Chevrolet Tahoe Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data

I own a 2020 Tahoe, 160,000 miles. While driving, the vehicle experienced a sudden loss of brake assist due to a failure of the vacuum brake pump. The brake pedal became extremely hard, and the vehicle would not slow or stop as expected, requiring me to put vehicle in neutral and frantically find a way to the shoulder to force a stop (pulling the emergency brake). This created a dangerous condition and significantly increased stopping distance, posing a serious safety risk to myself, and others on the road. There was little to no warning prior to the failure. This issue appears to be consistent with known complaints involving vacuum pump failure and loss of brake assist in similar vehicles. A failure of the braking assist system is NOT a normal wear condition and presents a critical safety hazard. I am reporting this incident due to the safety risk associated with sudden brake assist failure and the potential for accidents or injury. Vehicle issue has been confirmed by an independent service center. There was a warning light that appeared at the same time the brake stopped working leaving me no time to plan or know ahead not to drive.

The air conditioning system fails to cool. My vehicle only has 47,000 miles on it currently and is well-kept. A professional garage inspected and advised that there was a leak in the refrigerant system. I contacted my local Chevrolet dealer Jeff Gordan Chevrolet where I purchased the vehicle new and they said the issue was not under warranty and that my warranties had expired. They would not repair the air conditioning system at no cost to me, the owner.

On June 17th, 2025 while driving from [XXX] back to my home state of [XXX] , I experienced an engine malfunction in Chester, Va where the 6.2 L87 engine was shaking and had severe hesitation. It was diagnosed by the Chevrolet dealership in Chester, VA as suffering severe failure of ALL 8 fuel injectors, fuel rails and connector harnesses, resulting in a 15 day repair wait and a $4,644.50 bill not including other expenses such as lodging/car rental. At this time my vehicle had 52,182 miles. After this I attempted for 3 months for GM to cover the repair as the vehicle was less than 5 years old and less than 60,000 miles under the 5 yr/60K warranty but denied it. On March 26th, 2026 while driving on the parkway at about 60 mph, my vehicle experienced loss of power (slow deceleration, shaking/hesitation) and I immediately took it to the repair shop where it was diagnosed as a P0308 code (misfire on cylinder 8) which caused a repair of the #8 spark plug, ignition coil and wire resulting in a $380. repair. Two days later, I experienced the same issue and then took it to an engine diagnostic specialty shop where I have been told that this issue will run about $4,000 due to valve and comprehension issues on an engine that has 60, 680 miles. I have seen numerous L87 engine complaints on Chevy Forums with no assurances that repairs or engine replacement will rectify the issue and feel that this is an issue that GM should be addressing for safety issues and an economic loss to its customers. I am hoping that your investigators can help the many people that have been left stranded by this incompetence and lack of admission of GM's part. Repair invoices available upon request. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Suddenly lost all power steering, then warning power steering attention, no control for steering, very dangerous, couldn't drive vehicle. Took independent car repair to fix. $5k repair to fix problem. Should not happen to vehicle.

Lifter failed on my Chevy Tahoe 6.2L engine at ~75K miles in September 2025. One lifter bank was replaced. No reason for lifter failure was given. Less than 5 months later the other lifter bank has failed and damaged the cam shaft. Again, no reason for failure was provided. Failed lifters can cause catastrophic engine failure, which is incredibly dangerous when the vehicle is in motion. No check engine lights or and warnings occur with the lifter failure, it is only identified by the driver through the tapping noise from the engine. Even a cursory review of forums and complaints reveals that lifter failure is widespread on this engine and that manufacturing defects have caused issues with this power train dating back to 2019, not just the recalled 2021-2024 models.

I sent this to GM Corporate on 2/12/2025: I'm writing regarding the recall on certain 2020 Chevy Tahoe transmissions. My husband is meticulous with his vehicles including all regular service updates and recommended appointments. It literally looks like it came off the showroom floor 5 years after buying it. Unfortunately, when returning on a trip our vehicle suddenly increased rpm's and wouldn't respond while going 65 miles per hour. Thankfully, it reengaged, and we were okay but imagine what could have happened! We managed to get it home, but while attempting to back up it wouldn't shift. We had to have it towed and have been told our transmission is SHOT! It will cost us over $7000 to replace?!! We attempted to call the GM customer service number to Complain and see if they could provide some help. They put us in touch with a service manager in our area whose voicemail was full and took a week to connect with. She basically said there is nothing she can do as it is within the 5 years but over on miles. So, here we sit with a vehicle we have babied for 4.9 years that needs a new transmission. I am asking for you to listen. Asking for you to expand the investigation/recall to include ALL 2020 (or related) vehicles. Something isn't adding up, and you are leaving customers who have paid off their $60,000 vehicle stuck with more $$ to pay because of an about defect. This could have killed us. It literally froze while we were driving, and now we are without a vehicle waiting for a new transmission. We have never had issues with the transmission before. How does a transmission just go? Definite defect!

