KnownCarProblems2016 GMC Yukon XL Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 201 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 GMC Yukon XL, most often about the lights (42% of complaints, typically around 52,000 miles). It is 4th of 27 Yukon XL model years by number of complaints and has 3 recalls.
⚠ Safety advisory1 recall for this car came with a do-not-drive warning. See below and check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Most common 2016 GMC Yukon XL problems
Lights
84 complaints · 42%Half of these problems showed up before 52,000 miles. Parts named most often: tail lights, brake lights.
Rear passenger brake light stop working, vehicle is only 2 years old. We should not be having this issue so soon or at all, since LED lights normally dont stop working. I also looked into fixing it and its gonna cost $700 dollars. This is ridiculous!
Vehicle has 52,000 miles on it and driver side tail light stopped working. It is an LED and should last for many years. Has not been in an accident. This is faulty manufacturing. Consumer protection needed.
Brakes
41 complaints · 20%Half of these problems showed up before 58,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2016 GMC yukon. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 60 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed however, there was a delay for the brakes to engage causing the vehicle to crash into another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was not filed. The contact stated that…
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. On several occasions, when the brake pedal was depressed at low speeds, the brakes failed to slow down the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to southern pines chevrolet buick GMC (10722 US-15, southern pines, nc 28387, ([phone])…
Transmission
33 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 60,000 miles.
Vehicle began hesitating during acceleration. Problem occurred intermittently at first but now occurs each time the vehicle is driven. Check engine light comes on occasionally. This jerking causes safety issues when trying to increase speed. Many complaints are on line from other owners with same issue
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while coming to a stop, the vehicle shuddered while the transmission slipped from first to second gear. The vehicle was taken to dellen chevy buick GMC (2527 w main st, greenfield, in 46140) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission…
Electrical
30 complaints · 15%Half of these problems showed up before 54,000 miles.
Rear passenger brake light stop working, vehicle is only 2 years old. We should not be having this issue so soon or at all, since LED lights normally dont stop working. I also looked into fixing it and its gonna cost $700 dollars. This is ridiculous!
Running boards failing to work properly all the time. Sometimes will start to go down but return up when opening door. Will also fail to go up after closing door and remain down. Middle row dvd screen is black and not working. Rear brake lights working off and on. Horrible loud squealing sound under the hood. The…
Engine
28 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 91,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while stopped at a red light and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle jerked and jumped forward. There was a loud sound coming from the engine. The accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate above 5 MPH. The check engine…
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that the check engine warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle shuddered when shifting gears. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the transmission, transmission fluid, and wiring harness needed to be replaced; however, parts…
Other or unspecified
10 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 35,500 miles.
My driver side LED taillight went out. You can not just change a bulb or the LED strip. It requires the whole assembly be replaced. My vehicle is 2 years old. It should not gone out after 2 years, let alone it being an LED which is supppse to last much much longer than that. I was told while driving, it would go on…
Water leaked into the vehicle's roof mounted antenna. This condition prevented the vehicle's onstar system from accurately determining the vehicle's location; disabled the vehicle's compass, navigation, and xm radio systems; illuminated the vehicle's red onstar indicator; and allowed water into the interior driver…
Suspension
9 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 38,000 miles.
Vehicle shakes/vibrates above 35 MPH. When vehicle accelerates above 35 MPH the the steering will vibrate with a feeling that the suspension is shimmying/shuddering rapidly. This is especially bad on an incline from a stopped position. As the vehicle accelerates up the incline, when approximately 35 MPH is attained…
I asked my mechanic to check the rough ride on my truck when he serviced the vehicle. He said the front struts were locking up and I should take it to my dealer. My dealer said they were locked up and needed to be replaced. The dealer will replace the struts for approx. $2000. They say they haven't had problems with…
Steering
9 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 64,500 miles.
At 64,497 my wife's power steering went out on her vehicle. This happened a day after our trip to atlanta, ga. We took it to our local GMC dealership and was notified that 4 modules had to be replaced and a recommended wiring harness. In 2015 GMC vehicles had a similar issue and recall but not the 2016. This cost me…
Vehicle shakes/vibrates above 35 MPH. When vehicle accelerates above 35 MPH the the steering will vibrate with a feeling that the suspension is shimmying/shuddering rapidly. This is especially bad on an incline from a stopped position. As the vehicle accelerates up the incline, when approximately 35 MPH is attained…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2016 GMC Yukon XL recalls
Seat belts: pretensioner
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the sdm software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the sdm replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on august 4, 2017. Owners may contact buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is 17287.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 buick lacrosse and chevrolet spark EV, caprice ppv and ss vehicles, 2014-2017 buick encore and chevrolet corvette, silverado 1500 and gmc sierra 1500 vehicles, 2015-2016 cadillac escalade and escalade esv, chevrolet tahoe, trax, suburban and silverado 2500 and 3500 and gmc yukon and yukon xl vehicles, and 2015-2017 gmc sierra hd 2500 and 3500 vehicles. While being previously remedied for recall 16v-651, the affected vehicles may not have received the complete software update necessary to remedy the recall condition. Without the update, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (sdm) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Seat belts: pretensioner
Risk: A failure of the front air bags or seat belt pretensioners to deploy in the event of a crash necessitating deployment increases the risk of injury to the driver and front passenger.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will reflash the sdm software. Vehicles that have had a previous air bag deployment will have the sdm replaced. These repairs will be performed free of charge. The recall began on october 13, 2016. Owners may contact buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is 16007.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2015-2017 chevrolet silverado 2500 hd, 3500 hd, tahoe, suburban, gmc sierra 2500 hd and 3500 hd, gmc yukon, gmc yukon xl, cadillac escalade and cadillac escalade esv vehicles and 2014-2017 chevrolet corvette, silverado 1500, trax, caprice police pursuit vehicle, gmc sierra 1500, buick encore, and 2014-2016 buick lacrosse, chevrolet spark EV and ss vehicles. In the affected vehicles, certain driving conditions may cause the air bag sensing and diagnostic module (sdm) software to activate a diagnostic test. During this test, deployment of the frontal air bags and the seat belt pretensioners would not occur in the event of a crash.
Suspension: control arm
Risk: Inadequate welds may allow the control arm to separate from the bushing, compromising steering and increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Gm will notify owners, and dealers will replace the left and right front upper control arms and realign the vehicle, free of charge. The recall began on may 18, 2016. Until the repairs have been made, owners are advised not to drive their vehicles. Owners may contact chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or gmc customer service at 1-800-462-8782. Gm's number for this recall is 42190.
Full defect summary
General motors llc (gm) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 chevrolet silverado 1500 and 2016 cadillac escalade, cadillac escalade esv, chevrolet suburban, chevrolet tahoe, gmc sierra, gmc yukon and gmc yukon xl vehicles. The front upper control arms may have inadequate welds near the control arm bushing.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Brake vacuum pump failure
Summary
On november 20, 2018, the office of defects investigations (odi) opened pe18-012 to investigate instances of sudden onset of a hard brake pedal that could result in extended stopping distance due to an issue with the brake assist vacuum pump in model year (my) 2014 through 2016 gmc sierra 1500 and chevrolet silverado 1500 series pickup trucks and my 2015 through 2016 cadillac escalade, chevrolet suburban, chevrolet tahoe, and gmc yukon suvs.if the brake assist vacuum pump fails to operate as intended, the amount of brake power assist supplied to the driver can be significantly reduced, extending the subject vehicle stopping distance. Gm stated that the root cause of pump failures was due to
Questions about the 2016 GMC Yukon XL
- What are the most common problems with the 2016 GMC Yukon XL?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: lights (84 complaints, typically around 52,000 miles); brakes (41 complaints, typically around 58,000 miles); transmission (33 complaints, typically around 60,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2016 GMC Yukon XL have?
- 3 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from July 10, 2017 (seat belts). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2016 a bad year for the GMC Yukon XL?
- It is 4th of 27 Yukon XL model years by number of complaints, with 201 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.