2009 Chevrolet Avalanche: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche
On the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 18 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 75,000 miles. Overall it scores 62 out of 100, high risk for a 2009.
High risk for a 2009 — 273rd riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. 96 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche
Owners have reported 18 named failure modes on the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, and the three most-reported carry 33% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 18 reports and about 0.6 per 1,000 vehicles.
Instrument cluster or gauge failure follows with 7 reports, median 60,000 miles.
Other body or interior problem follows with 7 reports, median 75,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (19), infotainment (10) and body (7).
At what mileage it happens
61 of the reports on the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 75,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 18% by 50,000 miles, 82% by 100,000 miles and 92% by 150,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 60,000 and 70,000 miles, which alone holds 23% of the dated reports.
3% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, so this is mostly a story about older, higher-mileage cars.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 18. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
Severity, and what it costs
Across the named modes, 4 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 1 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 3.83, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, instrument cluster or gauge failure at $350–$1,400, other body or interior problem at $200–$2,000 and fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at $250–$1,800. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
6% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 18 | 4 | — | 97k | — | 0.6 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Instrument cluster or gauge failure | infotainment | 7 | 7 | — | 60k | — | 0.2 | $350–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 7 | 6 | — | 77k | — | 0.2 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure | fuel | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Alternator or charging system failure | electrical | 3 | 3 | — | 92k | — | 0.1 | $450–$1,600 | High |
| Audio or connectivity failure | infotainment | 3 | 3 | — | 60k | — | 0.1 | $150–$900 | Low |
| Engine bay fire | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 47k | — | 0.1 | $4,000–$20,000 | Critical |
| Stalling while driving | engine | 2 | 2 | — | 65k | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,500 | Critical |
| Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 180k | — | 0.0 | $700–$3,000 | High |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 1 | 1 | — | 80k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 78k | — | 0.0 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Other engine problem | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 30k | — | 0.0 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 1 | — | 88k | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other wheel or tire problem | wheels | 1 | 1 | — | 165k | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,500 | High |
| Other lighting problem | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $120–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 105k | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 11k | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Unclassified problem | other | 41 | 26 | 59k | 76k | 82k | 1.4 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche draws about 3.2 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 85th percentile of complaint rates among 2009 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 30,014 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2009 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Airbag inflator rupture
Instrument panel "airbag" warning light (red continuously on) illuminated. After first incident initial engine ignition start bit (built in test) clears airbag fault for no more than 1 minute every start sequence at which time it triggers a "red dash warning icon light." I took vehicle to dealer who claimed necessary fix is owners responsibility and expense. They also declared they had "no knowledge of chevy avalanche or silverado airbag recalls or issues." I called gm customer service help line and lodged a complaint. Case number with gm is 71-148283766. Gm stated that they did not feel responsible for the issue. Both the 2007-08 chevy silverado's' as well as the 2011 plus chevy avalanches are all under DOT takata airbag recalls. The 2009 chevy avalanche is a growth product of the chevy 2008 silverado!!! I believe I am one of the takata airbag customers!!
Takata recall I received a notice in the mail today of a pending bankruptcy for taquita and my airbags are on the list to be remedied but nobody has a remedy yet I don't know what to do next
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
The dash on my 2009 chevrolet avalanche has cracked in two places. One over the gauge cluster and one crack over the passenger air bag. This problem has affected more 2007 + silverados, tahoes, avalanches , escalades and more. If the passenger air bag deploys with the broken dash, it will send plastic shards flying through the cabin.gm should recall the defective dash and replace them. *tt
The dash on my 2009 chevrolet avalanche has cracked in two places. One over the gauge cluster and one crack over the passenger air bag. This problem has affected more 2007 + silverados, tahoes, avalanches , escalades and more. If the passenger air bag deploys with the broken dash, it will send plastic shards flying through the cabin.gm should recall the defective dash and replace them. *tt
Other body or interior problem
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet avalanche. The contact stated that the dashboard cracked on the passenger's side, which could expose the air bag. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the dashboard needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,605. Updated 12/9/14*cn updated 06/1/2015 *js
The dashboard is cracked in several places and flexes large amounts during normal in town driving conditions. There are sharp edges that concern me if we were involved in any type of accident. The vehicle has been well cared for and never abused in any way. The cracks continue to worsen and are apparently from the lack of reinforcement or materials defect in the dash itself but the direct cause is unknown to me.
