Table 1 shows one common power train related problems of the 2019 GMC Yukon.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Power Train problems |
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon xl. The contact stated that on several occasions while stopped and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle reversed inadvertently and then jerked forward to accelerate. The contact added that the battery was drained but the failure was not the most important to report at this time. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the starter needed to be replaced. The issue reoccurred the same day. The vehicle was taken to the same dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.
2019 GMC youkon with 94,659 miles. I am the second owner of this vehicle. I purchased it used in February 2025. Check engine light came on in route to work on March 5, 2026. Immediately took vehicle to auto zone to scan for codes. Multiple codes were returned. I drove it directly to a repair shop for further diagnostics. Return results were massive lifter failure and cam shaft damage. Why would the check engine light not come on sooner to prevent total failure. Vehicle was towed to a GMC certified mechanic where it was confirmed that all lifters and cam shaft were damaged beyond repair and must all be replaced. Estimated cost of repairs so far: $8,596. 80 labor: remove & replace left and right valve lifter (both sides) coolant service oil change labor parts: engine camshaft 1 , genuine gm engine valve lifter oil manifold gasket 1 , genuine gm fuel pump gasket 1 engine timing cover gasket set 1 engine valve lifter guide 1 engine valve lifter guide 1 coolant/antifreeze orange dex-cool 1 gal 3 engine push rod 8 engine oil filter 1 0w-20 full syn 8 engine cylinder head bolt set 1 engine valve lifter guide 1 engine valve lifter guide 1 stock engine valve lifter 4 stock engine valve lifter 4 engine cylinder head gasket kit 1 engine cylinder head bolt 10 approved subtotal $8,422. 71 + est. Tax $174. 09 $8,596. 80 estimated time for repair: going on three weeks.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds in a parking lot, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted and the vehicle jerked abnormally. The contact stated that when the gear shift lever was shifted to drive(d), the vehicle failed to function as designed. The contact was unable to drive the vehicle, and the vehicle was towed to the residence. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that metal shavings were found in the oil and the transmission needed to be replaced. The warranty had expired, and the vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken to a transmission specialty shop, where it was confirmed that metal shavings were found in the oil and that the transmission was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact took the vehicle back to the private dealer where the vehicle was purchased. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,870.
The transmission is shaky, lower gears the truck seems to fight it way into the next gear, I feel this is happening around 3 to 5 gears. One garage told me the power converter was failing. I changed the transmission fluid and filter and it got better, but sill, this is an expensive truck. This is power train, this should be covered to 100,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly hesitated and jerked before returning to normal functionality. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 111,000.
2019 GMC Yukon xl. Purchased pre-owned from a dealership in July 2023. This month, August 2025, my transmission has failed. Apparently this defect is notorious for this particular year of GMC Yukon xl. There was a lawsuit against GMC but it was closed in June 2025. The issue is real and widespread and GMC should absolutely be responsible. There’s no reason a six year old vehicle should require this extensive repair.
Power steering going in and out while driving.
The vehicle experienced a lifter and valve train failure within the warranty period, as addressed in gm tsm mc-10209953. This failure can cause sudden engine noise, loss of power, and potential engine seizure while driving, creating a serious safety hazard for the driver, passengers, and others on the road. The component failure is reproducible and has been confirmed by a repair shop; it is available for inspection upon request. An engine rebuild was completed just after the warranty expired, and the manufacturer has denied warranty coverage and refused to address the issue. Prior to failure, no warning lights or messages indicated a problem, meaning drivers have little to no warning before a potentially catastrophic malfunction. Because this is a documented issue affecting multiple vehicles and the manufacturer is refusing corrective action, this defect presents a clear risk to public safety. I urge NHTSA to investigate this matter, determine whether a safety recall is warranted, and require the manufacturer to address this known defect to prevent accidents and injuries.
Transmission failed at 90,100 miles. Left me stranded in middle of a busy intersection as I was making a left turn, it was like it was in neutral no matter how much I tried to accelerate. Very dangerous situation, scary and helpless feeling as cars approaching and I could not get out of their way. Near miss accident. This should not be happening at this low mileage.
See attached document for complaint.
December 28- transmission goes bad, gets vehicle back Feb 17th - •dangers include loss of vehicle control, wreck, cannot hit gas pedal. March there’s an exhaust leak. •inhaling is dangerous as this contains carbon monoxide, potential fire, may y axle on muffler •dangers include reduced engine performance that can lead to wrecks, carbon monoxide poisoning, and failed emissions test. July engine failure in repairs until August •can cause accidents August coolant leak •can lead to engine overheating and lead to engine failure causing accidents. September unknown reason, car just keeps shutting off while driving. •dangers in this one speak for themselves. Inspection can be done. Problems were confirmed but just keep continuing to occur. No warning signals, car just keeps breaking down for various reasons.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon xl. The contact stated that while reversing out of the driveway at approximately 2 mph, the vehicle stopped moving. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle only revved. The contact stated that she was able to move the gear shift lever, however the vehicle was not responding in any gear. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon. The contact stated while driving at various speeds and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle hesitated to respond and jolted while responding. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and an independent mechanic; however, the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated while driving 65 mph, the vehicle decelerated to 25 mph independently while the rpms were significantly high. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the engine revved. The vehicle jolted and accelerated to 65 mph; however, the failure recurred. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle resumed speed, then the vehicle jerked and lost motive power. The contact was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact restarted the vehicle and continued driving; however, the vehicle stalled. The contact pulled over to the emergency lane. The contact parked and restarted the vehicle. The contact was able to drive into a parking lot, where the failure recurred. The vehicle failed to restart with the check engine warning light illuminated. The messages "transmission hot - idle engine" and "action required" were displayed. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 82,000.
