Home · 2016 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 · Complaints

What 497 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (497)Crash / fire / injury (18)Lights (209)Brakes (95)Electrical system (88)Transmission & drivetrain (71)Engine (57)Steering (20)Suspension (16)Body & structure (13)Speed control (10)Fuel system (9)

95 of 497 complaints match · Brakes · clear filters · page 1 of 4

Jul 21, 2025Brakes

I have repair the trailer brake system warning light prior. Now again this faulty wiring module is constantly dinging and flashing warning messages while driving. It's very distracting and irrelevant considering I not towing anything. It covers the speedometer and is a complete nuisance.

NHTSA ODI 11674962

May 6, 2025Electrical systemBrakesFuel system

Engine light keeps appearing and when checked it shows catalytic converter needs replaces and its sensors need replaced. Brake light has short in it and I repaireable

NHTSA ODI 11659194

Apr 10, 2025Transmission & drivetrainBrakes

Transmission failure, hard shifting, slipping and loss of power also severe shuddering. Very dangerous driving. I had to have the transmission replaced after taking the vehicle to a dealership and upon verification from same dealership reproducing the transmission failure. Massive financial loss, dealership stated these transmissions are known to fail. Manufacturer has been notified by numerous complaints. Compensation is warranted

NHTSA ODI 11653984

Mar 5, 2025Brakes

On two occasions while driving at low speed, my vehicle braked on its on a pulled hard to the left; the stabilitrac indicator also popped on briefly. I went online to determine if there were any recalls on my vehicle and found that one of the recalls on the 2016 Yukon was the exact issue happening with my vehicle. I checked my VIN and found that my vehicle was not one of the vehicles with this issue. I called GM to see if my vehicle had just not been published yet. I explain the situation too the customer service person; she understood my situation and informed me that until my specific VIN in identified with this issue, there's nothing that can be done. I'm thinking that until an accident happen because of this issue, there is nothing that can be done. I read that my issue was a problem with the EBCM, which needs to be reprogrammed. I thank you for any assistance with this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11646556

Feb 20, 2025BrakesDriver assistance

There's alot of time while I'm driving in line going slowly and break pedal become hard and it will seem like the truck it's not stopping.

NHTSA ODI 11644002

Jan 29, 2025Electrical systemSeat beltsBrakes

I WAS DRIVING MY CAR MONDAY AND I ALMOST CRASH WITH THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME THE BRAKES DOESNT WORK AND THEN IN THE PANEL START LIGHTS OF THE ENGINE THE SUPENSION LIGHT AND SIGH SAYING BRAKE ASISTANT, THE CAR IS PARK BECAUSE THE BRAKES AND I LOOK FOR RECALLS AND I CALL GMC AND THEY SAYS THAT I DONT HAVE ANY RECALL BUT I ALMOST DIE MONDAY BECAUSE THE VACUM PUMP FOR THE BRAKES FAIL AND ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE PANNEL START LIGHT UP.

NHTSA ODI 11639463

Jan 16, 2025BrakesDriver assistance

My brakes are not working properly. I can be backing up and put my foot on the brake. My truck will keep moving until I apply a lot of pressure on the brake pedal. I can be backing up and my truck will automatically brake and stop moving. I have to cut the truck off, start it back up for it to move. I was in a stand still traffic jam and braking a lot and my truck did stop it keep rolling. Sometimes when I apply the brake it slides.. This is the third time I have put it in the shop. I changed the brakes, brake sensor and replaced tires. I am scared to drive it. My truck is currently in the shop now for the brakes. please help.

NHTSA ODI 11636319

Nov 15, 2024Electrical systemBrakes

The car has all of a sudden had issues with the gas and breaking. When I press the gas, it stalls then rapidly accelerates. It has to be the transmission. Also, is making a noise and will barely drive when pressing on the gas. It does not accelerate!! Could have easily gotten into a car accident! What is going on??

