Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2010 GMC Terrain
When timing chain, belt or tensioner failure gets reported
Owners of the 2010 GMC Terrain report timing chain, belt or tensioner failure at a median of 77,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles, from 43 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 120,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 45,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 132,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 85,600 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46,000 miles | 60,225 miles | 77,000 miles | 106,000 miles | 131,600 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 $1,200–$4,500 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 9 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 70,000 miles, and latest on the 2011 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2010 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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 2010 gmc terrain slt. The contact was driving 25 MPH when the timing belt detached. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The dealer stated that the timing belt chain detached and destroyed the engine. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 74,000 and the current mileage was 76,500. The VIN was unknown.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 gmc terrain. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle decelerated independently to 30 MPH. The failure occurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer eleven times in relation to the problem. The fuel injector and timing chain were both replaced twice. In addition, the engine consumed a large amount of oil within a short period of time. The technician recommended the engine be replaced. The vehicle was currently at the dealer for repair. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.
This is the second time that the vehicle has stalled at a stop. I am seriously concerned with the safety of my wife. What if this happens and she involved in a serious accident because her vehicle basically shuts off and leaves her very vulnerable? What if the vehicle stalls during driving? Gmc is no help, I have called and all they say is there is no recall. I get on their website and it does not work. We have had trouble with the ignition, having to have it repaired and also the timing chain making horrible noise. The latest incident really concerns me as it may place my wife in serious danger. Please help! *tr
Also reported on the 2010 GMC Terrain
Other visibility problem
Other engine problem
Excessive oil consumption
Other electrical problem
Other powertrain problem
Wiper or washer failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 52 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 timing chain, belt or tensioner failure happen on the 2010 GMC Terrain?
Across 43 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 77,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 60,000 miles and a quarter after 105,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is timing chain, belt or tensioner failure on the 2010 GMC Terrain?
52 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.6 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