-automatic transmission failed. Slipped, skipped, and bucked while driving. -taking a left turn into traffic transmission hesitated and just started slipping almost causing an accident. -dealer confirmed torque converter failed and transmission needed replacement. -no warnings. No towing. Just 89,000 highway miles commuting to work. No heavy loads or abuse. -had to replace the transmission, not covered under warranty due to mileage. Not available for inspection.
Gm vehicles manufactured between 2015 – 2019 equipped with gm’s 8-speed transmission are equipped with a defective transmission design of gm’s hydra-matic 8l90 transmission or hydra-matic 8l45 transmission, which causes vehicles to suddenly lurch forward, shudder, and experience significant delays in acceleration. Gm not only knew about this pervasive issue but developed a fix for it in 2018 – namely a transmission flush it calls mod1a. However, gm made the business decision in 2019 to forgo recalling all impacted vehicles (approximately 2 million) to receive this flush, which would have cost gm about $305 per vehicle for a total $592 million, and instead decided to limit the flush to only unsold cadillacs and trucks in certain states where it expected customers to complain within their warranty. Furthermore, gm never alerted existing customers of the issue or the fix and only addressed the issue if the customer was under warranty and complained about the shudder. Gm marketed and sold these 8-speed automatic transmission vehicles as having “world-class performance,” lightning-fast and smooth shifting, along with improved fuel efficiency, and instead sold defective vehicles. ” these conditions make it difficult to safely merge into traffic or back out of a garage/driveway. Even more troubling, the transmission defects cause the vehicle to delay downshifting and decelerating when the brakes are depressed. The affected vehicles include Chevrolet silverado (2015-2019); Chevrolet colorado (2017-2019); the Chevrolet corvette (2015-2019); the Chevrolet camaro (2016-2019); the Cadillac escalade and escalade esv (2015-2019); the Cadillac ats, ats-v, cts, ct6, and cts-v (2016-2019); the GMC sierra, Yukon, and Yukon xl, and Yukon denali xl (2015-2019); and the GMC canyon (2017-2019).
This car had catastrophic engine failure due to the lifters, push rods and camshaft. This car make and model and engine type is notorious for these specific parts to malfunction. This could have left myself and my children stranded on the interstate. The vehicle has been inspected by a certified master technician with ase training. They confirmed that these parts are a common issue with these cars.
I actually own two GMC's one is a 2018 GMC sierra and this vehicle and they both have transmission problems. This vehicle has 100,000 miles on it and the transmission is gone, you want to charge 70,0000. 00 for a vehicle that has a sup par transmission and to replace it cost over 6000. 00. The sad thing is when I pulled up to the dealership and told the sales manager and shop manager my problem they just shook their head and said it won't be good and that they have had to replace a lot of them, so many that they keep the transmission in stock like wiper blades. This is utterly ridiculous and I have bought and paid for at least six or seven gm products in my life but this will be my last one I promise you that.
Transmission failed while driving down the road. Trasmission reved up while driving and would not go faster then the car started slowing down. Thank goodness this was not on an interstate or it could have caused an accident. Check engine light came on as I was getting to the shoulder of the road.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon xl. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle and then later restarting the vehicle, it was discovered that the transmission would not shift into reverse(r) or drive(d). The vehicle was later towed to the local dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was not yet contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 83,000.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Yukon xl. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, he heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the vehicle. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a general failure with the transmission. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who again diagnosed a general failure with the transmission, and informed the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.
Unintended surge of acceleration. Will happen randomly about once a week when under slight acceleration. It feels like the accelerator goes full throttle for one second, causing a huge surge of acceleration, almost plowing into the car in front of us multiple times. The last time it happened while in reverse. Dealer examined the car and said there are no codes stored in the computer and couldn't replicate the problem. We get the car back tomorrow and my file drives it with our 4 kids, so this is vary scary (for the safety of our family and others on the road). Dealer suggested if we don't trust the car, we can have cameras installed in the car to capture the problem so we can show them. We have very low confidence in this car as it is dangerous to drive. The fist time we noticed this was in the am, so the engine was still cold. Started accelerating slightly down our residential street and the car went to full throttle on it's own for about 1-2 seconds (rpms sky rocketed). The second time was about a week later when my wife was driving the kids to school in the morning (again with a cold engine). She pulled out of an intersection and the heavy SUV went to full throttle on its' own again, almost causing her to lose control. The problem presents itself about once or twice a week. The last time she was backing out in reverse when this occurred, causing her to almost crash into something. Dealer can't find the problem but the problem exists. The only thing in common between all occurrence is that the engine was cold, the ac was on, and that we were under light acceleration when the symptom presented itself.