2016 Chevrolet Suburban Problems, Recalls & Reliability
299 owner complaints sit in the federal file for the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban, alongside 6 recall campaigns and 1 defect investigation. It scores 24/100 on the trouble index — a middle-of-the-pack year for this model. Brakes & stability leads the reports, typically around 65,000 miles.
Typical
Where 2016 sits among all Suburban years
What owners report
“Brake pedal became hard an ineffective at low speed while in parking lot. This has happened 3x over last year.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2016 Suburban
“Vehicle has had brake and transmission issues for 2 years now, culminating in complete transmission failure on 12/20/20.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2016 Suburban
“When stepping on brake the electrical system went off for several seconds as in the entire dash shut off, then later when driving at low speeds and backing up dash reads stabilizer track and jerks the steering wheel out of hands”— owner report to NHTSA, 2016 Suburban
“I own a2016 suburban and its seem to have a vibration when i'm doing 35 to 45 miles ,took suburban to dealer and they told me that need it balance on tires, i pay 19.99 for the balance and the problem still there.its there anything i need to do to get this problem solve.?”— owner report to NHTSA, 2016 Suburban
“I haven’t had this vehicle but for two years. Transmission just went out. 2016 Chevy Suburban 121k miles. Our 2005 GMC Yukon outlasted a 2016 Suburban.”— owner report to NHTSA, 2016 Suburban
Mileage when trouble shows up
Among the 167 reports that include an odometer reading, problems most often appear around 57,000 miles. Half of those reports fall between 28,768 and 86,243 miles — a useful range to weigh against the mileage of the exact car you're looking at.
Recalls (6)
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2020 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, and GMC Yukon, and 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles equipped with a 5.3-liter engine, a 3.08-ratio rear axle and four-wheel drive. If a…
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the EBCM, free of charge. The recall began December 11, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-630-2438 or GMC customer…
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2017 Cadillac Escalade, 2014-2018 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, 2015-2018 Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Yukon vehicles. The amount of vacuum created by the vacuum pump may decrease over time.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Electronic Brake Control Module, free of charge. The recall began October 8, 2019. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at…
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 Buick Lacrosse and Chevrolet Spark EV, Caprice PPV and SS vehicles, 2014-2017 Buick Encore and Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 Cadillac Escalade and…
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge.…
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2016-2017 Chevrolet Suburban HD vehicles. These vehicles were assembled with a convex right-hand outside mirror, instead of with a non-convex (flat) right-hand outside mirror. As such, these vehicles fail to…
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the convex mirror with a non-convex mirror and provide a new page for the owner's manual with the customer notification letter, free of charge. The…
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD, 3500 HD, Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Sierra 2500 HD and 3500 HD, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Cadillac Escalade ESV vehicles and 2014-2017 Chevrolet…
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the SDM software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the SDM replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge.…
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2016 Cadillac Escalade, Cadillac Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra, GMC Yukon and GMC Yukon XL vehicles. The front upper control arms…
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the left and right front upper control arms and realign the vehicle, free of charge. The recall began on May 18, 2016. Until the repairs have been…
Federal defect investigations
Led to recall campaign 19V645000.
Technical service bulletins
1,777 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, the biggest share on engine and electrical — are on file for the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
See the 2016 Suburban TSB list →
Complaint history for this model year
When owners filed their reports — a long tail means problems kept surfacing for years.
Questions buyers ask
Is the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban reliable?
The 2016 Chevrolet Suburban drew 299 complaints in federal safety records — a middle-of-the-pack year for this model. Its trouble index is 24/100, scored against the model's worst year (1994).
What are the most common 2016 Chevrolet Suburban problems?
The top reported problems for the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban are brakes & stability (82 complaints), transmission & drivetrain (44), and electrical (29).
At what mileage do 2016 Chevrolet Suburban problems show up?
Owners most often report 2016 Chevrolet Suburban problems around 57,000 miles. Half of all reports that include an odometer reading fall between 28,768 and 86,243 miles.
Does the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban have recalls?
6 recall campaigns apply to the 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. At least one carries a do-not-drive or park-outside warning — check your VIN before driving.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.