Complaint volume
503 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2018 Chevrolet Silverado Complaints
503 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2018 Chevrolet Silverado, grouped by component category.
503 Total complaints
10 Crash reports
4 Fire reports
8 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are power train, engine, service brakes. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 10 crash reports, 4 fire reports, 8 injury reports, and 1 fatality report. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 195 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 44,903 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to power train, engine, service brakes?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2018 Chevrolet Silverado?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2018 Chevrolet Silverado
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2018 Chevrolet Silverado complaints?
10 Crash
4 Fire
8 Injury
1 Fatality
15 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2018 Chevrolet Silverado complaint categories?
POWER TRAIN 103
ENGINE 45
SERVICE BRAKES 39
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 31
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 28
SUSPENSION 15
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 14
STEERING 13
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 12
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 9
503 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | No check engine light come on until continued driving over 15-20 miles. Transmission slams into second gear when taking off or when stopping it may or may not downshift into first causing safety issues when in traffic. Possible electrical error or clutch inside transmission. On this model it is a sealed transmission so no way of identifying if metal shavings come out with a transmission flush. The issue only happens when vehicle is at temperature, if under and still cool drives perfect but as soon as it hits the temperature of 210 it slams very ugly. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | sTEERING WHEEL POSITION SENSOR OBD CODE C0710-5A | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | ENGINE | I own a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado (8‑speed, ~81,000 miles). The engine has been audibly ticking, and the dealership confirmed hearing it during diagnosis. This aligns with known AFM lifter collapse issues in the L86 Gen V V8, a design failure rather than simple wear. I’ve consistently used premium Schaeffer 0W‑20 synthetic oil, changed regularly on schedule. Maintenance logs and receipts are available. So far, the engine hasn’t completely failed, but lifter collapse can spiral into catastrophic camshaft or short‑block damage—with no advance warning and high risk of sudden failure. I haven’t had an accident yet, but the ticking is driving home how precarious this is—one mile closer to a full grenade without warning. I’m reporting this in the hope NHTSA will identify a widespread safety risk in these L86 lifter failures and prompt a formal investigation or recall to prevent sudden engine failure in similar vehicles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Multiple Ttansmission failure, Torque Converter failure which leads to a completely destroyed transmission, vacuum pump to transmission fails which then completely destroys the transmission, transmission cooler failure which destroys said transmission. Due to parts availability, GM continues to replace with reman transmission which continues to fail. 6L80E transmission. Engine catastrophic failure due to stuck lifter, recommended oil weight starved viscosity and causes lifters to become lodged and rockers, valves and other internal parts to fail catastrophically. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | STEERING | While driving the steering wheel started locking up and jerking. And it’s really hard to turn the wheel. ( power steering drive with care) noted on the dashboard. Very scary. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1. The components that failed were the transmission because the vehicle was driving and continued to slow down until it came to a complete stop gradually, and had to be pushed home. And also, there was an issue with the doors unlocking on their own and all windows rolling down by themselves. 2. The safety risk was the issues that happened without any knowledge of any issues at all with the vehicle. And the vehicle could have stopped on the highway, and another vehicle could have run into it, and it could have been a very bad incident. And with the doors unlocking and the windows rolling on their own could be exposed to unsafe environments and possibly theft of the vehicle or harm to the occupants. 3. Had a scan done, which showed the issues that were going on with the vehicle 4. I haven't had a chance to have it taken to the manufacturer because it broke down, and I was waiting for some help to get these issues repaired from the manufacturer. And needed from ACC. 5. There wasn't no indicators or lights on when this happened? I was told by a coworker about the windows being down, and with further investigations, I found the doors were unlocked as well, which was done automatically without my control. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The transmission has been shifting hard. I have had it serviced to try and address the issue. It continued to shift hard, until suddenly slamming me down and locking me into first gear. It would not shift from first gear until I found a parking lot, placed it in park, shut the truck off and restarted it. This caused me to nearly rear end the vehicle in front of me. This has not been reproduced to date because the shop cannot get to my truck for 4 weeks and I cannot be without a vehicle for that long (won’t schedule and let me bring in the day before). There has not been an inspection done by anyone because I was able to avoid the collision, and the shop is too far out time wise. There were no prior indications/lights to warn me of a severe problem. The dealership informed me that this has been an ongoing problem with the valve body inside the transmission, but there is no warranty or recall for it. They were sure happy to take my money without telling me of the problems when I bought my truck. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | I purchased my truck in December 2018 which is a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 4x4 crew cab automatic from Servco Chevrolet Dealership in Waipahu, Hawaii and making monthly payments for my truck February of 2019 truck runs good and purchased the warranty also had my oil and service changed when time is due which I always kept up. [XXX] and mileage was 40k while leaving work to go home at a stop light was red once turned green I pushed pedal to go and truck just changed noise tone started to run like rough idle, loud tapping noise coming from the engine, shaking and check engine light came on almost causing me to get into an accident. I pulled on the side and checked what was going on and heard the tapping noise from the motor. So I made an appointment with service department with Servco Chevrolet Dealership where i bought my truck from and spoke with the service tech for my truck to go in for repairs due to issue. It took 2 to 3 weeks for repairs to be complete and service tech informed me that I'm not the only person to have that issue which had to do with the lifters and camshaft with these motors but GM never came out with any recalls due to how much people has the same motors with the same issue. So luckily it was still covered under warranty but said the problem might come back and would just replace the faulty lifters and camshaft. So in August of 2023 my truck has the same issue but wasn't covered under warranty anymore and mileage is 61k and missed the warranty repairs that was for the lifters which I got it scanned cause check engine light and same issue and code was P0016. So I called Servco Chevrolet dealership in waipahu again and spoke with the service technician which he told me I just missed the coverage of the warranty repair and only way to get it fixed I would have to bring it back for them to scan and roughly would range from 4k to 8k to get it fixed. So my truck is parked in my garage and hasn't been moved but paying for truck. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 10 miles from home on [XXX] after Thanksgiving with my children sleeping at [XXX] in snowy cold weather, my engine began to fail. Power was limited on hills and the check engine light would come on and go back off when on flat or downhill. The next morning I took my truck to the dealer that I purchased it from where I was told the lifters had failed and I need a new engine. 1000 miles after I replaced my engine my transmission failed completely requiring a transmission replacement. Immediately upon picking up the vehicle and going down a long hill in the area, engine breaking turned on as expected but as the truck tried to slow itself, after 2 or 3 downshifts, the transmission began making a loud grinding sound and while still going close to 50 MPH, the speedometer showed 10-15 MPH and the tach dropped to idle. The transmission was decoupled from the motor. When gas was reapplied it seemed to make the connection again and resume normal driving. I called the dealership whose techs did not believe me and told me that I could 'turn off' the engine breaking feature. The situation continued to worsen each drive and it would do it more often. This was unacceptable and they finally had a tech ride with me to experience it and immediately agreed there was an issue and reordered another transmission. The third transmission did not fix the issue and was experienced immediately. They are now guessing how to fix the issue telling me I have to replace the transfer case out of my pocket with no diagnosis, not sure what is causing it and have not fixed the problem. Videos would not fit in upload due to size. Videos show speedometer failure. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact's husband owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that metal shaving were discovered in the radiator due to a defective torque converter. The manufacturer was then notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 143,057. | Crash: No Fire: No | 143,057 |
| Jul 2025 | ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 MPH, the “Service Stabili-trak” message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the instrument panel went black, the vehicle lost motive power and decelerated unintendedly. The contact was able to coast to the side of the road. The contact waited approximately 10 minutes before restarting the vehicle and continued driving. The warning light was no longer illuminated. The failure occurred two more times while driving to the residence. The vehicle was taken to several certified mechanics who were unable to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case. The manufacturer assisted the contact in scheduling an appointment with the dealer. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 123,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 123,000 |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN | While driving on an Interstate the vehicle violently shook and drive shaft ce off. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | I’ve had to have the transmission replaced before hitting 123k miles There is a constant shake, tremble in the car that dealer mechanics cannot figure out and they relate the issue to the transmission Electrical dashboard and ac lightning fixture burnt out | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal sound coming from the engine. In addition, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with coolant intrusion into cylinder #7, causing engine failure. The contact stated that metal shavings were found mixed in with the engine oil. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 110,000 |
| Jul 2025 | ENGINE | My 2018 Chevrolet Silverado with a 6.2 engine suffered a Connecting Rod Bearing failure causing the engine to seize/lock up. The engine components are available for inspection. The engine seized/locked up and could have caused a crash. The vehicle is at my mechanics shop right now and will remain there until it is repaired. The vehicle has been inspected by my mechanic but no one else. The engine had developed a "tick" at idle and while driving. My mechanic found a bent pushrod in the engine and then found the engine suffered a camshaft lifter failure. He replaced all the pushrods, camshaft lifters, and the camshaft. It had been repaired and had been driven for a test drive. There were no warnings the engine was going to to fail. The engine just locked up without warning. The engine was removed from the pickup and was then disassembled and found to have had a connecting rod bearing failure on cylinder 7 and cylinder 8. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ENGINE | 2018 Chevy Silverado 5.2L with V8 engine equipped with AFM system broke down while accelerating onto a on ramp for the highway going 40 mph. Truck failed to accelerate any faster and a loud knocking noise occurred with a check engine and traction failure light. Safety was put at risk as there was no where to pull off and my truck had no power to it while accelerating onto a very busy interstate. The truck was towed to a Chevy dealership and determined the lifter valves were ticking form both sides and require replacement of them all and the cam shaft. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Vehicle went into limp mode on I 65 in Indiana. Chevy dealer replaced tvb/ thermal bypass valve with newer version that opens at a lower temperature.Hard to get vehicle to the side of the highway. State Police arranged a tow truck to remove vehicle from highway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Driving on the fwy going 73mph While running Transmission stopped working and I’m not able to accelerate to move forward and safely pull over to the shoulder. The problem was not been confirmed by the dealer or service center. The vehicle was not been inspected by anyone. There is no warning lamps Messages, or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The automatic transmission in my 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 with the 4.3L V6 has experienced repeated failures and overheating events starting shortly after a scheduled dealer transmission flush at approximately 50,000 miles. Since then, the transmission has slipped under load, failed to shift properly, and routinely overheated—reaching over 270°F—without triggering a dashboard warning or entering limp mode. Multiple dealer visits confirmed internal transmission damage, including discolored fluid, metal shavings, and torque converter clutch failure. The entire transmission and torque converter were replaced under warranty, along with a redesigned bypass valve. Despite these efforts, the transmission failed again, showing further signs of overheating and debris in the fluid. The vehicle has been inspected and serviced multiple times by the dealership (Karl Chevrolet in Iowa) and GM warranty contractors. The issue persists even after complete transmission replacement. This condition poses a safety risk as loss of power and unexpected gear disengagement occurred during normal road use, including highway driving and towing. Transmission temperatures spiking well beyond GM’s Dexron VI fluid thermal limits raise further concerns about systemic cooling design flaws. Warning signs included high transmission fluid temperatures (over 270°F), RPM surging, harsh downshifts, slipping, poor throttle response, and delayed engagement from park to drive. The manufacturer has been notified, and the issue has been documented with the Attorney General of Iowa. A GM case number was also opened, but no permanent fix has been offered. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Under 40,000 miles and both sides of the frame has rusted out and has made the vehicle unsafe to drive per the dealership. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES | 02/03/2022 had brake shuttering and hard brake coming to stops and “Brake Assist” warning dealership pulled code C025E and replaced brake vacuum sensor. 04/22/2024 same problem arose hard braking shuttering pedal and “Brake Assist” warning. Took truck into dealer code C025E came up and they replaced my brake booster. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the contact approached the vehicle and observed that the passenger’s and driver’s side roof rail air bags had independently deployed. The contact stated that there were no passengers in the rear seats during the failure. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local auto body shop; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the Insurance provider declined to cover the repairs. The vehicle was towed to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and offered to buy the vehicle back. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V756000 (Air Bags); however, the VIN was not inclued. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 65,000 |
| Jun 2025 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that upon running a diagnostic scan on the vehicle, DTC: P0301 was displayed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the exhaust valve lifter was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,211. | Crash: No Fire: No | 14,211 |
| Jun 2025 | POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | TRANSMISSION STARTED SHIFTING WEARD CONTACTED DEALERSHIP. THEY STATE THIS UNIT IS NOT UNDER RECALL BUT IT IS AN 6L80 AND IT IS ALL OVER YOU TUBE AND THE INTERNET ABOUT FAILURES THAT START WITH THE PM VALVE AND/OR THE TORQUE CONVERTER HOUSING THAT IS STAMPED BUT MOUNTING BRACKETS ARE WELDED TO IT CAUSING HARDED STEEL TO MEET STAMPED STEEL CAUSING FRICTION AND WEAR THAT POLUTES THE REMAINDER OF THE TRANSMISSION AND CAUSES FAILURE BEFORE 100000 MILES; USUALLY JUST AFTER 50000ISH. WHEN TRANSMISSION FAILS IT CAN CAUSE LOSS OF PROPULSION OR COLLION. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended. The contact stated that the engine sounded abnormally rough, with a knocking sound coming from the engine. In addition, several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power and was pulled over to the shoulder of the roadway. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with failed lifters. The contact was informed that the lifters needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 60,000 |