The Used Car Index

2003 GMC Sierra 1500 problems

NHTSA lists 180 complaints for the 2003 GMC Sierra 1500, 13 of them mention a crash and 4 mention a fire. 6 complaints mention an injury, with 9 injuries and 0 deaths reported.

Data build 2026-10-09.

NHTSA lists this vehicle as GMC SIERRA 1500.

At a glance

Complaints
180
With crash
13
With fire
4
With injury (complaints)
6
Injuries
9
Deaths
0
Recalls
1
Do not drive recalls
0
Park outside recalls
0
Recall potential units (maximum)
1,660
Investigations
0
Open investigations
0
Manufacturer communications
181

Complaints per 100k sold unavailable. The required sales year is missing.

Where the complaints are

Top systems
SystemComplaintsShare of this vehicle's complaints
SERVICE BRAKES5530.6%
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC5027.8%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM4323.9%
STEERING158.3%
AIR BAGS73.9%
POWER TRAIN63.3%
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE52.8%
STRUCTURE42.2%
VISIBILITY42.2%
ENGINE31.7%
Top subsystems
SystemSubsystemComplaints
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMINSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL32
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULICANTILOCK/TRACTION CONTROL/ELECTRONIC LIMITED SLIP12
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULICFOUNDATION COMPONENTS6
STEERINGGEAR BOX3
AIR BAGSFRONTAL2
POWER TRAINAUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION2
STRUCTUREBODY2
STRUCTUREFRAME AND MEMBERS2
VISIBILITYWINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER2
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLINGENGINE1

One complaint can name several systems, so shares can add to more than 100 percent.

Model-generated complaint tags: This model year has not been tagged.

Recalls

See new recalls and investigations this week.

1 recalls.

04V562000

Date: 2004-11-26. Systems: EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY.

Defect: ON CERTAIN VANS EQUIPPED WITH SURE-LOK WHEELCHAIR SECUREMENT SYSTEMS, THE SPROCKET TEETH OF THE RETRACTOR ASSEMBLY IS OUT OF ALIGNMENT.

Consequence: IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, THE WHEELCHAIR MAY NOT BE ADEQUATELY SECURED POSSIBLY RESULTING IN INJURIES TO A WHEELCHAIR OCCUPANT.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND REPLACE THE WHEELCHAIR SECUREMENT RETRACTORS AS NECESSARY. SURE-LOK WILL HANDLE THE REPAIRS FOR THIS CAMPAIGN. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT SURE-LOCK AT 1-908-231-1804 OR MOBILITYWORKS AT 1-800-769-8267.

Do not drive: No. Park outside: No.

Investigations

0 investigations; 0 open.

Manufacturer communications

181 manufacturer communications.

Communications by system
SystemCount
EQUIPMENT66
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING43
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM36
ENGINE10
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY9
POWER TRAIN9
UNKNOWN OR OTHER8
STRUCTURE7

11020816

Date: 2025-07-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This PI communicates the requirement to provide a pico file to receive diagnostic assistance from TAC.

11017252

Date: 2025-03-28. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This service bulletin provides information for dealers/technicians on OnStar Module 2G Sunset Information.

11014455

Date: 2025-02-20. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that have an unusual noise and is difficult to identify, isolate or pinpoint. Technician should get record a sound clip or take a video of the noise for assessment by engineering. Technician will need to

11012907

Date: 2024-12-18. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

This service bulletin explains how to measure for oil consumption and possible reasons for loss of oil.

11009156

Date: 2024-10-25. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

This Preliminary Information communicates to the dealer the process for downloading or updating operating software for the Tire Pressure Monitor, Active Fuel Injector tester, multi media tester, PICO Scope, GR8 starting/charging tester A and Vehicle Data Recorder tools, giving website address and st

11010544

Date: 2024-10-07. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: ENGINE.

This service bulletin explains how to measure for oil consumption and possible reasons for loss of oil.

11007743

Date: 2024-09-12. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and ven

11007744

Date: 2024-09-12. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about vehicles that the Heater-Vent-Air Conditioning blows warm air. Before calling General Motors Technical Assistance Center technician will need to have high and low pressures, outside temperature, humidity, and ven

11007208

Date: 2024-09-06. Type: Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions. Systems: UNKNOWN OR OTHER.

This Preliminary Information communication provides information to the technician about changing the tire and wheel size on vehicles. General Motors will only support a tire calibration for tires that have been sized, tested and designed for the vehicle in question and its applications. Technician s

11006621

Date: 2024-08-26. Type: Service Campaign. Systems: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.

Vehicle Wide Programming (VWP) is a new process to update software on GM Vehicles. It provides the ability via a single selection within Techline Connect to first identify which modules need updating and then proceed to updating affected modules (with some exceptions). The updating of modules is com

Notes on this record

  • Complaints from the API and bulk file are merged and deduplicated by ODI number; the API alone misses records.
  • System and subsystem counts are numbers of distinct complaints, recalls or communications that name them. One record can name several systems, so shares across systems can add to more than 100 percent; a single share never exceeds 100 percent.
  • Recalls are counted once per campaign, investigations once per action and manufacturer communications once per NHTSA id, even when NHTSA lists several model names for the same record.
  • A sales denominator is a calendar-year proxy, not the population of vehicles still in use. Rates are copied from verified pipeline output.

Other names NHTSA uses

None listed.

Matched NHTSA models

Matched labels and complaints
NHTSA model labelComplaints
SIERRA 1500180

Same model, other years

All model years | All GMC models

Other GMC models, 2003

Sources

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