1996 GMC Suburban problems
Owners have filed 220 complaints about the 1996 GMC Suburban with NHTSA. Service brakes, hydraulic account for 34.1% of them — far more than any other system, ahead of visibility at 12.3%.
Complaints220
Crashes13
Fires2
Injuries20
Deaths4
What owners report breaking
Service brakes, hydraulic 34.1% · 75
Visibility 12.3% · 27
Electrical system 9.5% · 21
Tires 8.2% · 18
Power train 6.4% · 14
Fuel system, gasoline 5.9% · 13
Steering 4.5% · 10
Engine and engine cooling 3.6% · 8
Severity
Of those complaints, 13 describe a crash, 2 describe a fire, 20 report an injury and 4 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 8 model years of the GMC Suburban in this data, 1996 draws comparatively few complaints; 1994 is the outlier year.
Filings have fallen off, 7 in the last three years against 20 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 87,947 miles.
In owners' own words
Ea95026, poor brake performance: when applying the brakes in an emergency situation, pedal travels to the floorboard and the truck would not stop. This condition caused a rear end crash. This happens on any type of road surface and no inclement weather. Dealer was not able to duplicate this problem. Please provide any further information. Service brakes, hydraulic
The abs on this vehicle produces poor stopping distances particularly on wet or loose (gravel or dirt) surfaces. This has resulted in several near misses and one accident involving 3 vehicles. The brakes were replaced at 42000 mi. This produced no improvement. There seems to be a large delay before the brakes actually produce any deceleration. Service brakes, hydraulic
Brakes became very difficult to depress. Fortunately I was able to stop the vehicle in time to avoid a collision with stopped traffic. Power assist was replaced and brakes are operating fine. Learned through auto parts supplier and dealership that this failure on the Suburban has been very common. Service brakes, hydraulic
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…
Other GMC Suburban years
1993 254 complaints · 70.9% service brakes, hydraulic 1994 490 complaints · 61.2% service brakes, hydraulic 1995 294 complaints · 40.5% service brakes, hydraulic 1997 268 complaints · 26.1% service brakes, hydraulic 1998 137 complaints · 21.9% service brakes, hydraulic 1999 393 complaints · 36.6% service brakes, hydraulic