2009 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (200) · Structure:body (34) · Engine (21)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Silverado 1500 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
224 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-05 · campaign 21V050000 · 2,641,272 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 2500 and Sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. G
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-05 · campaign 21V052000 · 557,023 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylv
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 23, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 20, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-878
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2021-02-05 · campaign 21V053000 · 692,526 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 24, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. G
Service bulletins (1,406)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2025-09-09 · 13598 · Other
new vehicle monitoring programs section in ivh
Unknown Or Other 2025-08-07 · PIC5650M · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an intermittent no crank, no start, or start stall concern with the security light coming on. technician may find diagnostic trouble codes b3055, b3060, b3935, c0750, c0755, c0760, c0765, and/o
Unknown Or Other 2025-07-31 · PIT5161L · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that may have a bump feel or clunk noise at a stop or on launch. dealer should communicate to the customer this condition is a normal operating characteristic
Unknown Or Other 2025-07-18 · PIP5601C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from tac.
Exterior Lighting 2025-06-02 · 07-08-42-006U · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service bulletin provides technicians with information on available bcm calibrations to restore bulb outage detection on vehicles produced by a second stage manufacturer (upfitter), and/or turn signals flash fast after factory box removed.
Unknown Or Other 2025-05-30 · PIT5074R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communication provides information to the technician about the use of j-35616-64b and mini 50 terminal test probe, replacement terminals, and terminated leads.
Showing the 6 most recent of 1,406 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-23 · Air Bags“this is not an incident that happened, but i have a front impact sensor that has gone bad. after doing some research, and looking at all of the reports, claims, and lack of replacement inventory, it seems obvious to me that there is a problem with these parts. there should be a factory recall on this part. the part on my vehicle is a gm 25794815…”
2025-11-03 · Air Bags · 146,000 mi“the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 21v052000 (air bags) while having an inspection completed. after receiving notification of the recall, while driving approximately 35 mph, the passenger’s side air bag unexpectedly deployed, damaging the dashboard and fracturing the window.…”
2025-09-05 · Structure:body“driver and passenger side extended cab doors metal is cracking horizontally near the front edge of the doors. …”
2025-06-21 · Exterior Lighting“the front drivers headlight low beam keeps going out. i just received my second warning for this failure. it got dark before i got home from the store. we took it to a friend who does mechanical work back in the spring. he fixed it; but now it’s doing it again. yes we had it inspected last november for tag renewal. there are no warning lights or s…”
2024-07-19 · Structure:frame And Members · 200,000 mi“the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact stated that after having the vehicle inspected, the contact was informed that the under body was extremely rusted, and the vehicle was unsafe to drive. the certified mechanic determined that the sub frame could not be repaired and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the …”
2024-06-19 · Unknown Or Other“recently while up on the hoist the technician said the frame rust was very severe and the truck was in danger of buckling. should it be so bad at 114,000?…”
2024-06-12 · Air Bags“there was no incident yet light came on dash 2 days ago and i got a letter in mail for a recall…”
2024-04-13 · Fuel/Propulsion System“solenoid was rubbed by the wiring harness which caused a leak.…”
2024-04-02 · Engine · 90,000 mi“the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet silverado 1500. the contact stated that the service air bag warning light was illuminated. the vehicle failed to start. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the air bag control module was corroded due to moisture in the driver weld. the vehicle was not covered under …”
2024-03-22 · Structure:body“i realized last weekend that both of my rear doors were full of water. when i opened the rear door on the drivers side, i heard a water sloshing sound, which caught my attention. i closed & reopened the door & once again i heard the sound clearly. i left the door open & noticed the water pouring out at one corner. the water was draining from in…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.