Airbag inflator rupture on the 2011 GMC Sierra 1500
3 crashes 3 of the 69 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When airbag inflator rupture gets reported
Owners of the 2011 GMC Sierra 1500 report airbag inflator rupture at a median of 85,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 80,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 165,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 146,000 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.
29% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,000 miles | 38,150 miles | 82,500 miles | 98,327 miles | 164,000 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
Of these reports, 3 a crash is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $0–$0 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.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2015, at a median of 30,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 350,000 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 156; the 2011 has 69. 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.
Takata recall gm recall sierra airbags, with special note that I live in and purchased my vehicle in a high risk high humidity area south carolina but are fighting basis of takata recall until they do their own testing. I called dealer and gm directly: no further info. Gm keeps stating parts not available and are not addressing concern- they are fighting the reality takata airbags are defective. From gm's website: safety & non-compliance recalls what's this? 'gm recall #: '2049151 'NHTSA # '16v381 'date issued: 'may 27, 2016 recall title: passenger airbag inflators recall description: takata corporation ('takata') has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in 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 2500/3500 and gmc sierra 2500/3500 vehicles. This is based upon takata's decision that front passenger airbag inflators it supplied to gm are defective. Accordingly, gm will conduct a recall of its airbag inflators covered by takata's defect information report…
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2011 gmc sierra 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle's dashboard was cracked in three different areas. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was confirmed that the dashboard was cracked; however, the repair was not completed due to the dealer's refusal to repair the failure. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16v381000 (air bags); however, the part for the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer did not consider the recall valid and was trying to get the recall overturned in court. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 93,308. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Tl* takata recall. The contact owns a 2011 gmc sierra 1500. The contact stated that the vehicle's dashboard was cracked in three different areas. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was confirmed that the dashboard was cracked; however, the repair was not completed due to the dealer's refusal to repair the failure. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16v381000 (air bags); however, the part for the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer did not consider the recall valid and was trying to get the recall overturned in court. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 93,308. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Also reported on the 2011 GMC Sierra 1500
Other body or interior problem
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Other electrical problem
Rust or structural corrosion
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 69 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 airbag inflator rupture happen on the 2011 GMC Sierra 1500?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 85,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is airbag inflator rupture on the 2011 GMC Sierra 1500?
69 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.3 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