Complaint volume
732 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
2021 Chevrolet Silverado Complaints
732 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado, grouped by component category.
732 Total complaints
16 Crash reports
11 Fire reports
11 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 engine, power train, engine and engine cooling. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 16 crash reports, 11 fire reports, 11 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 160 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 55,255 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, power train, engine and engine cooling?
- 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 2021 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.
2021 Chevrolet Silverado
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado complaints?
16 Crash
11 Fire
11 Injury
0 Fatality
62 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Chevrolet Silverado complaint categories?
ENGINE 212
POWER TRAIN 126
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 41
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 38
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 36
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 21
STRUCTURE 19
STEERING 18
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 14
SERVICE BRAKES 14
732 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The tumbler in keyed switch is locked up solid . Cannot turn key to start or turn on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | Engine Seized up on me while driving on the freeway. Four of the crankshaft bearings seized up and one of those four completely melted. good thing the freeway I was on was not too crowded, my dash just all of a sudden lit up saying shift to neutral to restart engine. I was able to get to the shoulder. I tried re starting the engine and nothing happened. I had it towed to Simpson Chevrolet in Irvine CA. they reported back to me and said Engine has seized and I will need a new engine, cost of $16,893. I cannot afford a new engine right now and have been left without a vehicle. GM has taken no responsibility for this failure even though all maintenance has been performed on time every time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 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 vehicle came to a complete stop. The contact shifted into reverse and parked the vehicle. No warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the failure had occurred while facing oncoming traffic. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed check valve ball. The contact was informed that the check valve ball body and plates needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,648. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 52,648 |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The rear power tailgate was randomly opening and closing on its own, on several different occasions. The safety risk was, if the tailgate would have opened when traveling down the roadways, items in the back could have fell out and possibly striking another vehicle and causing an accident. The truck has been taken to Gandrud Chevrolet in Green Bay WI, confirmed there was a faulty tailgate switch and replaced. There was no warning before the switch failed, it just happened on its own. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | Had vehicle in for service for oil change and a loud clicking noise as well as misfire was the vehicle was fine to drive proceeded on my trip on my way back to my hometown the motor through a pushrod while on the highway | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The tailgate is opening automatically without anyone near the vehicle or keys. It has only started recently and I see similar vehicle models are being recalled for the same issue. My concern is that this could happen while driving down the road, posing a risk to other drivers if there are items in the bed of the vehicle. Prior to the tailgate opening unexpectedly, the button to push on the tailgate that opens it quit working. It will only open with the keys or button in the cab, or now at random times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | SUSPENSION,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The car while I’m driving, when I start driving it has a kick could be transmission | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that during cold starts, the transmission was slipping, jerking, and banging. The failure eventually worsened and began to occur after the vehicle was driven and was warmed up. Additionally, while decelerating, the vehicle erroneously lurched forward. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission valve body was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 6,000 |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE | Truck died on busy road. Towed to certified Chevy dealer. They heard knocking noise did oil change drove it truck died again. Stated engine seized. Warranty dept denying claim saying truck driven 30 seconds to 1 minute after oil pressure light came on. But no lights came on for us and verified from diagnostic done at the Chevy dealer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the fuel pump. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed a failure with the ECM wiring harness. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 13,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 13,000 |
| Feb 2025 | STEERING | 51,000 miles and Power steering warning light came on, attempted to turn and the wheel and was a struggle to make a turn. I almost ran off roadway and struck a tree. I struggled to get the truck home, where it sat for a minute and reset itself and worked properly for now. Upon reviewing the electric steering in this year, make and model was very common within 15k miles to 65k miles. Upon internet search, revealed this problem had a recall. Wanted to make sure before a manage to transport the truck for service at dealership and pay for high labor charges. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission Overheating and Jerking | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Since the purchase of this truck I have been having the same issues consistent with the current recall. It has gotten worse and has almost caused an accident during acceleration due to skipping or locking up of the engine/wheels. Worse when traction control is on. This Happens almost every time the gears shift during acceleration. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the engine started to misfire. There was an unknown service warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that left side valve lifters needed to be replaced. The codes displayed were 0329 (Engine/Fuel Exhaust) and 6581 (Modular Component) registering incorrectly. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 15,253. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,253 |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | While coming to a stop at the end of the exit ramp my vehicle bucked when trying to go from a stop into 1st gear. Eventually the truck continued in a forward motion. Then came to a stop light and once again from a stopped position by truck bucked and eventually went into gear and continued forward motion. Parked the car where it sat for 1.5 hours then went to drive the vehicle and it bucked again into 1st gear. Drove to a parking lot were we parked to get lunch. Came out started the vehicle backed out of the parking spot and drove forward to the exit of the parking lot. When trying to exit the vehicle failed to move forward. The car acted as if it was in neutral and only revving to high RPM's. Removing the fuse for the Transmission Control Ignition allowed the vehicle to move forward but only in gears 1,2,3. I brought the vehicle to GMC dealership and they recommended a fluid service to determine if metal chips are in the fluid. That service was performed and issue remained. The Dealer has recommended a complete transmission replacement. My vehicle never displayed a warning lamp or shown symptoms prior to this failure. My vehicle has a 8 speed transmission which is known to be a failing part with Chevrolet and GMC. A new transmission is costing me $7900 plus tax on a 2021 with low wear and highway use. