general problems of the 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 - part 1

Digital dash cluster lost all communication and only has backlight, no speed, fuel gauges, anything what so ever. Can become extremely dangerous if driving down the road without the knowing of speed and other levels such as oil pressure and fuel.

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed on several occasions, the pedestrian warning alert unexpectedly illuminated. The contact stated that during the failure, the braking system became inoperable and then the brakes locked up, causing the contact and a passenger to suffer whiplash. The contact stated that there were no pedestrians near the vehicle when the failure had occurred. Additionally, the contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the pedestrian detection system failed to display a warning when a pedestrian was near the vehicle, almost causing the vehicle to strike the pedestrian. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the contact was informed that the failure was related to an electrical anomaly and a hardware failure. The contact was advised that an over-the-air update might be issued to address the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.

I brought this truck brand new. Had issues the first couple days of purchase that was a quick fix, but as time went on things got worse. Truck always stalling out, engine has been replaced once already due to a recall and months after the first replacement, it stalled out on me again in the middle of the freeway and I just got a call from the dealership that it needs another new engine! how is this right! how is this safe! I could've lost my life on every occasion it has happened.

On March 3rd 2026, I went to a doctors appointment. Halfway into the 50 minute drive, I noticed the on the infotainment screen that my gps was still showing me being at home. It was working normally a couple days prior to parking the truck. After my dr appointment, I did some online research and followed recommended procedure to do a hard reset of the infotainment/radio to try and refresh the signal. Didn't work so I checked the recommended fuse and it was good. Realized that the onstar and truck's cellular/data was also not working. After more research, I found that it's a very commonly reported issue on 2022-2024 trucks. Apparently the telematics module will freeze/glitch or fail. Took my truck down to american Chevrolet on April 13th for the data gateway module recall# n242435631 and asked their service advisor if he could find out what's going on. After the recall was performed, he verified that the telematics module is indeed dead but, because I'm at 39,000 miles, they could not fix it at no cost. The biggest reason why I've been driving this truck so frequently is because it's the safest truck we have and the automatic crash response & emergency gps gives my girlfriend some piece of mind when traveling with our two sons. She now refuses to travel with me in the truck. I'm also upset that the cellular data is paid up until I believe March of 2027 and now I can't use services paid for but, I'm more concerned about the safety features that are no longer working. For this part to completely fail or lock up at under 40k miles is absolutely absurd. I'm going to request a good faith repair through GMC but, I want this to be documented. Thank you for your review of this problem.

The rear vision safety camera failed. A red triangle with a camera icon appeared on the infotainment screen when the vehicle was put in reverse. After testing and diagnosing the issue, the dealership determined that the rear camera suffered an internal failure and had to be replaced. The part was replaced on 3/23/26 but the dealership did not give me the failed camera back. There was no advance notice or warning leading up to the failure.

On Saturday at approximately 5:30 p. M. , while driving on a two-lane city street with vehicles around me, my GMC sierra began malfunctioning. The gauges flickered, warning lights appeared, and a transmission warning activated. As I attempted to safely pull over, the vehicle began stuttering and then completely stalled in the middle of traffic. Cars swerved and honked to avoid hitting me. Fortunately, no collision occurred, but the situation was extremely dangerous and frightening. Aaa towed the vehicle to the GMC dealership. When I informed them of the incident, I received a text asking whether an over-the-air update had been performed prior to the stall. I confirmed the vehicle had received an update within the past three months. I was then told there is a bulletin stating that after an over-the-air update, the vehicle may suddenly lose communication with multiple modules and stall. The foreman indicated this was likely the cause and that they were consulting technical assistance. I asked when it is considered safe to drive a GMC vehicle following an update, as I was never warned that the vehicle could suddenly lose power and stall without notice. I was told they were investigating further. Yesterday, I was informed that engineering directed them to replace the ecm (engine control module) and the fuel pump control module, with the ecm expected to arrive next Wednesday. I have not been given a confirmed timeline for completion. This appears to be a serious and known issue within GMC, yet there has been no recall and no warning provided to consumers. I was unknowingly driving a vehicle susceptible to sudden and complete power loss. This failure placed my life, my family, and the safety of others at significant risk.

