact vehicle manufacturer and NHTSA to report issue. Failure of system first happened around 140k miles on odometer. No safety or warning lamps were present prior to stated malfunction of vehicle. Malfunction appears now daily causing impaired drivability and serious safety concerns for occupants and fellow drivers. Messages on dashboard state the following. "service stabiltrack, service traction control, reduced engine power". No certain cause or remedy from manufacturer.

The frame is rotted and will not pass inspection truck has roughly 47800 miles undercoating for 8 years. This is a known problem due to a manufacturer issue of the frame. Vehicle should have been recalled by gm due to them knowing of this existing issue or owners should be compensates.

In June 2023 I was doing some minor work and inspection on my 2013 silverado, while under the truck looking for possible issues before taking a trip to colorado I noticed the frame had a hole in it, after further inspection of the complete frame and undercarriage I found holes all throughout the frame and also cracks in 2 locations. The truck had 85k, the body is solid, and in great condition, kept in a heated garage. In June I went to a Chevrolet dealer to have an air bag recall repair done, at that time the mechanic did a complete inspection of the undercarriage and never mentioned the safety issue with the rusting frame. I decided to go back to the dealer to question a possible frame recall, in my discussion with 3 service writers they assured me there was no recalls or safety bulletins regarding this. Being highly upset about the frame I started looking for possible issues on the frame. I found hundreds of complaints regarding rusting frames and safety incidents, and a service bulletin that came out in 2014 which has been revised to cover up to 2019 silverados. This bulletin stated the wax protection to prevent the frame from rusting was pealing off and should be repaired, the dealers were cleaning and sealing the rust locations as the bulletin stated. My complaint is, I never received a notice of the bulletin from gm. If I did I could have tried to take precautions to help prevent the rust from spreading. The chevy dealership said there was never any frame bulletin or recall. Now my truck is not reliable and definitely not safe! the body and mechanical parts are in great shape. It’s unbelievable that a $40,000 vehicle is unsafe to drive, 10 years old, 85k miles and now worth nothing due to the bad frame. Not sure, but if you have read some of these experiences with other owners, I think you would not want any of these on the road. Gm should be held accountable for knowing the frames are failing do to a sealer that wouldn’t stay on the frames.

2013 chevy silverado undercoated every year since new. . (2 owners). . . And the frame is rotted. This is disgusting!!! there is a technical service bulletin for frame rust/ rot but not a full recall. Rotted frames are a safety concern!!!! you need to make gm fix this problem with a full recall!!!!!!!!!!.

Frame rusted will not pass state inspection. As per my mechanic and state inspection garage truck will not pass upcoming inspection because frame is rusted with holes a danger.

Rust under the rear wheel wells.

My truck frame has rusted completely through. I have holes in my truck frame. I also have my rear shocks have broke free from my frame. I went back to the dealer the first week I had the truck to have my bed liner installed. At this time I pointed the rust and undercoating that was falling off. The told me they would take care of the problem. I assumed they would, my mistake. I had to go back 2 other times for warranty work on my drive train. Both times I complained about the rust. Each time I returned it was getting exponentially worse. Both times they told me Chevrolet would do nothing about it. That the rust was "normal" now I have a truck that is not even 10 years old with my frame falling apart.

10s of thousands of these vehicles have the frame rotted thru and crack in the same location. It is unheard of that a frame would rot long before the body panels of the vehicle creating a nationwide road hazard.

I bought a 2013 silverado truck with 30,000 miles. I paid $30,000. A year and half later the engine blew. It was 3 months after warranty and I had to pay $8000 to replace. 2 yrs later I heard a very disturbing noise. Mechanic assess and said frame is rusted through. Tubing, gas tank following off. Suspension so rusted it was a miracle it didn’t just fall apart. I again bring it to chevy (now a 3rd owner in 5yrs) and they tell me they will give me $1000. I still own almost $6000 on the loan due to the engine. There are major issues with this truck. The wax coating they used and poor steel excelled the rust at a rapid pace. If you recoated this with rust resistive spray it would void all warranties. I am now 5 years in with a blown engine and rusted through frame. Chevy has no other solution except to add my balance of that truck into a new loan and buy another. They knew this issue and had multiple opportunities to fix and /or notify. The engine also has class action in a few states because if faulty oil consumption doing damage and blowing engines. There should be some major recalls. I see hundreds upon hundred of people complaining of the same thing. Now I’m out a truck with no value. Cannot work etc. Very financially devastating. Gm is incredibly dishonest and knowingly selling defective trucks.

The frame of this vehicle is unsafely rusted out, this vehicle has low miles and frame should not have rusted out like it has.

Frame is rusting clear through supports.

Major cracks in the dashboard even though a window shade is used to protect the dashboard.

The parking pin in my parking shifter broke I had no idea that it did, lucky me I was in a parking lot but my truck just started rolling found out it was a pin that keeps it park broke.

My 2013 Chevrolet silverado frame broke when I was driving it down my road with my small kids in tow. When I got home and inspected I noticed my spare tire was not secure and corrosion in the rear of my frame. I had the frame inspected by my dealership and it was confirmed the frame was defective, severely corroded in the mid and rear section. The front was in almost new condition. The stickers still intact. They suggested I contact gm. There were no warning lamps. Gm has committed to repairing the vehicle due to the wax coating defect. Now they are not cooperating due to no availability of frame. I have not had a vehicle for almost 5 months. Had I been driving at a high rate of speed when the frame broke or someone hit me there could have been an entirely different outcome as the frame has no integrity. The truck would have crumpled. There are many trucks left on the road with this hazardous issue. Please see attached photos of well cared for truck and defective frame.

Purchased the Silverado 1500 new in 2013 and was going be my last truck before I retired. Had the truck under coated/rust proofed after the purchase and had it touched up yearly. Went to have it touched up again in 2020 and the shop said they would not do it because the frame was rotting from the inside out. They said it was a gm flaw in there rust proofing system for their truck frames. I also talked to ziebart about this and they said the same thing. Zeibart will not under coat any gm truck from 2006 to 2018 because they have seen too many frames rotting out. I only have 70,000 miles on the truck and this is totally unacceptable. From what I have seen on the internet it also includes gm's mid sized trucks, canyon and colorado. I have read stories of owners having vehicle cracks rendering the vehicle dangerous. Right now there are alot of unhappy gm truck owners that are looking for a class action suit. When trucks where built right it was the bodies that rusted out and not the frames. Pictures included. Thank you, [xxx] [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

While in California (from texas) and a/c stops blowing cold or warn, just hot air. Tried adding sealant and freon that worked for about 10 minutes. Since then just hot air. Driving back from CA to TX thru the central valley, az and nm was not fun with temps > 90. I was checking here to see if anyone has had success on getting gm to fix this problem that seems rampant with this model silverado/sierra. Update from Jul 14, 2020 I wrote to gm and received one phone call with a number to call. Called the number over 10 times, every time I was disconnected while going through the menu. Received a letter from Chevrolet with the same useless phone number. Wrote again hoping to get email address to open a dialog.

The vehicle's frame is rusting out and breaking at the rear end of the truck.