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE | The first time it happened my Truck started shaking a lot on the highway and it left me stranded on the side of the road. It had around 20,000 miles on it. When it got repaired I was told it had to do with the lifters on the left side of the engine. Took them 2 weeks to fix the issue. The second time it happened was on the ramp getting on to the highway, this time at 58,000 miles and now the right side lifters. Except this time they couldn’t fix it and they are going to replace the whole engine and give me a new one. Only thing is that it's been in Chevrolet shop for over 2 months and they have an ETA of a new Engine arriving in about a month if even that. So currently don't have my truck. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE | Engine misfire, likely engine will need to be replaced | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | No check engine light, and my transmission didn't engage gear. I left vehicle off for the night, started it and it worked perfectly fine. Still, no check engine light was on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ENGINE | Around [XXX] on [XXX] the vehicle shut down with no codes showing or any warning. The weather was approximately 13* f. After many failed attempts to restart, and the electrical systems would not power down as if the vehicle thought it was still running. The only way to get the system to shut down was to disconnect the battery. i had to physically push the vehicle to a safe location. The next morning I attempted to diagnose the issue with no success. I had the vehicle hauled to the dealership from which it was purchased in Idaho to have it inspected. Tuesday morning I received word from the dealership that the engine suffered major failure. This will be the 3rd engine in the vehicle. I am uneasy about the dependability of the vehicle as I have recently discovered that this particular engine is having massive failures all over the country. So much so that the NHTSA has opened an investigation for the purposes of safety. I purchased the vehicle for the main purpose of pulling a snowmobile trailer with snowmobile to the mountains and also to tow my boat and trailer. Both of these activities require a vehicle in which I can depend on. While I am waiting for a back order engine the dealership and manufacturer refuse to lend a like vehicle, leaving destitute. I am hoping that this agency can offer some assistance, and I believe it's important that you are made aware of the hazard that this particular engine possesses. As I previously mentioned this the 3rd engine and As far as I can see this will occur again putting myself and others potentially in harms way because of a known issue. This does not make me feel confident of the safety of the vehicle. Be aware where i live there grades in every direction and extreme weather conditions from season to season. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | STEERING | I was driving and my electric steering locked up. I had it towed to a garage and they reset the computer. I'm afraid it's going to happen again. I'm going to the dealership on Tuesday and I don't feel that I should pay for this since it's a safety issue. I only have 50,000 miles on it.can someone please get back to me. Thanks | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Drove my truck home for lunch. Truck drove normal all morning with no warning lights or audible warnings. Went to leave and head back to work. Put my truck in reverse and it would not move. Still no warning lights or audible warnings. After looking online it said that this was common in the Chevrolet speed transmission. It also says the valve body was bad. They also stated that it could lock up the transmission and cause an accident. Luckily I was not driving down the road to find out. When talking with a Chevrolet dealership they told me that the parts to fix the transmission is on backorder. They also stated that the parts may not be available for months. Because the Chevrolet dealership had other Chevrolet vehicles in with the 10 speed transmission with the same issues and could not get parts because of the valve body being on backorder. They also said that the whole transmission being on backorder. This sounds like it's a common problem with Chevrolet 10 speed transmissions. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Tailgate, inadvertently opens. Causing, causing items in my truck bed to be exposed, although I haven’t lost anything while traveling. I have witnessed this occurrence while truck is locked sitting in my driveway, last incident was last night, 13 Feb 25. Also, noticed it when pulling out of a repair shop after getting brake pads put on vehicle. Wife had witnessed it a few months ago while driving back from town. I noticed a recall had been made about Chevrolet trucks and inadvertently opening tailgates. However my truck was not listed as a recall, when I checked VIN. Called Chevrolet garage to see if they could find my VIN on the recall list. Most of the recalls were on the 2500 and 3500 series but it also listed trucks with switch in cab for tailgate to open. I do have an appointment for the problem at Chevrolet garage in the 18th. To fix problem and prevent causing a hazard on the roads. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | POWER TRAIN | 2021 Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss with transmission valve body problem. Truck nearly stalled while driving and towing my boat then a huge clunk in the transmission. The truck then rapidly accelerated, down shifted, brief wheel lock up and I was nearly sent in to the ditch with my trailer now swaying behind me. The entire situation felt extremely unsafe and dangerous to both me and oncoming traffic. The check engine light was then on and the truck went in to limp mode. The truck would also no longer go into reverse. I first brought the truck in in October. They finally diagnosied the problem on November 4th, 2024. It is now February 14, 2025 and GM can still not provide me and ETA for the part or for repair. I've opened a service ticket with GM and asked for a buyback as I do not feel safe driving this vehicle any longer. I still do not have resolution with GM or my local dealership. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 MPH, the vehicle crashed into a parked vehicle. During the crash, the front passenger side of the vehicle was severely damaged but the air bag did not deploy. The driver sustained an injured nose, mild concussion, bottom tooth damage, and back and neck pains. No medical treatment was needed. A police report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was later towed away. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were contacted but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer's air bag department declined assistance due to the air bag failure not being reported promptly. The failure mileage was 23,000. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed | 23,000 |
| Feb 2025 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while washing the vehicle, he noticed that water was entering the vehicle through a crack in the rear window seal. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 57,000 |