2016 Chevrolet Silverado: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado
On the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, the failure owners report most often is instrument cluster or gauge failure, with 3 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 1,000 miles.
What owners report breaking
Owners have reported 5 named failure modes on the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, and the three most-reported carry 75% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Instrument cluster or gauge failure leads with 3 reports and about 100 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other powertrain problem follows with 2 reports.
Differential or transfer case failure follows with 1 report, median 27 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into infotainment (3), transmission (2) and drivetrain (1).
The mileage the reports cluster at
Too few of the reports on this year carry an odometer reading to describe the timing: 6 of them do. The mileages quoted elsewhere on this page come from the modes that have enough of them.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
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
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 1 mentions a crash 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 5.38, 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: instrument cluster or gauge failure at $350–$1,400, other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500, differential or transfer case failure at $900–$4,200 and airbag failed to deploy in a crash at $1,000–$5,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
38% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instrument cluster or gauge failure | infotainment | 3 | 3 | — | 1k | — | 100.0 | $350–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 66.7 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 1 | 1 | — | 27 | — | 33.3 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| Airbag failed to deploy in a crash | airbag | 1 | 1 | — | 35k | — | 33.3 | $1,000–$5,000 | Critical |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 1 | — | 312 | — | 33.3 | $350–$2,400 | High |
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 2016 Chevrolet Silverado draws about 267 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 99th percentile of complaint rates among 2016 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 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2016 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.
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Entire instrument cluster went out while driving causing loss of needed information such as speed and other pertinent information. Dealer says there is a tsb that the entire truck has to be re-flashed including all modules in the vehicle because it does not recognize the instrument cluster. During this time, all safety systems flashed and appeared to be inactive. Air bag, traction control, ABS, trailer braking etc. This needs to be investigated to see if a recall must happen. If we got in an accident during this occurrence who knows if any of the safety systems on the vehicle were functioning.
Entire instrument cluster went out while driving causing loss of needed information such as speed and other pertinent information. Dealer says there is a tsb that the entire truck has to be re-flashed including all modules in the vehicle because it does not recognize the instrument cluster. During this time, all safety systems flashed and appeared to be inactive. Air bag, traction control, ABS, trailer braking etc. This needs to be investigated to see if a recall must happen. If we got in an accident during this occurrence who knows if any of the safety systems on the vehicle were functioning.
Differential or transfer case failure
Has the chevy shakes between 38 and 70 mile per hour .5.3 v8 motor and 8 speed transmission 342 rear axel locking differential . Been selling gm's for 55 years and if this was a demenstrator we would never never sell another truck.
Recalls on the 2016 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado, affecting an estimated 49 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 electrical system:software and air bags:frontal:sensor/control module-inactive. 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.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:SOFTWARE
139 vehicles 2016-02-11- Defect
- Genera Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Camaro, Malibu, Silverado and GMC Sierra vehicles. The radio may intermittently fail to provide an audio warning when the key has been left in the ignition and the door is opened or when the driver does not fasten their seat belt. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection", and/or 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
- Consequence
- An unbelted driver is at a greater risk of injury in a crash.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the radio software, free of charge. The recall began on March 14, 2016. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 15808.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE-INACTIVE
90 vehicles 2015-12-10- Defect
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pick up trucks manufactured October 13, 2015, to October 14, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the mounting stud used to secure the air bag sensing and diagnostic Module (SDM) may be incorrectly positioned, and as a result, the SDM housing could fracture.
- Consequence
- If the SDM housing fractures, water may get into SDM causing it to malfunction and hinder the proper deployment of the air bags in the event of a crash, thereby increasing the risk of occupant injury.
- Remedy
- GM will notify owners, and dealers will have the mounting stud repositioned and the SDM replaced, free of charge. The recall began December 2, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 15794.
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.
Better and worse years of the same car
Across the 21 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1996 comes out best at 66 and 2013 worst at 82.
Within the 2014–2017 generation specifically, 2015 is the strongest year at 75 and 2014 the weakest at 79.
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 2014-2017 generation, 2015 Chevrolet Silverado scores best at 75 and 2014 Chevrolet Silverado worst at 79.
The limits of complaint data
8 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 8 reports, 6 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 75% 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 2016 Chevrolet Silverado?
The most-reported failures are instrument cluster or gauge failure (3 reports, median 1,000 miles), other powertrain problem (2 reports) and differential or transfer case failure (1 report, median 27 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.
Which year of the Chevrolet Silverado is best?
Within the 2014–2017 generation, 2015 scores best at 75 out of 100 and 2014 worst at 79. 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