2023 GMC Terrain: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2023 GMC Terrain
On the 2023 GMC Terrain, the failure owners report most often is fuel pump failure, with 10 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 25,000 miles. Overall it scores 70 out of 100, high risk for a 2023.
High risk for a 2023 — 168th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. 69 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
What breaks on the 2023 GMC Terrain
Owners have reported 25 named failure modes on the 2023 GMC Terrain, and the three most-reported carry 30% of everything filed, which is an unusually even spread for one model year.
Fuel pump failure leads with 10 reports and about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles.
Lane keep or steering assist fault follows with 6 reports. 1 of those report mention a fire.
Other powertrain problem follows with 5 reports.
By system, the reports fall mostly into fuel (15), adas (13) and engine (8).
At what mileage it happens
14 of the reports on the 2023 GMC Terrain came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 25,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 86% by 50,000 miles and 93% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 0 and 10,000 miles, which alone holds 29% of the dated reports.
71% 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.
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
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
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 3 mention a crash, 1 a fire and 2 an injury. 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 4.10, 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: fuel pump failure at $600–$2,600, lane keep or steering assist fault at $200–$1,600, other powertrain problem at $400–$4,500 and other engine problem at $300–$4,000. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
26% 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
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel pump failure | fuel | 10 | 3 | — | 41k | — | 0.2 | $600–$2,600 | High |
| Lane keep or steering assist fault | adas | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,600 | High |
| Other powertrain problem | transmission | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $400–$4,500 | High |
| Other engine problem | engine | 4 | 1 | — | 70k | — | 0.1 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 4 | 2 | — | 21k | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other driver assistance problem | adas | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | High |
| Other body or interior problem | body | 4 | 1 | — | 10 | — | 0.1 | $200–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Wiring harness or short circuit | electrical | 3 | 1 | — | 100k | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Infotainment screen failure | infotainment | 3 | 1 | — | 21k | — | 0.1 | $400–$2,600 | Low |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 3 | 1 | — | 24k | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Complete transmission failure | transmission | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $2,800–$8,000 | Critical |
| Cruise control failure | adas | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $200–$1,400 | High |
| Complete engine failure or seizure | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $4,500–$12,000 | Critical |
| Excessive oil consumption | engine | 1 | 1 | — | 18k | — | 0.0 | $900–$6,500 | High |
| Oil leak | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,200 | Moderate |
| Misfire or rough idle | engine | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$1,600 | Moderate |
| Overheating | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Thermostat failure | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $250–$900 | Moderate |
| Differential or transfer case failure | drivetrain | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $900–$4,200 | High |
| Fuel injector failure | fuel | 1 | 1 | — | 36k | — | 0.0 | $450–$2,800 | Moderate |
| Other steering problem | steering | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,400 | High |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other lighting problem | lighting | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.0 | $120–$1,200 | Moderate |
| Other speed control problem | adas | 1 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.0 | $250–$2,000 | Critical |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 1 | — | 7k | — | 0.0 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. 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 2023 GMC Terrain draws about 1.2 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 75th percentile of complaint rates among 2023 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 55,682 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2023 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
Recalls on the 2023 model year
NHTSA has issued 2 recall campaigns covering the 2023 GMC Terrain, affecting an estimated 55,685 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover child seat:vehicle latch anchor and air bags:sensor:occupant classification:front passenger. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
One caution about reading these together: a recall usually raises the complaint count for the same part, because owners who read about it go and file. The mileages stay informative; the counts get noisy.
CHILD SEAT:VEHICLE LATCH ANCHOR
668,187 vehicles 2023-05-11- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2023 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles. The four rear-seat lower child seat LATCH anchorage bars may have excessive powder coating, which could prevent a child seat from being installed with the anchorage bars. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, "Child Restraint Anchorage Systems."
- Consequence
- The inability to install a child seat with the LATCH anchorage bars could result in an unsecured child seat, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
- Remedy
- Owners are advised to install child seats using the vehicle's rear seat belts until the remedy is complete. Dealers will inspect the latch anchorage bars, and remove and replace the finish, as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 2, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N232403240.
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER
9 vehicles 2022-12-15- Defect
- General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2023 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles equipped with ventilated front passenger seats. The Occupant Classification System may not properly disable the front passenger air bag when there is a small child or child restraint detected in the seat.
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash, a front passenger air bag that deploys with a child or infant in the front passenger seat can increase their risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the passenger presence system, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 24, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N222388911.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2023 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.
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 2023 sits in the model line
High risk for a 2023 — 168th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 17 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2021 comes out best at 62 and 2019 worst at 80, with 2023 itself at 70.
If the model year is negotiable, 2021, 2016, 2015, 2022, 2014 and 2025 score lower than 2023 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 2021–2023 generation specifically, 2021 is the strongest year at 62 and 2023 the weakest at 70.
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.
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 2021-2023 generation, 2021 GMC Terrain scores best at 62 and 2023 GMC Terrain worst at 70.
The limits of complaint data
69 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. 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 69 reports, 14 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 20% 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 2023 GMC Terrain?
The most-reported failures are fuel pump failure (10 reports, median 40,000 miles), lane keep or steering assist fault (6 reports) and other powertrain problem (5 reports). 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.
Is the 2023 GMC Terrain reliable?
It scores 70 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 168th riskiest of the 227 2023 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2023 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 Terrain is best?
Within the 2021–2023 generation, 2021 scores best at 62 out of 100 and 2023 worst at 70. 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 Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed