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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | At 7000miles truck had sudden engine failure, pulled to side of road and had towed. Dealership said it has a conmonly occuring failure of valve lifters causing bent pushrods. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ENGINE | Lifters in the engine failed causing the truck to sputter and shake going down the highway. Barely could hold it in the road. Truck wanted to stall out while driving. Truck was fixed and made it 30 miles before the same thing happened again. Chevrolet has dropped the ball and needs to be held accountable for this problem before someone gets hurt or killed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | AIR BAGS | Service safety restraint system with airbag light comes on then goes away this happens when going into a turn. | Crash: No Fire: No | 6,937 |
| Nov 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Driving down the road and out of know where engine starting knocking and lagging, idled rough. Drove to dealer lifter failure was what was diagnosed. 10000 miles on the truck driven easy, no towing or anything. Dealer also informed me 3 other silverados were there for the same problem! Ridiculous!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | AIR BAGS | Safety restraint t system failure - airbag lights on and airbags advised will not deploy if in accident | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | STEERING,ENGINE | Electric steering control and driver assist malfunctioning along with engine misfire Been to the dealership 3x they have reproduced the issue unable to repair Chevy also notified apparently many other vehicle of my same type have this issue Happens daily till vehicle has run for a bit Unsafe till then Started at about 13 k miles still ongoing | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | ENGINE | My vehicle lost power to accelerate on an on ramp just before a bridge over the Wisconsin River and I was not able to merge into traffic. I was nearly put into the guardrail just before the bridge and I had to wait for the semis and other vehicles to pass and give me an opening. I drove straight to the closest GM dealership under reduced power. I was accelerating and would have been able to easily merge until suddenly my engine seemed to stall/lose power significantly. This caused me to slow down and not be able to get over as there were two semi trucks in the northbound lane of highway 39 in Kronenwetter WI. I have now found out that the power failure is due to something that is, according to my rough calculations happening very frequently to my model of truck for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. I am curious to know how many trucks per year? One dealership told me they do about 2 trucks per week in Wausau and a dealership in Green Bay WI told me 3 per week. Rough math tells me that spanning 4500 certified GM service centers equals over 400000 vehicles per year. When does this become a safety recall if not a general recall to protect consumers? GM knows about this problem however they continue to put in the same faulty lifters in the vehicles and only fix/ put in upgraded lifters when they break. How can a car manufacturer put vehicles on the road and sell them knowing there is a potential no only to break but in instances like mine or others I can't even envision, cause an accident or worse? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | I purchased my vehicle on 10/11/21 new with 4716 miles on it and on 10/27/21 a “service brake assist system “ came on along with the check engine light. I drove directly to Long Chevrolet and GMC of Athens, Tennessee. They scanned the codes and determine that the master break cylinder and associated system needs to be replaced. They kept the vehicle stating that the brake system could fail. It is now 11/6/21 and they have no estimated timeline on being able to get parts to repair my vehicle. I now have to make a payment on a vehicle I can not drive | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | ENGINE | Approx every 1,500 miles engine will crank for ~25 seconds and not start. This creates two safety problems 1) Defective part in engine could cause metal shavings in engine or some other form of part failure resulting in seized engine along with fire or accident. 2) Vehicle has start stop feature. Failure of vehicle to start at an intersection could result in a traffic accident. Vehicle was serviced at Chevrolet dealer where they stated vehicle could not be repaired without demonstration of the problem. Dealer did not inform me about, inspect or make repairs for two service bulletins that I found on the internet for the issue. One service bulletin is for a defective engine part. The camshaft target wheel could be bent and contacting the timing chain. The other dealer service bulletin is for a software update to correct a similar starting issue. For review, I uploaded the dealer service report along with both dealer service bulletins. I'd really like NHTSA to look into why GM is not informing vehicle owners about the software issue or the known defective engine part. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ENGINE | Too whom it May concern Our 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 had check engine light come on 7/5/21 called Chevy Service department was told Bring vehicle in if Light flashes, Light went off Service department said if it happens again to bring it in . It happened again 10/12/21 took vehicle in to service was told it was something too do with lift & Technician reset something & Did our first Oil change as this was a New Truck bought in 01/13/21 from them . Well 10/25/21 My Wife & I were Driving when we heard a loud banging noise coming from Truck we Also lost Power & Truck was shaking Bad . Called Dealership asap was told bring in Now . Service department said Engine was basically shot that engine lifters went bad & Probably had a bent pushrod. So Basically a catastrophically engine failure on a Brand New 2021 Chevrolet Truck with 7000 miles . Had this Happened on the highway @ highway speeds with sudden lost of Power This could lead too an accident & possibly a loss of Life . The Sad part is this has been a ongoing issue with the 5.3 & 6.2 engines since 2018 & Chevrolet is aware of it. They have No Fix and are installing the same defective Parts back only too have same issues again & again. Spoke with Corprate & They have No answers or cares my Wife said she would never drive Truck again especially since admission from a Chevrolet service Tech said it will happen again. This has been Long enough Chevrolet must recall these Vehicles & Apparently its All GM engines 5.3 & 6.2 whats it gonna take someone being Seriously hurt or Killed!!!! