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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the contact attempted to change lanes and the high beams automatically activated without driver input. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic and confirmed that the high beam headlights were activating whenever the indicators were activated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 100,000 |
| Aug 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Started having a rubbing sound in rear end of vehicle. Took it to dealer. Brake calipers are a issue on this model and dealer says, “ found updated rear brake calipers with deflectors to help with dirt in rear calipers/not covered under warranty customer pay expense”, they are replacing rotors under warranty that got worn out. They want me to pay $2400 to purchase and have the “updated brake calipers” installed. If brake calipers are updated then that means there is a known issue with them. Spoke with the manufacturer and they said too bad. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would hesitate while attempting to accelerate. The contact stated that vehicle revved abnormally and failed to immediately respond. The contact stated that the hesitation also occurred while accelerating from a stationary start. The contact also had observed that there was a leak of fluid whenever the vehicle was parked in the driveway. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission was leaking and that the transmission and torque converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 16,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 16,000 |
| Aug 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Tailgate opens on its own or doesn’t want to open with push button | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ENGINE | Engine lifters failed at 36000 miles, causing the vehicle to misfire. Engine lifters failed a second time at 42000 miles after being repaired, again causing the engine to misfire. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | Vehicle began to shudder on the highway, managed to pull off at next exit and drive to nearest gas station approximately 3 miles away from the highway. Vehicle was towed to neared GM dealership. Dealership has determined that the fault is caused by a failed or multiple failed Camshaft Lifters inside the engine. This has been reported to be a common issue with the GM 5.3L Engine with no active recalls. The vehicle shudder began on a highway during construction where the highway was restricted to one lane. There was an accident with bumper to bumper traffic where an ambulance required way. The vehicle was not in stable condition and could have caused safety risks to other drivers on the high way as well as my passengers and myself. There were no symptoms prior to the vehicle shudder, the Check Engine Light did not come on until about 3 miles of driving closer to the gas station. The Service is being warranted by GM. There are active GM tickets open. Vehicle is being serviced by Stickland Cadillac Buick GMC Chevy in Brantford Ontario Canada | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ENGINE | Lifters failed 7,588 miles November 2021. Dealer replace both lifter banks since trucks mileage was less than 8k miles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | ENGINE | July 18th 2022 16,059 miles engine issues again. This time was 21 hours from home. Cause reported was oil pump failed. New engine to be installed. Asked if previous engine issues was resolved aka lifters but couldn’t get a 100 precent yes or no. Truck now has little over 30k and from time to time makes noises like lifters chattering. I pray it’s been addressed but fell it may still fail again. Just will it be under warranty or out of warranty next time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The truck lunges sometimes, and will jerk shifting, also at variable speeds the truck will feel like it is "riding over rumble strips at a low speed" at variable speeds 30 MPH to 70 MPH. It makes for an unsafe feeling having the vehicle lunge unexpectedly, and the shuddering on the highway causes alarming panic, and reaction, and a feeling of delayed response from the accelerator. Yes, everyone says it is a known GM issue, but nothing will be done, unless I contact a lawyer. No No warnings, or lamps of any kind. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | POWER TRAIN | It’s been going on for some time and have taken it to the dealership for request but with no help. The transmission keeps shuttering bucking between gears this is sometimes violent but seems to be becoming more frequent. This is mostly between speeds of 50-60mph | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | While parked I turned on the truck and got service sec warning and power steering failure. Brakes barely worked and wheel was locked. After restarting the car three times it went away and truck became driveable. Took it to a dealership and they said there’s nothing they could do as a code didn’t pop. Seems unacceptable as my family is consistently in the car and if it happens while driving could be extremely dangerous | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Smell gasoline inside the cabin. Vehicle jerk when moving gear from reverse to drive or drive to reverse. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2023 | POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving approximately 35-45 MPH, the rear differential detached from the vehicle. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the rear differential to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 18,315. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 18,315 |