On multiple occasions, my car has locked my keys on the INSIDE of the vehicle. I have put things inside my vehicle before leaving and closed all the doors, upon returning, even just a few minutes later, my doors are locked and I am locked out of my vehicle. Additionally, my car is not detecting my remote. I cannot unlock my car with the buttons on the door and need to have my keys in hand for my car to detect the fob. Additionally, if someone opens the door while the car is running but in park, and then closes the door, the Car will beep as if there is no longer a remote detected. This has happened on multiple occasions. I have changed the batteries in the fobs multiple times, switched out my fobs so I was using a different fob and it has happened with both of my fobs.

We have the L86 6.2L EcoTech 3 Engine. at 85,000 miles we noticed the oil pan is leaking and rear main seal is leaking. Both are common issues with the L87 engine as well.

I was starting to accelerate to a higher level of speed onto the highway; 55 mph going up a hill. I was unable to accelerate much as I pushed on the gas, however the RPM's would get higher. while I was at 45 mpg the RPM's were at 3.5. All of sudden my service engine light came on. I knew something was wrong. Turned around took my car back home very slowly, had my husband come look at my car, who has mechanical experience. Transmission fluid is dark and gritty; when its suppose to be a red in color and smooth. I am now needing to replace a transmission in a vehicle that is 5 years old. How is this possible? I have owned the car for 2 years. Why has these not been recalled yet? Why has these not been looked into further? We are paying a lot of money for these vehicles to turn around and put a new transmission, which isn't cheap into a vehicle that is 5 years old. Any assistance to look into these complaints would be very helpful. I am just glad no one was hurt and I was able to get my vehicle home safely. I keep up with all of the routine maintenance of this vehicle on a regular basis.

I was driving in traffic with 8 kids from my football team on a busy street and my truck start jerking and wouldn’t accelerate much. I was going 35 mph and the truck just slows down in the middle of driving. Then as I pulled over thick white smoke comes from the tail pipe. Thank god it was a Sunday and the busy street wasn’t as busy and I was able to pull over safely because this happen while I was driving. I got the truck to autozone and they gave me a misfire code in cylinder 1. I sent my truck to dealership and spoke with them on the phone and they was able to tell me everything going on with my truck without even having to tell them all the issues happening. They looked at the truck and said I had an internal engine issue. I was advised this a well known problem with my type of truck. I reached out to Gm and asked them why haven’t it been a recall on my truck if this is a well known issue with my vehicle after talking with many mechanics. No answer was specifically provided. I’ve been trying to get them to do what’s right and repair the engine but I’m getting the run around. I’ve reached out to over 5 mechanics and a shops and have been told this is a well known problem was trying to see the cost. Once I found out this was well known it made me contact General Motors. I don’t think it’s fair this is a known issue with 5.3L engine and it hasn’t been a recall. It is unsafe to be driving and the engine just fails on you in the middle of traffic. What if I was on the freeway? My truck is at a Gm dealership right now and Gm and the dealership is refusing cost assistance on a well known engine failure problem. These vehicles need a recall on them that would of been 9 lives at risk because this problem hasn’t been addressed by the manufacturer it was scary when it happen because I was on a busy street.

While driving toward intersection, light changed to red. Applied pressure to brake pedal and pedal became extremely difficult to press. Vehicle was not slowing as expected with pedal pressure becoming very hard to press to slow vehicle. Warning on dash "Brake Assist" and Chevrolet app displays "Antilock Braking System" and text that states Schedule service now. If my wife would have been driving, this would have caused an accident. This is extremely dangerous condition that must be addressed with a corrective action taken by the manufacturer.

Driving long distance from Florida to New York and in VA, experienced a check engine light after fueling. Vehicle started, stalled and trembling excessively. It was taken to the Chevrolet dealership across from the gas station (total luck). It was diagnosed after 1 day in the shop that all 8 fuel injectors and the two fuel rails were corroded and had snapped upon inspection.( photos were sent to me). Vehicle could not be driven. If stall would have occurred while driving on the interstate at speed of 70 -75 mph, the potential for a major car accident with other fast moving vehicles was totally possible. I had to remain in a hotel for 3 days as the dealer had indicated that the parts were on back order because this was a recurring issue in the Tahoe/Suburban/Silverado L87 6.2 HP engine. I rented a vehicle to drive back to NY and got my truck back 14 days later after paying for it ($4600) as GM stated that they could not honor the 5 year/60K warranty despite my truck having 52, 182 miles and less then 5 years because they went by the build date of the vehicle which was March 14, 2020 to March 14, 2025, not the calendar year.

Creaking and groaning from rack and pinion. 60,000 miles on vehicle. no other issues. Potential steering system failure. No warning lights. Happens at all speeds.