Other electrical problem on the 2018 GMC Terrain
1 crash 1 of the 24 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 other electrical problem gets reported
Owners of the 2018 GMC Terrain report other electrical problem at a median of 20,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 2,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles, from 11 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 2,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 55,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 53,172 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
64% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,028 miles | 2,040 miles | 22,000 miles | 45,800 miles | 55,200 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, 1 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 $250–$2,000 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 13 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2024 at 295,000 miles.
By volume the 2010 carries the most reports, with 25; the 2018 has 24. 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.
The first time while driving at 60 MPH, the vehicle instrument panel warning lights activated and gauges fluctuated followed by acceleration, braking and steering movement. Then the information panel displayed stabilitrak unavailable, collision warning unavailable, lane change alert unavailable and transmission service. The car then started shifting erratically. The 2nd time same situation while driving 30-40 MPH.
Stopped at a light to make a left turn. The vehicle jerked, then shifted from drive to park. The info system gave me the following messages: transmission, stabilitrak and parking assist. I turned the vehicle off and tried to restart it. I got a message that said "this vehicle is unsafe to drive.:" at this time non of the gear options were available. A roseville, michigan police officer had to position herself behind me becsuse cars were going around me on both sides (my four way blinkers were on).the tow truck driver was unable to put the vehicle in neutral, thus my vehicle had to be dragged onto the truck. At the dealer they were unable to change gears and once again my vehicle was dragged off the tow truck prior to this incident. I reported to the dealer the rocky, bouncy, pulling ride which made the vehicle hard to control. I also reported the jerking while driving and in the auto stop. Despite all of my verbalizations of the concerns, they, wrote the work orders in dealer language and only addressed what they wanted.
Addition to report 11091743. The vehicle was serviced for warning of transmission, stabilitrak, parking assist and notification that vehicle was unsafe to drive (may 2, 2018). Vehicle picked up (may 11, 2018) after series of repairs. I drove approximately 15 miles and the vehicle began jerking and stalling. At the final jerk the vehicle went from 35 MPH to 5mph and would not accellerate. There were several loud noises and a burning smell. The vehicle had to be towed to my residence. When I picked up the vehicle from jim causley I asked if it was safe to drive. I received no response. I asked about the repairs and I was told there were some loose wires and minor adjustments. Once again my life was put in jeopardy because of a vehicle failing to operate while in heavy traffic.
Also reported on the 2018 GMC Terrain
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other driver assistance problem
Parking brake failure
Loss of braking
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 24 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 electrical problem happen on the 2018 GMC Terrain?
Across 11 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 20,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 2,000 miles and a quarter after 45,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other electrical problem on the 2018 GMC Terrain?
24 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.3 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