Recalls on the 2009 model year
NHTSA has issued 5 recall campaigns covering the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche, affecting an estimated 75,784 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module and electrical system. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
2,641,272 vehicles 2021-02-05- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2007-2011 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, Yukon XL, and 2009-2011 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, GMC Sierra 2500 and Sierra 3500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is…
- Consequence
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 1, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328760.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
692,526 vehicles 2021-02-05- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, and Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500/3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500/3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, GM is recalling certain 2010 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade…
- Consequence
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 24, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328790.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
557,023 vehicles 2021-02-05- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2009 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Escalade EXT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500, Silverado 3500, Suburban, Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Sierra 2500, Sierra 3500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." Additionally, GM is…
- Consequence
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 23, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 20, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328780.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1,365,070 vehicles 2010-06-04- Defect
- Gm is recalling certain model year 2006-2009 buick, lucerne; cadillac dts; hummer h2; model year 2008-2009 buick enclave; cadillac cts; model year 2007-2009 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, silverado, suburban, tahoe; gmc acadia, sierra, yukon, yukon xl; saturn outlook; and model year 2009 chevrolet traverse vehicles equipped with a heated washer fluid system (hwfs). A recall was implemented in 2008 to add a fuse to the control circuit harness to address the potential consequences of a printed circuit board (pcb) electrical short…
- Consequence
- It is possible for the heated washer module to ignite and a fire may occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will permanently disable and remove the heated washer fluid module. An updated page for the owner manual will be provided and inserted in the owner manual to document that the feature has been permanently disabled and removed from the vehicle. The safety recall began on june 11, 2010. Owners may contact buick at 1-866-608-8080, cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438, saturn at 1-800-972-8876, gmc at 1-866-996-9463 and hummer at 1-800-732-5493 or at the owner center at www.gmownercenter.com.
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
27,188 vehicles 2009-05-06- Defect
- Gm is recalling 27,188 my 2009 cadillac escalade, escalade hybrid, escalade esv, and escalade ext; chevrolet avalanche, suburban, tahoe, tahoe hybrid, and colorado; and gmc yukon, yukon hybrid, yukon xl, and canyon vehicles. The fuel system control modules may have a condition in which an adhesive separation of the room temperature vulcanizing (rtv) seal between the seal and the housing may allow water to seep into the module.
- Consequence
- Water in the module could cause a short or open circuit, illumination of the service engine soon lamp, setting of diagnostic trouble codes or the engine may be hard to start, may not start or may stall increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install a new fuel system control module free of charge. The recall began on may 18, 2009. Owners may contact cadillac at 1-866-982-2339, chevrolet at 1-800-630-2438 and gmc at 1-866-996-9463 or at www.gmownercenter.com.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2009 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2009 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2009 — 273rd riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. Every score on this site is a rank inside its own model year, which is what makes a 2004 and a 2019 comparable at all.
Across the 11 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2004 comes out best at 59 and 2012 worst at 68, with 2009 itself at 62.
No other year of this model scores meaningfully better than 2009, so if this generation is what you want, the year is not the lever.
Within the 2006–2013 generation specifically, 2009 is the strongest year at 62 and 2012 the weakest at 68.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2006-2013 generation, 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche scores best at 62 and 2012 Chevrolet Avalanche worst at 68.
What this page cannot tell you
96 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 96 reports, 61 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 64% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (18 reports, median 95,000 miles), instrument cluster or gauge failure (7 reports, median 60,000 miles) and other body or interior problem (7 reports, median 75,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2009 Chevrolet Avalanche reliable?
It scores 62 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 273rd riskiest of the 295 2009 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2009 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Chevrolet Avalanche is best?
Within the 2006–2013 generation, 2009 scores best at 62 out of 100 and 2012 worst at 68. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed