Fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2007 GMC Envoy
When fuel gauge or level sensor failure gets reported
Owners of the 2007 GMC Envoy report fuel gauge or level sensor failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 42,500 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles, from 50 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 102,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 66,944 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
10% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35,900 miles | 43,250 miles | 54,250 miles | 69,250 miles | 102,844 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$1,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2003 at 90,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 carries the most reports, with 152; the 2007 has 55. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 gmc envoy. The fuel gauges on the instrument control panel inaccurately displays the amount of fuel present in the fuel tank. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection. The technician stated this was a common failure for her model type. He then added that the failure was not covered under warranty, so she was ineligible for a free remedy. The current and failure mileages were 39,200. Updated 3/8/10 *cn the consumer also stated that the rear hatch was inoperative and when it rained the windows would get stuck. Updated 05/13/10.*jb
Fuel sending unit is defective after 40,000 miles. Tank readings inaccurate. I live in an urban area where it is not safe to be out of fuel and broken down on side of road. Dealer admits this problem is common for gm envoy/rainer/trailblazer - numerous online forums list this as a defect - yet gm does nothing to rectify the problem. Item is out of warranty and gm won't cover it. *tr
After purchasing a supposed "certified pre owned" gmc 2007 envoy, the gas gauge has gone bad which is causing the check engine light to remain on less than 1 yr after purchase. This problem is causing an automatic failure in ny dmv vehicle yearly inspection. After taking this to a private mechanic and plugging in the obd,he informed me that this has become a major issue. The fuel sending unit has to be replaced. The cost of replacement is outrageous for a vehicle I have owned for less than 1 yr. This has caused me to run out of fuel several times due to not knowing how much fuel is left in the tank. Once was on a major interstate in ny. Please help myself as well as the many other people I have read about on the internet who are forced to make these costly repairs due to gm negligence just to be able to have the vehicle legally on the road. This is a safety issue that could kill someone on a major highway if they were unable to get to a shoulder or off the highway quickly and safely. *tr
Also reported on the 2007 GMC Envoy
Other electrical problem
Other lighting problem
Other fuel system problem
Other visibility problem
Headlight failure or clouding
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 55 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel gauge or level sensor failure happen on the 2007 GMC Envoy?
Across 50 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 42,500 miles and a quarter after 70,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2007 GMC Envoy?
55 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
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