This complaint involves a sudden failure of my vehicle’s anti-lock braking system (abs) and forward collision warning system, both of which are critical safety systems. While driving my [xxx] son to school, multiple warning lights suddenly appeared on the dashboard without any prior indication of a problem. The vehicle displayed a warning message instructing me not to exceed 36 miles per hour, and several system alerts activated simultaneously, my abs brake system failed and a transmission failure warning. These issues appeared suddenly while the vehicle was in normal operation. Prior to this incident, the vehicle had been functioning perfectly. The evening before, I had driven the vehicle to pick up my son from wrestling practice with no issues. The following morning, during a routine trip to school, these critical safety warnings appeared without warning. Because the warnings involved the braking system, I immediately took the vehicle to beach Buick GMC for inspection. The dealership diagnosed the issue as a software failure affecting the braking system and informed me that the vehicle required a software update and system download in order to restore proper operation of the brakes and related safety systems. I was required to pay over $300 for this repair because my vehicle is approximately 3,000 miles outside of the warranty period. However, I believe a failure involving the braking system and safety warnings should not occur suddenly in a properly functioning vehicle and should not be treated as a normal maintenance expense. I contacted **general motors customer service to ask why a failure involving a critical safety system would not be covered or investigated further. The only explanation provided was that the vehicle was outside of the warranty period. I requested a written explanation of their decision for my records, but I was told that providing written explanations is against company policy. I have more to say but I am out of characters. . . Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of informa.

The contact owned a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked on the driveway, it caught on fire. The contact was inside the residence when a passerby knocked on the door and informed the contact of the fire. A neighbor helped extinguish the fire. When the contact stepped outside, the flames were by the instrument panel; the flames had risen to the rooftop. The front windshield was shattered. The fire was contained to the cabin. The fire department was called. The contact stated that weeks before the fire started, an abnormal sound could be heard coming from the engine. The contact removed the battery from the vehicle. The vehicle was not insured. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.  .

I was driving on an overpass and suddenly loss propulsion in my vehicle. My vehicle stopped all of a sudden and while driving, leaving me stranded in the middle of the roadway blocking traffic. Numerous motorists stopped to give a hand but the vehicle would not switch gears from park, to neutral to even give me a hand moving the vehicle out of the roadway to the side/shoulder. Due to this issue, authorities were dispatched to my location to conduct traffic control and subsequently called in aide of a tow truck to safely move my vehicle to a better location. I used onstar in my vehicle and also spoke with a representative who notated the incident and I was advised that a tow truck would take approximately 90 mins to 2 hours to reach me. In this instance, that was too long of a wait for events going wrong with the vehicle itself and was subsequently transferred from the roadway to a GMC dealership, namely group 1 south on the gulf freeway. They are handling my repairs and have diagnosed that the engine needs to be completely replaced and are in the process of repairs. If any information is needed regarding status or repairs, please contact the dealership directly as I do not have any physical or written information on the status of my vehicle. Attached is the towing receipt.

The onstar vehicle locater, gps maps, clock (auto update) are not responsive as of the 2nd week of December 2025. My truck cannot be located via onstar, I cannot use the gps maps for directions, and the clock reads 12 minutes fast when I put it into auto update mode. Reported to my GMC dealer (elizabeth city GMC, elizabeth city, nc 27909, and had in for service 3 times without correction of the issue! the dealership conducted a software system update which cost me $400. 00, and still did not correct the issue. I spoke with onstar three (3) times to try and correct issues but they did not resolve the problems either. Onstar stated it is a GMC issue. . . . . . . . . . . . My last service at the elizabeth city GMC dealer the service tech stated the onstar module is bad and requires replacement, and stated it will be an additional $550. 00 +/-!!! please advise and assist in further action I can take as this issue should be a warranty issue and replaced by GMC and/or onstar!!! class action suit in line! thank you.

The telemetry/onstar unit stopped working on my 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 denali. This renders the onstar unit unusable for both data and calling onstar. In the event of an accident, the driver could not call onstar for help and onstar would not get an automatic notification that there had been a crash with the vehicle's location. The failure of the unit has also caused a code indicating low brake system voltage. I know that is not the case in my vehicle at this time, but if the brake system does start to fail, there is no way to know if the code is real or just a result of the telematics system failing. This failure occurred shortly after an over-the-air software update GMC sent out. I have seen numerous reports of people with the exact same year and model having the same issue. The unit worked fine for 2. 5 years and after the software update, it was bricked. Gm wants in the neighborhood of $1,000 to replace and install the unit but they are on backorder with eta's 3 or 4 months out. They are also coded with the VIN so there is no other option than to go to the dealership for repair. The part cannot be ordered from an aftermarket manufacturer or from gm's official parts website, local dealership only. In order to get this important safety feature working again, the only option is to go have it fixed at the dealership, which charges $200/hr in labor on top of the $500 part needed. The 3-4 month backorder should be enough evidence that GMC has had a widespread failure of these units. GMC basically broke the telemetry/onstar units with a software update and wants it's customers to pay for their mistake. If this is not considered an important enough of a safety feature for NHTSA to do an investigation on, this matter should be investigated as an illegal business practice with the ftc or department of justice. Gm has effectively created a problem (through the software update) that only they can fix and then charging customers whose warranty has expired.

Vehicle will show lane keep assist system as active but provide no intervention and allow vehicle to travel into the next lane intermittently. System will also move itself to the next lane unexpectedly when near the lane markers of the original lane. Navigation system and radio will freeze, stop working all together, and at times fully reboot, randomly while in operation. While these issues are frequent, they are intermittent. No repair suggestions by dealer or manufacturer.

This malfunction is ongoing and the dealership cannot fix the problem. The first time it happened in September 2025. I was driving down the road and the gauges started to go crazy. The screen on the dash said reduced acceleration. Then it said service esc. Then it said service traction control. It would not let me go over 40 mph. I took it to the dealership and they told me I needed a valve body replacement. They installed the valve body and that did not fix the problem. It happened again and said reduced acceleration took over forcing me to pull over on the side of the road. The GMC dealership said to bring it in again but they could not reproduce the malfunction after driving for a week. It happens randomly. The third time this happened I was traveling up interstate 24 at about 70 mph. There were semi trucks around me when the malfunction happened and my acceleration and speed was reduced throwing the rpms as high as they would go, and I was almost hit by a semi trying to move out of the way and onto the shoulder of the interstate I tried to accelerate to get out of the way of the semi truck but could not. I had to swerve over almost losing control of my truck. I informed the dealership that this had happened again and they asked me to bring it in. I did. They told me they were going to clean corrosion off of ground wires, and that should fix the problem. It did not. This keeps happening and I feel that the vehicle is not safe to drive. I do not know when it will happen again. I travel for a living and I feel the vehicle is unsafe to operate.

Ota update gm n25-250380 caused significant problems. Blinker tone and other safety tones are erratic. Infotainment system is erratic. Constant reboots while driving causing distractions. Camera screens will freeze on screen while driving down interstate. It may be affecting other systems as well since everything is erratic and buggy now.