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Turned on my 2021 Chevy Silverado in my driveway and esc service notification popped up and check engine light popped up as well and then a loud clicking sound came from under the hood which turns out to be a bad lifter. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | WHEELS | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed as he began to approach traffic on the highway. As the contact began to steer the vehicle to the left, the entire front driver side wheel assembly detached from the vehicle without warning. Once the vehicle hit the ground, the driver and passenger-side air bags deployed and the contact hit the vehicle in front of him as he lost control of the vehicle. The contact was able to steer the vehicle off the highway and onto the left shoulder, the side curtain airbags then deployed as the vehicle came to a complete stop. Due to the failure, the brake line broke and spewed brake fluid throughout the engine and onto the road which resulted in an engine fire. The authorities were called to the scene and were able to extinguish the fire. A police report was filed. The contact did not seek medical attention at the scene but did treat himself for a scrape to the head once he returned home. The vehicle was towed to his home where it remained in his possession. The dealer was notified of the failure and he sent them pictures of the damaged vehicle. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,100. | Crash: Yes Fire: Yes Injuries: 1 Towed | 1,100 |
| Oct 2021 | STEERING,POWER TRAIN | Driving the vehicle on October 10, 2021, with my fiancee and her mother in the vehicle. Upon exiting expressway I-75 a noise in the front end could be heard. It was a pinging/clinking noise that didn't change in frequency under braking nor under speed changes. It stayed at the same frequency of occurrence regardless of speed but wasn't present at vehicle stop or idle. It seems only to happen when vehicle is in motion. The noise became louder at lower speeds of driving. Vehicle was taken to a GM dealership on October 11, 2021, for repair. The dealer indicated that they could not repair the vehicle as GM issued a work instruction (PIP5653) stating no repair or resolution is available. GM indicates there is no problem to the vehicle however something is wrong with the front end axle and if it breaks then there is risk of accident as the wheel could lock up causing loss of control and/or loss of steering. Upon reading document PIP5653 I learned that all GM full size pick-up trucks and SUVs from model year 2019 to 2021 are effected. This is a huge population at risk for possible loss of control and/or loss of steering to be supported by simple GM comment. There must be a fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ENGINE | Engine began to shudder, vibrate and lose power on the highway. Multiple codes were eliminated - check engine, service park brake, service ESC, service emissions system. Loss of motive power is a safety issue. Vehicle currently at the dealer for service. I have been notified it is a lifter issue and major engine repair required. GM Authority and other online forums identify this as a known major field issue and continuing to grow. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | while stopped,engine running,in gear,foot on brake the truck lurched forward approx 2-3 feet. when i tried to pull forward the engine was revving a much higher rpm's. moved down road approx. 1-2 miles, tried to turn around to return to a dealer near by and truck would not go into reverse...on-star reported to get engine/transmission service soon. reported to dealer, they checked the (code)? truck continued to run well....till it happened again....now it has happened a third time dealer has ordered parts to try to correct. dealer is trying, but no one seems to know what to do... | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | the trailer brake serve light is on amd the parking brake will not come off, the truck is undrivable | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | On July 27, I encountered a failure of the rear vision display system on a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado. In short, the system used to display the rearview image went blank, and remained blank, the moment I first shifted the vehicle into reverse. Hence, no rearview image was visible while I was in the process of backing up the vehicle. I believe this may be a noncompliance with FMVSS 111 or a closely related safety defect (I worked in Safety Engineering at General Motors and Ford for a combined total of more than 30 years). I made a video to document this failure, and I uploaded it to YouTube. It is available at the following URL: https://youtu.be/zhBZwteAcBg This vehicle was provided to me as a loaner vehicle while my personal vehicle was being repaired by Quality Chevrolet in Escondido, California. Shortly after leaving the dealership, I pulled over to the side of the road and paired my cell phone with the vehicle. It took several attempts to successfully accomplish this. I then made a hands-free call and then proceeded to drive home. Within a couple miles, I decided to make a U-turn. Given the size of this vehicle, completing this U-turn required backing up. The moment I placed the transmission in reverse, the center display went blank and consequently no rearview image was displayed. Even after I shifted the transmission back to Drive, the center screen (which is also used to display other things like the radio station, time, temperature, etc.) continued to remain blank. However, the audio continued to function (noted at 1 minute and 15 seconds into the video). I decided to make a video to document the condition prior to turning off the ignition as my experience has been that such malfunctions are likely associated with software errors that can be difficult to track down and replicate. I drove this loaner vehicle several other times before returning it to the dealer. On each occasion, the rearview image displayed when the vehicle was put in Reverse. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | Driving along a highway at 65mph and a lifter dropped or rocker arm failed catastrophically. Loud audible pops and bangs without warning no "warning lamps" lights or notifications at all. Towed it to dealership under their recommendation as opposed to driving it there. Also there's a clicking metallic jingle jangle in the driver side from unless 4wheel auto is engaged. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | POWER TRAIN | Upon first start with 6-8 hours of being parked, the first shift from gear 1 to gear 2 has a massive hesitation that cause all passengers to lurch forward. It has not caused in issues for the quiet street we live on but in a high traffic area it would effect safety of entering into traffic. This issue happens every morning. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | ENGINE,POWER TRAIN | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. Several unknown warning lights including the check engine warning light and the transmission warning light were illuminated. The contact stated that he was able to veer to the side of the road and turn off the vehicle. The contact stated that he restarted the vehicle, but the vehicle was shuddering and making abnormal sounds while driving. The vehicle was taken to the nearby dealer who diagnosed that it was a manufacturer’s error and that the engine and the gasket needed to be rebuilt. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and advised the contact that they would replace the engine instead of buying back the vehicle. A case was opened. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,000 |
| Aug 2021 | STEERING | Upon starting the vehicle got a alert on the dash DIC of, "Reduced Steering Assist, Service Steering System", or something similar to that. The vehicle was very hard to steer so I shut it off and restarted it seeing if it would reset since its electric steering, but it did not reset and was still difficult to steer. I was able to drive it home carefully since I was close to my home. After I got home I opened the hood to look but saw nothing wrong. I restarted vehicle again and the steering was back to normal and power steering was restored. I am very concerned because if this happens during busy traffic it could result in loss of control and a crash. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that he noticed that the front driver’s side bumper filler was slightly detached and was wearing down the panel. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and was referred to an auto body shop. The contact took the vehicle to the body shop and had the front driver’s side bumper filler and bracket replaced. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 3,000 |
| Jul 2021 | STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Vehicle door locks. The key from my 2016 Chevy will open my 2021 Chevy. It does not seem safe when you assume locking your doors would prevent someone from gaining access to your vehicle. How often do you go shopping, put your purchases in the vehicle and shop some more not knowing that someone can just unlock the doors and steal your valuables or wait in the backseat for you to return and harm you. What are the odds that I have a key from an older vehicle that unlocks my new truck doors and also how many other keys are out there that will do the same thing. At the very least GM should at least warn a buyer that just because you lock your doors that doesn't really mean anything. I am sure alot of people are not aware of this lack of safety. We have safety labels on cigarettes, liquor, guns drugs and so many other things but nothing about locking your car doors doesn't mean they are actually locked. I contacted the dealership where I bought it and they claimed they were not even aware of that until they checked further. Changing the locks will not help so it seems like there should be some option. Insurance companies won't want to pay for any theft. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | My best friends truck, a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado had a brake failure a July 2021. Was coming up to an intersection to make a left turn and went to press the brake pedal to slow down for the turn. Pedal went all the way to the floor and the truck wasn't slowing down much at all. Multiple brake system warnings and lights came on the dash along with the check engine light. It got towed to the dealership he bought it from. They replaced the brake system control module and said it's good to go. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. There have already been 2 recalls pertaining to this exact issue released, none of which applied to his truck according to the VIN recall checker on GM's website. If the problem has been figured out and fixed, then it wouldn't still be occuring. This is a MAJOR safety concern, one that I feel people need to be aware of. Which is why I'm sharing what happened to my friend's truck on behalf of him. This situation is exactly why the emergency brake on vehicles is an all mechanical system that allows the driver to quickly and directly be able to apply the vehicles brakes. It's a reliable and dependable system that's been implemented for over a century. This is a prime example of why vehicles still need to have one onboard. This vehicle doesn't have a real emergency brake. There was an emergency in which the vehicles primary brakes failed and weren't able to slow down the vehicle. The little "emergency brake" button was more worthless than the main brakes that failed to do their job on this truck with less than 5,000 miles on it because the emergency brake system on this truck has worked 0% of the time it was needed so far. This isn't some engine misfire, sunvisor defect, or Bluetooth pairing problem, this is an out of nowhere total brake system failure. This is not good. And people need to be made aware that the problem is still occurring, and on vehicle's that GM isn't aware that it may be applicable to according to the absence of any recalls per VIN. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | The lifters in the truck are failing, a brand new truck 12,000 miles on it and the lifters have failed. Which is also leading to an oil problem. They are trying to only fox one bank of lifters instead of replacing both. Due to them wanting to wait until the fail. They have known about the problem and i bought the truck from them not knowing that the engine was a faulty engine. When you pay 70,000k for a truck you are expecting it to last a lot more than 6 months. Which is also causing the bent pushrods on the truck. I bought the truck brand new at the end of January, for the lifters to fail, valve springs, and for bent pushrods, I’m estimated to be out of my truck for the next 3/4 weeks which would bring it close to lemon law | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |