Other powertrain problem on the 2013 GMC Terrain
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2013 GMC Terrain report other powertrain problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 7th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 20,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 101,708 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.
20% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18,800 miles | 49,705 miles | 95,343 miles | 111,028 miles | 120,508 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 $400–$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.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 14 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2013 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2011 carries the most reports, with 49; the 2013 has 16. 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.
I notice my car was jerking a little so I took it to the dealer to see what the problem was, the service guy told me I need my air induction clean (cost will be over $200), this cleaning has something to do with my transmission. I have only had my vehicle for a year and the transmission needs cleaning, really. Should this be covered on warranty. A couple of days later, I received a letter in the mail stating a recall on vehicle with e85 fuel system, so call the nearest dealer and see if my vehicle is cover. My question is: does the e85 have anything to do the air induction system. *tr
Gmc terrain hesitates in shifting between gears. Tachometer shows engine speeds up between shifts, causing a stall/ learch forward between shifting happens more when warm then when cold. Happens consistently after transmission is warmed up.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 gmc terrain. While driving 35 MPH, the gear shifted from drive to neutral without warning. The key was unable to be removed from the ignition because it failed to register when the gear was shifted to park. The vehicle was taken to victory chevrolet (717 rhyne rd, charlotte, nc 28214 (704) 790-7800), but was not diagnosed due to the diagnostic fees. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16v502000 (electrical system, power train). The failure mileage was 93,685.
Also reported on the 2013 GMC Terrain
Excessive oil consumption
Other engine problem
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other visibility problem
Complete engine failure or seizure
Oil leak
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 other powertrain problem happen on the 2013 GMC Terrain?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 50,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2013 GMC Terrain?
16 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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