Model year report

2017 GMC Sierra: what breaks, and at what mileage

What breaks on the 2017 GMC Sierra

On the 2017 GMC Sierra, the failure owners report most often is other powertrain problem, and the reports cluster around 10,000 miles. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 35,000 miles. Overall it scores 67 out of 100, high risk for a 2017.

High risk for a 2017 — 228th riskiest of the 263 2017 vehicles we can rate. 77 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model.

What breaks on the 2017 GMC Sierra

Owners have reported 25 named failure modes on the 2017 GMC Sierra, and the three most-reported carry 44% of everything filed.

Other powertrain problem leads with 16 reports, about 0.3 per 1,000 vehicles and with the middle half of reports between 4k to 30,000 miles.

Other brake problem follows with 12 reports, usually reported between 38k to 65,000 miles.

Loss of braking follows with 6 reports, median 65,000 miles.

By system, the reports fall mostly into transmission (21), brakes (21) and engine (5).

At what mileage it happens

67 of the reports on the 2017 GMC Sierra came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 35,000 miles.

Cumulatively, 66% by 50,000 miles and 99% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.

The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 36% of the dated reports.

52% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles, which is early enough that a fair number of these cars were still under a factory warranty when the owner complained.

Median

Other powertrain problem

10k
Other brake problem

58k
Loss of braking

65k
Torque converter failure

1k
Other engine problem

2k
Master cylinder or brake booster failure

70k
Rust or structural corrosion

39k
Other electrical problem

12k
Other visibility problem

59k
Backup camera failure

2k
Tire blowout or tread separation

42k
Headlight failure or clouding

1k

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 25. The full list is in the table below.

How reports accumulate

Share of reports filed by each mileage

half by 35k

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, 5 mention a crash and 1 a fire. 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 4.31, 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: other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500, other brake problem at $300–$1,800, loss of braking at $400–$3,000 and torque converter failure at $1,100–$3,200. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.

34% 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

Mileage figures are percentiles of owner-reported readings. Click a column to sort.
Failure mode	System	Reports	With reading	25th	Median	75th	Per 1,000	Typical repair	Severity
Other powertrain problem	transmission	16	16	4k	10k	31k	0.3	$400–$4,500	High
Other brake problem	brakes	12	11	38k	58k	65k	0.2	$300–$1,800	High
Loss of braking	brakes	6	6	—	65k	—	0.1	$400–$3,000	Critical
Torque converter failure	transmission	4	3	—	1k	—	0.1	$1,100–$3,200	High
Other engine problem	engine	4	1	—	2k	—	0.1	$300–$4,000	High
Master cylinder or brake booster failure	brakes	3	3	—	70k	—	0.1	$450–$2,200	Critical
Rust or structural corrosion	body	3	3	—	39k	—	0.1	$500–$6,000	High
Other electrical problem	electrical	3	2	—	12k	—	0.1	$250–$2,000	Moderate
Other visibility problem	glass	3	3	—	59k	—	0.1	$150–$1,400	Moderate
Backup camera failure	infotainment	2	2	—	2k	—	0.0	$250–$1,200	Moderate
Tire blowout or tread separation	wheels	2	2	—	42k	—	0.0	$200–$1,500	Critical
Headlight failure or clouding	lighting	2	2	—	1k	—	0.0	$150–$1,800	Moderate
Wiper or washer failure	glass	2	2	—	7k	—	0.0	$120–$800	Moderate
Other steering problem	steering	2	1	—	6k	—	0.0	$350–$2,400	High
Misfire or rough idle	engine	1	1	—	3k	—	0.0	$250–$1,600	Moderate
Transmission fluid leak	transmission	1	1	—	51k	—	0.0	$300–$1,800	Moderate
Fuel pump failure	fuel	1	1	—	89k	—	0.0	$600–$2,600	High
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault	airbag	1	1	—	19k	—	0.0	$300–$1,600	High
Strut, shock or spring failure	suspension	1	1	—	51k	—	0.0	$500–$2,000	Moderate
Software fault or failed update	software	1	1	—	50k	—	0.0	$0–$600	Moderate
Other fuel system problem	fuel	1	0	—	—	—	0.0	$300–$2,200	High
Other suspension problem	suspension	1	1	—	5k	—	0.0	$350–$2,000	Moderate
Other wheel or tire problem	wheels	1	1	—	6k	—	0.0	$200–$1,500	High
Other driver assistance problem	adas	1	0	—	—	—	0.0	$250–$1,800	High
Other speed control problem	adas	1	1	—	415	—	0.0	$250–$2,000	Critical
Unclassified problem	other	2	1	—	5k	—	0.0	—	Moderate

This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model. 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 2017 GMC Sierra draws about 1.4 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 74th percentile of complaint rates among 2017 vehicles we can rate.

That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. This year had no usable recall paperwork, so the fleet-size estimate is the median of other years of the same model.

The working figure is 56,065 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2017 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.

How it ranks in the 2017 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.

Risk score against the rest of the 2017 field

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

Where 2017 sits in the model line

High risk for a 2017 — 228th riskiest of the 263 2017 vehicles we can rate. The comparison is always within the same model year, so an older car is never penalised for having had longer to break.

Across the 21 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 1996 comes out best at 57 and 2013 worst at 81, with 2017 itself at 67.

If the model year is negotiable, 1996, 2008, 1998, 1997 and 2009 score lower than 2017 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.

Within the 2014–2017 generation specifically, 2017 is the strongest year at 67 and 2014 the weakest at 75.

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.

Risk score by model year, out of 100

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, 2017 GMC Sierra scores best at 67 and 2014 GMC Sierra worst at 75.

What to look at before buying one

The mileages below are where the first quarter of reports for each mode had already been filed, which makes them the point at which a fault is worth looking for rather than the point at which it happens: other powertrain problem from about 4k and other brake problem from about 38k.

On a 2017 GMC Sierra with more miles than that on it, the useful question to put to a seller or a mechanic is whether other powertrain problem has been dealt with, and if so with what parts and at whose expense. A car that has already had the repair is in a different position from one that has not.

Treat it as where to point the inspection, not as a prediction. A well-maintained example can sail past every mileage on this page, and a neglected one can fail well before the first of them.

What this page cannot tell you

77 owner reports; fleet size borrowed from other years of the same model. 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 77 reports, 67 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 87% 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".

The failure modes are assigned by software reading the owner's own words, which is accurate in bulk and wrong in individual cases. A mode with a handful of reports may contain a misfiled one.

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 2017 GMC Sierra?

The most-reported failures are other powertrain problem (16 reports, median 10,000 miles), other brake problem (12 reports, median 60,000 miles) and loss of braking (6 reports, median 65,000 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.

At what mileage do 2017 GMC Sierra problems start?

Other powertrain problem is the earliest failure mode to show up, with a median reported mileage of 10,000 miles and a quarter of reports before 5,000 miles. Across all failure modes on this year, the median report sits at 35,000 miles.

Is the 2017 GMC Sierra reliable?

It scores 67 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 228th riskiest of the 263 2017 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2017 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 GMC Sierra is best?

Within the 2014–2017 generation, 2017 scores best at 67 out of 100 and 2014 worst at 75. 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 20 August 2026 Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed