No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2016 GMC Terrain
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2016 GMC Terrain report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 55,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 100,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 100,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 87,000 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.
25% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11,000 miles | 42,350 miles | 52,800 miles | 98,000 miles | 98,000 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
Putting it right typically runs $200–$1,800 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 10 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2013 at 140,000 miles.
By volume the 2020 carries the most reports, with 12; the 2016 has 8. 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 2016 gmc terrain. The contact stated that the engine failed to start. The vehicle was towed to seller gmc dealer located at 3800 grand river avenue farmington hill, mi 48335, phone number: 248-478-8000. The dealer performed a diagnostic which indicated that rodents were attracted to the wiring colors and was able access and destroyed all the wires under the hood. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 11,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2016 gmc terrain. While attempting to start the engine, it failed to start. The vehicle was towed to the dealer (suller gmc located in farmington hills, michigan) where it was diagnosed that rodents had eaten the electrical wires. The contact was informed that the wiring harness was produced using soy based materials, which attracted rodents. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 11,000. Updated 09/06/17*lj *js
2016 gmc terrain will show the check engine, traction control and service stabilitrak lights after gauges jump up and down. Vehicle will then go into neutral and then suddenly slam into 2nd gear. This occurs at high rates of speed on the interstate, as well as, normal roads. The vehicle will then stay in 2nd gear and will not go into another gear when it is placed in manual either. Sometimes, after restarting several times, it will drive normally. Other times, it will not start once it is turned off. I have had it to the garage five times in the last month. The starter wire and starter relay have been replaced, loose ground wire tightened, and the ECM replaced yet the car continues to repeat the same cycle. Car currently has 53,300 miles on it.
Also reported on the 2016 GMC Terrain
Other visibility problem
Wiper or washer failure
Other engine problem
Excessive oil consumption
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2016 GMC Terrain?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 55,000 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 no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2016 GMC Terrain?
8 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