NHTSA ODI 11625526

Oct 18, 2024Brakes

Driving back from Las Vegas for a family trip, traffic was heavy, a lot of stop-and go. I started to feel the brakes delay to stop. After a few minutes I was able to pick up a little speed and again traffic was built up. This time the brakes failed and got stiff. I had to slam on the brakes and practically stand up on the brakes in order for the car to stop. I barely avoided wrecking into the car in front of me. I was a few hours away from home and had to drive all the way with this problem. When I got home I took it in to the nearest dealer shop to get the brakes checked . I looked online and found out about the recall on the brakes.

NHTSA ODI 11620715

Oct 8, 2024BrakesDriver assistance

When driving through Eugene brakes suddenly got soft while at a stoplight, then pedal got stiff and very hard to keep pressed. An alert came on the dashboard 'Brake Assist Service' just about the same time the brake pedal changed and car would not fully stay at a stop. When checking to feel what had just happened, by letting up and repressing the brakes, it would not fully stop car, even with all my strength pressing. If another car would have been coming through, my young son or myself could have been killed or seriously injured and I could cause someone seriously to be hurt or killed from being in their lane of travel. I alerted my husband that I was unable to drive the vehicle safely, he is in the vehicle industry and looked up online and found there is a common known problem, recalls, and service bulletins, but apparently not for vehicle years prior to 2017, although this severe failure is seen on 2014 and later; and the manual tests/diagnostics that a person can do in a pinch per the bulletin, recall notice, and articles; and in his trials of how to tell if it is a failure or fleeting problem - nothing alleviated it, all the symptoms are present and system is failing and continually bringing up the brake assist service alert. This is the info that we found on the recall, but didn't appear to cover 2016 year models: [NHTSA campaign number: 20V603. GM's own number for this recall is N202300860.] We plan to get this yukon over to Guaranty Chevrolet in Junction City Oregon tomorrow 10/8. The only thing that has been very recently noticeable preceding this in recent week or so is a slight uneven braking feeling in the motion of the car when coming to a stop. Which it has not done before.

NHTSA ODI 11618613

Sep 12, 2024SuspensionElectrical systemBrakes

i HAVE A SERVICE SUSPENSION LIGHT THAT CONTINUES TO POP UP ON DASHBOARD THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IS THE BRAKE LIGHTS. I have previously had the passenger side brake light stop working. In order to repair this you have to order a whole new taillight. My vehicle was approximatly 6 years old when this started happening. First incident (2022 with approximately 65000 miles) Yesterday, I was pulled over by a policeman and both of my brake lights are not working. We found a way to sauder (I know this is incorrect spelling) the broken metal piece back together in the taillight; however, this is not the correct way to fix the underlying problem and clearly it is only a temporary fix because the passenger side broke again in a new spot.

NHTSA ODI 11614329

Jul 20, 2024Brakes

Brake light keeps going off and on it’s like a short but when checked everything is connected

NHTSA ODI 11603526

Jun 14, 2024Brakes

During standard braking operations the vehicle (not a hard emergency situation) on dry ground the vehicle seems to activate the abs system or something similar which makes the braking effort non standard and increases stopping distance. The issue has occurred occasionally for over a year but is becoming more frequent. It has occurred at both highway speeds of 55 mph and almost stopped during parking activities of 2mph.

NHTSA ODI 11594319

Mar 20, 2024Brakes

GMC is stating that due to a recall my brake booster vacuum pump failed and now they are that is is not covered and I will be out of pocket on the issue after numerous phone called with GM they are still of no help and the vehicle is not safe to drive which is my only means of transportation

NHTSA ODI 11578539

Jan 5, 2024Electrical systemBrakes

I was driving and n the freeway around 70 miles and " TRAILER Brake SERVICE" message appears on the dash board screen We don't pulling nothing on that time and normally we don't use this car for pulling, the other message appears several times is very frustrating. I am the guy in charge for this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11563782

Nov 26, 2023Brakes

My 2016 GMC Yukon is hard to stop when pressing brake pedal. Vehicle shimmy’s when pressing the brake and it must be pressed very hard. Have read and watched many videos this is very common issue on 2014-2018 Yukons and Tahoes. This could be very dangerous and my question is, why has these vehicles not been recalled to prevent accidents when it seems to be a common issue and expensive to fix?

NHTSA ODI 11556882

Aug 20, 2023Brakes

“Service Trailer brake system” warning continually going off when driving

NHTSA ODI 11539639

Jul 26, 2023Electrical systemBrakes

The vehicle consistently alerts with service trailer brake system warnings and has progressively become more of a frequent problem with the system doing it constantly even when no trailer is being towed This has been occurring since time of purchase in March 2021 when we purchased the vehicle and has become consistently more frequent over time

NHTSA ODI 11534703

Jul 21, 2023Brakes

Truck keeps saying to service trailer braking system and won't start.

NHTSA ODI 11533642

May 14, 2023Brakes

Brakes will randomly stop working. When the brakes are pressed you have to press all the way down and then vehicle still won’t stop and the only way for the vehicle to come to a complete stop is to press the parking brake. Brakes and rotors have been replaced already and it still happens

NHTSA ODI 11521931

Sep 17, 2022Speed controlBrakesDriver assistance

When I was merging on the fwy my car accelerated and I couldn’t slow it down. I had to get off the fwy and break really hard. Driving on the fwy and not being able to control the speed or breaks could of caused an accident or cost us our lives. I have an appointment with the dealer service center on Sept 20, 2022. A few weeks ago I noticed the car was having trouble sifting gears.

NHTSA ODI 11484918

Aug 1, 2022Brakes

2016 Yukon XL ~ 90,000 miles. This is the second time I get a low speed braking failure when trying to park, followed immediately by a "Brake Assist Malfunction" warning on the dashboard. Both failures have occurred after a long distance travel. The last one being from Detroit to Chicago on 7/30/22. The failure consisted on the SUV not stopping after I had applied the brake pedal at full when backing up for a parallel parking on a street in Chicago. Same happened after I drove forward almost hitting the car in front of me. The SUV continued moving for about a foot on both situations. Before this incident, similar situation happened on a trip from Detroit to Cleveland on March 2022. The SUV continued to move fwd after I had applied the brakes. In this occasion, I was on a ramp down getting into a parking garage. The SUV did not stop for an approximately a foot as well, and again almost hitting the car in front of me.

NHTSA ODI 11476988

Jul 28, 2022Brakes

Vacuum

NHTSA ODI 11476388

Jul 19, 2022BrakesLights

The contact owns a 2016 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH with her husband driving behind her, he noticed that the taillights were inoperable. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the taillight functions were inoperable. The contact was informed that the failure experienced was similar to the Special Coverage under N182180270. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle was out of coverage. The manufacturer was contacted and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was 32,022.

NHTSA ODI 11474781

Jun 21, 2022Electrical systemBrakesEngine

In my experience of transmission failure with my 16’ GMC YUKON, there was no warning. I had not experienced any issues with the slipping or jerking feel when accelerating or braking as described in the class action law suit. My vehicle had 105k miles, I took it in for regular maintenance including having the transmission flushed as I was told to do so for preventative maintenance. The transmission failed when I was traveling on the interstate with my family and I came upon some traffic so I applied the brake and the whole vehicle bucked and jerked as it shifted into down gear. I was traveling at 30-35 mph in the traffic and the whole time I felt a slipping motion in the car. I made it to a gas station, refueled, and tried to restart my journey. As I leery the gas station accelerating to get back on the interstate, the vehicle would not accelerate above 35 mph and the RPMs we’re to the max. At this point, my vehicle was in drivable. No prior warning, no issues that had been occurring over time, this all happened the same day. I towed my vehicle to a Chevrolet dealer where the problem was identified as a failed transmission in need of replacement and failed ABS braking system. The cost came at $6800.

NHTSA ODI 11470172

Older →

Working with the data? Download all 497 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 25, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2016 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 verdict →