The vehicle has suffered repeated systemic electrical failures all while being under 8,000 miles. What component/system failed? power distribution/fuse block, starter, fuel pump control module, horn circuit, body control module, instrument cluster, and charging system. Error codes documented include p0627 (fuel pump control circuit), u0100 (lost comm ecm/pcm), b1325 (control module power low), u0140 (lost comm bcm), and b1000 (ecm fault). All repairs are documented by the dealer, and the truck remains available for inspection. How was safety at risk? the truck lost propulsion at speed, emitted smoke from the engine bay, and became disabled in traffic, placing my family, including my toddler, in immediate danger of collision and fire. Electrical defects also disabled horn and instrument cluster, removing critical warning and signaling functions. These electrical issues have been ongoing for months and gm refuses to replace and can't seem to fix it. Has it been confirmed? yes. Each failure was diagnosed and confirmed by an authorized gm dealer. Components replaced include fuse block, starter, fuel system computer, horn assembly, and cluster. Despite repairs, issues recur. Inspected by others? gm corporate case managers are aware and have acknowledged defects, though they have refused to issue written determinations. Insurance has not yet been involved, but records are available. The dealer has attempted to repaid more than 4 times with no success. Warning lamps/messages? yes. Prior to and during failures, vehicle displayed repeated “service electrical system,” “low voltage,” and communication fault codes. Cluster intermittently blacked out. Smoke in engine bay indicated immediate fire hazard. Cumulative out-of-service days exceeding 20. The failures pose unacceptable risk of fire, sudden propulsion loss, and loss of critical safety functions. I have all calls with gm recorded and transcribed as I am in SC (single party recording state) and can provide those.

Truck will down shift and transmission will slam, super hard. Feels like I hit something. Almost causing accident. Dealership refuses to service my truck or even take a look at the transmission because "its not broken yet" in their words " it needs to fail before they can service it or even look at it, because they wont get paid. " I have expressed my concerns about this safety issue and at this point they are being negligent. My truck is a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500 with 3. 0 duramax . Still under warranty with only 35k miles.

Tail gate keeps opening.

Tailgate opened several times without being prompted. Once while driving, two times while in park.

Per my dealership, there is chaffing in the main wiring harness of the vehicle and the entire harness needs to be replaced. On recall n222391510, for sierra's of the same year, the harness had to be replaced as well.

The entire instrument panel is blacked out. I can not see the speed, how much fuel and no waring lights etc. The screen flashes between black and dark blue and there is a repetative "ding" that I have no idea what is caused from since I can not see any warning lights, etc. This puts me and others at risk due to not being able to see any functions for operation of the vehicle, the speed or any indicator lights of vehicle issues. The dealer has seen the truck, and informed me that this is a known problem and they would have to order parts. According to the service department, parts for replacement will be covered under warranty/recall and they have been on order. It has been 3 weeks and they have no knowledge of when the parts will be in to make repair. There was no warning on this problem, the panel just went out.

Subject: urgent safety concern – widespread failure and nationwide backorder of onstar module (gm part no. 86803964) dear NHTSA, I am writing to formally raise a serious concern regarding a widespread and well-documented failure of the onstar module (gm part no. 86803964) in 2023 GMC sierra vehicles and potentially other gm models. I own a 2023 GMC sierra equipped with this module, which has failed, rendering my vehicle’s entire instrument cluster completely inoperative. All screens, including the digital gauges and essential driver information displays, are blacked out, leaving the vehicle in an unsafe and non-drivable condition. After contacting numerous gm dealerships across the country, I have discovered that this part is on national backorder, with over 4,000 units reportedly pending. I have also learned that the part number has been superseded multiple times, suggesting an ongoing and unresolved issue. To make matters worse, specmo is reported to be the sole refurbisher and distributor of replacement modules, further limiting availability and delaying resolution. This issue directly affects vehicle operability and driver safety. The inability to access critical information such as speed, fuel level, warning indicators, and system diagnostics significantly increases the risk of accidents and vehicle malfunctions. Given the scale of this issue and its impact on public safety, I urge general motors, relevant regulatory bodies, and consumer safety agencies to investigate this matter thoroughly. A recall, expedited solution, or broader communication to affected customers appears necessary at this stage.

2023 GMC 1500 sierra denali ultimate tailgate opens without being commanded. This has happened approximately three (3 ) times in the last two months while being driven with the most recent incident occurring today, 04/27/2025. There are no warning lights indicating when a tailgate opens while the vehicle is being driven.

Driving on hwy at 60 mph on regular day going home and trucks all off sudden started rattling and engine knocking very loud , engine started crashing loosing power , has to merge to side of road and call tow truck.

Tailgate opened while in park. Closed garage door. Came back out to leave and garage door got caught on tailgate that had released open on its own causing body damage.

I just left the gas station from getting a beverage, I got onto the interstate and had gone roughly about 3 miles before setting super cruise a few minutes after that the interstate takes a turn to the left with an exit on the right. Slightly right as I was just getting into the turn my engine shutoff and or died making my truck uncontrollable causing me to drive off the interstate into some small trees between the exit and the interstate. I was not injured and no other vehicles were involved. My truck is currently at the insurances storage yard and they care claiming it to be totaled. I have contacted gm and filled a claim however they are saying they aren’t responsible because the insurance company has my truck. I feel like regardless of who has my vehicle the manufacturer should be responsible if the issue pertains to a specific recall that has already been issued 2 weeks after my accident. I have contacted several lawyers but since I wasn’t injured they aren’t interested in taking my case. My concern is I’m getting screwed over financially because my truck was only a year old and now my insurance is going to be crazy expensive when the manufacturer should be the one taking responsibility for this and not myself.

Engine has seized twice, completely shutting down without electrical power or brakes. The vehicle also shut down in an intersection (no power, brakes, flashers). I was able to pull to the side on the 2 engine seizures but not during the electrical shutdown at the intersection in the turn lane. The engine was replaced the first time by quality GMC in albuquerque, nm. The 2nd engine is being replaced by diamond GMC in palmdale, CA. Warning lamps on the 1st engine seizure was tire pressure warning. The electrical shutdown was forward collision warning, emergency braking, etc. The 2nd engine seizure said something about engine needed to be restarted.

While entering the highway from a downward slop exit ramp and towing a trailer, my truck shuddered hard and briefly locked up the rear axle. It immediately went into limp mode with a message that driving speed will be reduced. It also wouldn't shift past 5th gear. When the event took place, the obd2 generated over 20 trouble codes. My local dealer advised I could drive it to them for repair. Upon dropping it off, they now advise it's not safe for driving and they have no eta on the parts to repair the issue. It's now been at the dealer for a week with no update. This is a well known issue that gm refuses to repair or provide a reasonable timeframe for repair. There are countless videos such as this one that show what happens when this takes place. [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The tailgate on my truck opened while I was driving and I was unaware until I got to my destination. I had a utility trailer attached at the time and my tailgate was damaged from the jack on the trailer. I thought maybe I didn't latch the tailgate but it has been several days since I opened it. The following day the tailgate dropped two more times in less than a mile. I see there is a service bulletin and recall on most gm models but my truck is not included. I made a service appointment at my local dealership for them to inspect. The service writer already stated that my truck has no open recalls. I feel this is a safety issue first and second my truck has body damage. I use my truck as a truck and usually have stuff in the bed. My truck is completely stock with no modifications except a GMC bed cover that I purchased at the dealership. I'm hoping for the best on Monday 2/17/25 when I take my truck in to be inspected.

The truck check engine lights came on, and I took it to a dealer. I was told the ecm was faulty, they replaced it, but it didn't fix the issue. I was then told the onstar telematics unit was faulty. The truck has been down for 45 days, with no eta on parts(several forms say 4-6 months). There is no guarantee that this will fix the cel. The truck is inoperable at this time.

On the highway, the engine suddenly stopped working. Everything turned black. While driving, the screen turned back on but the motor did not start again. I pressed the breaks and the start button to turn the engine back on, while still driving on the highway. It turned back on but then stopped again before I had time to pull to the side of the road. I did the same again and got to bring the car to the side of the highway. It started and stopped several times. I got it to run again so I exited the highway. It turned off again once I was off the highway. I got to drive it slowly to the dealer. He said it had never happened (which is untrue, I found out it is a recurring problem on the gm 6. 2 liter). I had brought the car for service to the same dealership about a week prior to the incident. At that time, I told the dealer that the motor was making subtle weird noises. They serviced the car and gave it back to me stating that everything was ok and that nothing showed on their computer. When I picked up the car after the shutting off incident, I was told that their system showed prior issues but that nothing needed to be done since it was not detecting any problem at the time of pick up. About a week after I picked up my truck (after the shutting off issue was supposed to have been taken care of), I returned because I was still noticing the noise. While on a test drive with a gm mechanic, the motor suddenly started making very loud clicking and squeaking noises. He told me to stop right away. The manager at the dealership told me I would get a new motor because there was a recuring issue with the gm 6. 2l. After a week, he said only some parts would be changed and that gm would not replace the whole motor. I told him I did not feel safe driving the truck and he said gm decides what to replace not me. I read online that the motor and all oil filters, ducts etc need to be replaced to avoid debris and future problems. No warning light ever went on. Terrifying experience.

Tailgate opened/unlocked while parked during rain and light snow. The tonneau cover disguised that the tailgate was open (held it up just enough so it was not visable). The tailgate fell open while driving but went unnoticed. Several large and expensive items were lost out of the back of the truck which is used as a work truck for electrical services. This has happened twice on the roads. Now the tailgate is physically checked before driving to ensure it will not fall open. The incident was mentioned to the local gm dealer but we were told our model was not part of the recall. Our next call will be to gm directly to try to remedy the problem and hopefully recoup the items lost.

I just returned home from a short drive from the gym (from about 4 blocks away). I intended to load an old freezer in the back and take it to another person's house. After putting vehicle in park and turning it off, I hit the tailgate release button from the center console dash, nothing happened, so I hit it again. I heard a growl sound on the second button push. I didn't look back to confirm the tailgate was down, I just went inside and showered. Upon returning to the vehicle (approximately 10 minutes later) I found the rear of the truck on fire. The fire was very large. I grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on the bed/tailgate of the truck and then I remembered I had a fire extinguisher in my detached shed (about 150 feet away). As I was running to the shed my neighbors came running up because they saw the large flames. They helped connect a garden hose and grabbed a skid loader bucket full of dirt, while retrieved my fire extinguisher. We put the extinguisher out on it and then dumped a load of dirt to try and smother it. Much of the fire on the bed of the truck was put down, but the fire was still going under the bed/tailgate. We used garden hose on it until fire department arrived. The truck was purchased sometime mid to late 2023, brand new. I submitted a warranty claim to gm but they denied my claim!!! this is crazy. It was clearly some electrical short in the tailgate. GMC product assistance claims sr:9-14399488182. I have police and fire reports along with pictures in the attachment. This is crazy. It could have been parked in my garage and burned my house down!!.

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Sierra 1500. The contact stated upon attempting to start the vehicle remotely, the lights illuminated; however, the engine failed to turn over. The contact stated that upon pressing the push to start button, the message "service braking system" and other braking system messages, and message that the "top speed 43 mph" were displayed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle experienced reduced braking while driving at various speeds. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where an unknown software update was performed; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where a service representative scanned the vehicle and informed the contact that diagnostic trouble codes were retrieved; however, the dealer later informed the contact that the failure could not be replicated. The contact used a scanner to scan the vehicle and retrieved diagnostic trouble codes. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer later informed the contact that they could not assist because the dealer stated that the failure could not be replicated. The failure mileage was unknown.

Fuel pump module failure while driving causing vehicle to stop abruptly while driving at highway speeds.

The contact owns a 2023 GMC sierra. The contact stated while driving at 65 mph with the cruise control engaged the instrument cluster was blinking and went black. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent, but had become a recurring failure. The contact stated that he was also hearing a chirping sound when the instrument cluster went black. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer who advised that there was no problem with the electrical system. The contact stated that he was never advised if a diagnostic had been performed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.