Four problems related to hatchback/liftgate have been reported for the 2003 GMC Envoy. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
I was dropping my boat off at the local storage yard where I keep it. I opened the rear hatch of my Envoy to get a bucket out of the inside where I keep the boat's accessories. . The hatch was open for approximately 2 minutes when it exploded and rained glass all over me and into my right eye. It sounded like a shotgun went off, but I was the only person around. Approximately one year earlier, the chmsl plastic flew off on the highway almost hitting another car that swerved to avoid it behind me. This is a common problem as I have come to find out and gm has redesigned the back door . Mine sits in the driveway and I am not about to spend 700 on glass so it can happen again and possibly hurt someone else.
My wife was in the process of closing the rear hatch on our 2003 Envoy xl (80,000 miles) after removing some articles from the back. She had moved the door about 1-2 inches downward using the molded handle on the bottom of the lift gate to close the door when the rear glass shattered over her head. Luckily she was not injured but was covered in safety glass. The glass was not damaged yesterday when I drove the vehicle and unloaded suitcases from the rear. Ambient temperature was about 70 degrees. I did notice that the rear brake light assembly is now angled upwards in the 'gate raised' position, even after closing the hatch. Also noticed the top, right side rubber grommet on the stamped bracket attaching the glass is very worn, allowing significant movement. I plan on taking the vehicle to a dealer to determine root cause if possible and will have the glass and all touch points replaced if possible. I have no confidence that this will not happen again if there is a design interference issue with the glass and the surrounding components that happens over time. There appear to be numerous cases on the automotive forums website regarding Envoy xl rear hatch glass shattering for no apparent reason (some multiple occurrences). I am surprised more complaints have not been registered to NHTSA officially (only found one-10081011). It is only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt. I have been a brake engineer for 10+ years and take safety very seriously.
The contact owns a 2003 GMC Envoy xl. The contact stated that the liftgate window detached from the vehicle. The glue failed that held the window to the liftgate. The dealer sated that the vehicle was included in recall campaign number 05v494000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch). The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 66,824 and failure mileage was 66,780.
The consumer took the vehicle in for the instrument panel not working. The odometer did not show a reading. The side mirrors moved on their own. The radio was inoperative, there were problem with on star, the a/c freon was going into the vehicles interior, fuel leaked from the tank and had run down the left side of the vehicle/door, the bell light and message warned low fuel when the tank was at it's capacity, the liftgate would not latch.