2009 Gmc Sierra 1500 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (109) · Structure:body (16) · Vehicle Speed Control (11)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Gmc Sierra 1500 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
117 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (4)
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
Equipment 2018-04-26 · campaign 18V267000 · 6,154 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2009-2014 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD, 2009 GMC Topkick 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 Series and Isuzu F Series, and 2009-2018 Chevrolet Express, and GMC Savana vehicles, equipped with certain Plastic-Handle Fire Extinguishers or Push Button 'Pindicator' Fire Extinguishers. These extinguishers may become clogged, preventing the extinguisher from discharging as expected or requiring excessive force to activate the extinguisher. Additionally,
Risk: In the event of a fire, if the fire extinguisher does not function properly, it can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, instructing them to contact Kidde to get a replacement fire extinguisher, free of charge. The recall began June 11, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, and Isuzu customer service at 1-866-441-9638. GM's number for this recall is 18146.
Service bulletins (680)
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 680 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-02-11 · Steering“ this letter serves as a formal notice of concern and demand for accountability regarding the 2009 gmc sierra ld, vin [xxx] , owned by [xxx] . there are numerous documented complaints and safety investigations concerning premature tie rod failure in 2009 gmc sierra models. while the 2009 model year may not have been subject to a sweeping, industr…”
2025-11-04 · Air Bags“early october my passenger side airbag deployed and i was sitting in the drivers seat and had just put the key into the key hole but did not turn the key to start the vehicle. 3 weeks later i was going into the passenger side of the vehicle and the key was in my pocket and the drivers side airbag deployed. both times the vehicle was not started…”
2025-08-18 · Engine · 56,000 mi“the contact owns a 2009 gmc sierra 1500. the contact stated that while driving at highway speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. the traction control and check engine warning lights were illuminated. the contact used a code reader and discovered a misfire in cylinder #4, and performed a compression test, which verifie…”
2025-06-18 · Engine“to whom it may concern, i am submitting this report regarding repeated engine and valve lifter failures in my 2009 gmc sierra 1500 with a 5.3l v8 engine, vin: [xxx] . 1. component/system malfunctioned: both the original engine and a replacement engine—professionally installed by a chevrolet dealership—experienced valve lifter failure related to t…”
2025-03-11 · Power Train“allison transmission - random hard shifts, random multiple dtc's, random limp mode. clear codes and works fine until it doesn't. might have to clear codes 3-4 times a day or it might make it a week before it goes into limp mode again.…”
2024-12-23 · Air Bags“general published an article about the takata airbag recall stating that the dashboard would be inspected prior to doing the recall work and if already cracked or damaged the dashboard would not be replaced. my dash board is like new with no damage or cracks. the dealer told me (contrary to this article) that if their service men damaged my dashboa…”
2024-01-07 · Electrical System“tcm and electrical transmission grounded out tcm in my research a lot of people are having issues with these. dealers are of no help “backordered” so having to rebuild them. this is an expensive failure!…”
2023-07-31 · Electrical System“while driving on saturday, july 29th, i went to make a right turn @ intersection of nottingham way onto ledo rd. the vehicle started jerking and suddenly shutoff. i had no power steering, no power brakes. i had to manually steer and stop the truck into the median, while avoiding oncoming traffic. i got the vehicle to stop. i tried to restart and th…”
2023-05-02 · Unknown Or Other“door panel gets loose over time catching on inside of door frame making it difficult to open a door. this is a safety hazard in the case of an emergency so i removed my door panel completely.…”
2023-04-25 · Air Bags · 💥 crash“the contact's father owns a 2009 gmc sierra. the contact stated that while his father was making a left turn at 20 mph, another vehicle from the opposite direction ran the red light and struck the contact's father's driver's side front end. the tpms warning light was illuminated. none of the air bags deployed upon impact. the contact's father suffe…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.