| Jul 2023 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | While pulling out into traffic the vehicle will momentarily lose all electrical power and the engine shuts off causing loss of brakes and steering. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I bought this vehicle brand new off the lot in 2021. Truck hasn’t had any problems until this year. Every few weeks it will randomly just not want to start, I’ll usually check the battery and the battery will be completely drained. I can’t figure out what is causing the battery to drain like this, but something needs to be done as I have literally been stranded places due to my truck just deciding not to start randomly. Today i’m having this exact problem, my trucked was parked overnight in my garage and I went to go to work this morning and once again the truck won’t start and battery is drained. All my doors are shut and no interior lights are left on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | STEERING | Electric power steering loss. Message stated to service power steering and ecs. Could not control vehicle.. After powered off for 20 minutes it went away and then was towed to dealer who found nothing wrong. Extremely unsafe! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ENGINE | I was driving one day and my truck started to misfire. I figured since it had 95,000 miles it was time for a tune-up. So I took my truck to the Chevrolet dealership and they originally quoted me $2,200. The rep and mechanic said they have seen many trucks just like mine having the same issue. They said it starts with something called a “rocker arm” breaking and then that leads to more severe issues. After a month of my truck sitting they came to me and said it will cost $8,100 to fix it. Basically they replaced the engine. My complaint is I’ve had many vehicles and none of them needed an engine replaced after only 95,000 miles. I later found out that the engine that’s in my truck is a 4 cylinder which is a very low power/small engine which is expected to handle the weight of the truck along with towing. I just believe it was a poor design and that engine is ill equipped for a truck and the dealership/manufacturer should bear responsibility for that. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | This is a potential problem for a serious injury to a child , stroller, pet - or damage to front of truck and vehicle in front of truck. The hood of the truck is very high. And sitting in the drivers seat you are "driving blind. " It is impossible to see an object directly in front at bumper level. The only way to judge the distance to an object, or small person, is to get out of the truck and look. I had minor damage to the front of the truck by hitting my garage. But more seriously if there were a child or stroller- you literally cannot see it. This could be easily fixed with a forward looking camera - and the truck comes with a rear one- but Chevynfirs not offer any front camera/ park assist on any of its Silverado 1500's.!The manual says park assist is an option- but Chevy currently does not offer that option. This is dangerous.. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2023 | ENGINE | I was cruising down the freeway at around 60 miles an hour when the vehicle started stuttering and shaking and I could not accelerate. The truck couldn’t get out of its own way and was a danger to my family. I took the truck to the dealer where they told me I had a lifter failure. They replaced the bank of lifters on the one side of the engine where the failure occurred and sent me on the way. I’m hearing the lifters is a common issue from multiple dealers. I’m not sure I feel confident in my vehicle any longer. I would prefer the dealer or manufacture to buy it back at this point. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The monitor has disconnected many phone calls and rejected software updates. The monitor has been reported to the dealership and has been in many times for harness replacements, harness for the door locks and the timeframe for the repairs was a couple of weeks. The monitor still disconnects calls and I must pull the car over and restart the truck the monitor stays off sometimes until the monitor wants to engage. The history of the truck with this issue has been documented with the dealership | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ENGINE | The first incident that happened to the vehicle was two weeks after the purchase the engine light came on and the pressure dropped and the truck was riding rough and driving slow on a main street 35 miles from my house. The 2nd incident had around three weeks after being in the dealership for a few days with the same code and symptoms as the first incident. The third incident happened three weeks ago while on the highway the engine light came on engine pressure dropped and it drove rough and slow during consistent traffic and I had to pull over. I contacted the dealership and made an appointment. My vehicle wasn`t driven for two days until it was taken to the dealership. The engine light has come on many times through my ownership of the vehicle. I don`t feel safe driving this vehicle | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle overheated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the radiator needed to be replaced. The contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin: 22-NA-047 (Coolant Loss and/or Coolant Odor). The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 40,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 40,200 |
| May 2023 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 65 MPH, the tailgate was heard opening. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle had not yet been taken to a local dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 26,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 26,000 |
| May 2023 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission making a whining noise and delays between shifting. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2023 | ENGINE | Lifter failure at 24,500 miles | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |