Home · 2017 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 · Complaints

What 147 owners told NHTSA about the 2017 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 (147)Crash / fire / injury (8)Lights (41)Transmission & drivetrain (35)Electrical system (32)Engine (25)Brakes (23)Fuel system (5)Airbags (4)Seats (4)Speed control (4)Suspension (4)

Newest first · 147 complaints · page 3 of 6

Feb 24, 2023Lights

Rear brake light has stopped working. GMC dealer quotes $990 to replace one tail light assembly. It appears to be a common problem caused by a weak conductor that breaks inside the assembly. Because of the high price quoted by dealerships, people are resorting to fixing it themselves, like in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxluJqB0gWU This is dangerous. This part should not be breaking so quickly. It should not be allowed that fixing brake light be so expensive by the manufacturer.

NHTSA ODI 11508987

Feb 15, 2023Engine

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the cam shaft, manifold, and lifters needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 104,000.

NHTSA ODI 11507422

Jan 23, 2023Transmission & drivetrain

The transmission begin to cause the vehicle to shudder and shake. This caused shifting problems that cause the vehicle to be unable to safely drive down the road. We have confirmed with a mechanic that has seen and fixed this same issue multiple times. Causing the transmission to need to be replaced. This is due to the issues that many vehicles like this one that continues to be a problem. This issues has caused my vehicle to be unable to accelerate and has caused it to stop in the road. This is very unsafe and needs to be fixed for all those with this similar vehicle so no one is severely injured.

NHTSA ODI 11503089

Jan 5, 2023Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while at a stop, the vehicle hesitated while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was jerking while driving forward at a slow speed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to the dealer where the vehicle remained. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

NHTSA ODI 11500264

Nov 23, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

Transmission failed with no symptons. No indications of potential issues prior. All recommended service checks done with vehicle, oil changes etc... 75,026 miles. Pulled up to a red light in heavy traffic and transmission would not engage. No forward, reverse, or in Low 1. Tried 4 wheel and 2 wheel drive. Nothing. Yukon 2017 XL SLT model.

NHTSA ODI 11494751

Nov 19, 2022Visibility & wipers

Not sure if this is the correct raea to notify regarding this incident. I had windshield replaced by Safelite Auto Glass in Cadillc Mi.After the service the technician said he calibrated everything and all is fine. Upon my initial driving after the windshield service the vehicle engine light was flashing and the display was telling me the advanced collision and lane departure warning systems were inoperable. Additionally the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle could not be driven safely. I contacted Safelite in Cadillac Michigan the next morning and was initially told the warnings have nothing to do with the service they performed and they do not have to do anything to help me. The manager advised that they ran 3 scans with their equipment and all scans came out good. The manager is saying that confirms everything was OK. I see that as an admission of something being wrong since the technician ran 3 scans. Why run additional scans if all is good. What he was seeing is that the vehicle was displaying warning lights and was not running properly. That is why he kept running scans over and over. Even after 7 scans now they are still saying it's not their problem. Obviously their equipment is incapable of calibrating the new windshield to the vehicle. Additionally they have caused a problem within the engine control module by hooking up faulty electronic device. The vehicle is inoperable. Additionally Safelite knows that they are incapable of performing windshield replacement on this vehicle. The technician no more than left my driveway and I received a text from Safelite saying: "Modifications to your vehicle may cause your advanced safety systems to not function a intended" That is admission thjat Safelite knows they are incompetent in this matter. The windshield is in of the most important safety feature in a vehicle. It is unacceptable the an industry leading automotive aftermarket company is continuing to operate this way. Please look into this.

NHTSA ODI 11494221

Oct 3, 2022AirbagsSeatsCrash1 injury

The drivers seat broke and front airbags did not deploy. The seat broke during rear end collision which pushed the seat back so I was no longer able to reach steering wheel or brakes to stop. Went thru on coming traffic to end up on wrong side of road in ditch. Police inspection, insurance inspections, auto repair inspection No warnings.

NHTSA ODI 11487688

Sep 18, 2022Electrical systemBackup camera & sensors

UNKNOWN 4 times in the past 6 months, while parking the vehicle (turning into a spot, left or right) or slowly turning to pull up to a security code box, the car completely begins to lose power in drive, and has lost power while in drive twice. The dash begins to flicker to the point that you can't decipher which error codes are showing up. Most recently, the Trailer Brake Service message was on before it died. We were not towing anything, did not have tow mode on, or anything like that. The parking sensors were on for all these instances...regardless if we were parking or not. I can't confirm if that is the issue or not. It was pretty dangerous when I was pulling into my parents driveway along a busy road when the car did this before I was completely off the road...with my 3 young children in the back 2 rows. I know the battery is new. I did have the dealer look at the brakes about a month ago, because I felt they were soft. They said they were fine. They and myself checked the reservoir for brake fluid low. Was in normal range. Starter was replaced in March time frame. I feel this is related to the factory trailering system wiring harness or something.

NHTSA ODI 11485107

Sep 6, 2022Service Brakes, AirCrash

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that while reversing, the brake pedal became hard and unresponsive. As a result, the contact crashed into a guardrail. There were no reported injuries. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake assist pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and a ticket was submitted. The contact stated the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V645000 ( Service Brakes, Hydraulic). The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.

NHTSA ODI 11483002

Aug 30, 2022Brakes

SERVICE TRAILER BRAKE SYSTEM

NHTSA ODI 11482089

Aug 21, 2022Brakes

Brake peddle get hard while reversing at low speeds

NHTSA ODI 11480416

Jul 10, 2022Brakes

Brake Assist went out. I have to use 2 feet to even stop.

NHTSA ODI 11473159

Jul 9, 2022Brakes

My brake lights work intermittently. If you tap the actual brake light they will flicker on and off. This puts others and my self at risk as the indicator for by braking system is not functioning properly. My vehicle has been to my local GMC dealer with a replacement cost of $950.00. I also received a written warning from my local police department. There are no warning notices.

NHTSA ODI 11473043

Jun 27, 2022Engine

The contact owns a 2017 GMC Yukon XL. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the vehicle was running rough. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The dealer stated that the fuel injector had failed and the vehicle was experiencing the failure stated in TSB: N182198000 (Engine). The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included in TSB: N182198000. The manufacturer offered no additional assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 32,000.

NHTSA ODI 11471250

Jun 22, 2022Electrical systemLane DepartureDriver assistance

I was driving and all my sensors came on stating they needed service including front camera, blind spot notification, lane departure, emergency braking etc. upon parking I exited my vehicle and walked around the rear of my car to find multiple wires hanging down burned from my exhaust. I took my vehicle to an automotive repair shop and not the dealer since it was no longer under warranty. They said they had never seen anything like it. It appeared the harness that holds the sensor module/wires disconnected from the car. It appears to be held in place with some sort of industrial glue. When it failed it was hanging in front of the exhaust and melted all of them. This disabled all of these sensors. I now have to pay for a new harness and to replace all of these sensors. In researching online it appears water intrusion has caused issues in some models and caused these harnesses to fail. I’m wondering if this is the cause even though this model isn’t part of the recall.

NHTSA ODI 11470355

Apr 28, 2022Lights

Running lights on rear keep failing. This is a known issue with these models.

NHTSA ODI 11462681

Apr 5, 2022Electrical systemBrakesCrash

The rear break lights malfunctioned and will quite working periodically there has been no inspection from a dealership at this moment and driving at night time puts me and my family at risk due to the fact that I could be rear ended and cause a major accident and my vehicle has no warning light or service light for this problem.

NHTSA ODI 11459762

Mar 14, 2022Lights

Just driving along yesterday in my Yukon, and when I stopped another driver pulled up to me and informed me my right rear brake light is not working. Upon further investigation, it comes in and out (sometimes it works sometimes it does not). I had this same issue with my 2015 Yukon, I would have thought GM would have this fixed by now, very expensive fix on my 2015, assuming it’s the same cost or close. Very dangerous to have a brake light out and reduce another drivers reaction time to stop and prevent a rear end collision. Furthermore the vehicle has no indication that a light or bulb is out, a lot of vehicles have that programming, surprisingly this does not.

NHTSA ODI 11456557

Mar 7, 2022Speed controlDriver assistance

Adaptive cruise control system is not properly designed to recognize vehicles that are adjacent to the traveling lane and not directly in front of the vehicle. When traveling on the interstate with adaptive cruise engaged, we came around a bend in the road approaching an entrance ramp. There was a slow moving vehicle on the entrance ramp which was apparently identified by the adaptive cruise system as being in front of our vehicle in the same lane. The adaptive cruise caused our vehicle to brake violently while still in the bend in the road, which in turn caused us to swerve into the next lane where there was a car traveling adjacent, but just behind us. This was a very unexpected series of events, and could have resulted in catastrophic consequences had the adjacent car been any closer at the time. This is a major flaw in the adaptive cruise system. And it is compounded by the fact that the adaptive cruise system cannot be switched over to a manually controlled more traditional cruise system. This is a severe design flaw with the GMC Yukon. Some of this could be remedied by issuing a firmware update that allows the driver to disengage the adaptive cruise and switch to a more traditional cruise control method. But GMC has no interest in providing this update, even with multiple message board threads talking about the dangers of the adaptive cruise control.

NHTSA ODI 11455560

Feb 5, 2022Electrical system

This complaint is not in response to an event. It is a safety issue resulting from a common problem with this vehicle model, i.e.: brake light failure. The tail/brake light LED circuit board has a design weakness resulting in cracking of the board in 2 common locations, resulting in stop light illumination failures, which could lead to rear end collisions. GM has not issued a recall and their extended warranty allowance is inadequate, thereby leaving a significant repair expense falling to owners when the problem is encountered. The proper safety response is for GM to recall all of the vehicles with this style tail light in order to repair the circuit board weakness.

NHTSA ODI 11450600

Jan 2, 2022Lights

Taillights and brake lights inoperative. GMC knows of problem and refuses to repair vehicle outside of manufacturer warranty (lights failed after warranty period). I have seen SEVERAL other Yukons on the road with NO brake lights or tail lights. Extremely dangerous situation.

NHTSA ODI 11445876

Dec 24, 2021Lights

Rear LED brake light stopped working. Supposed to have a vehicle lifetime lifespan. i.e. never require replacing. This light assembly was found to be defective in the previous year model and not fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11444903

Nov 2, 2021Lights

Passenger rear tail lamp/brake lamp failure. This is a known issue with GMC Yukon vehicles MY 2015-2019 with LED tail lamps. Metal within the lamp vibrates loose and cause the brake lamp to fail - thus resulting in no BRAKE Lamps illuminating at braking. This would be the second time this issue has occurred in 4 months, with the previous repair occurring rear drivers side and logged with NHTSA for this issue under 11436519. Opening this case as now the other side (passenger failed) with the EXACT same issue.

NHTSA ODI 11438993

Nov 2, 2021SteeringTransmission & drivetrain

Car is shaking when accelerating. Feels like it will cause more damage.

NHTSA ODI 11439120

Oct 12, 2021Transmission & drivetrain

We were on the freeway with my 4 small children. The freeway speed is 75 mph. The car had been jerking and hard shifting for over a week and I had it scheduled with a mechanic. As we were driving on the freeway, it lost total power as cars were going to the left and right around us. I was barely able to get it to the side of the road without being hit. This could have been tragic! I took it to the mechanic and the transmission is shaving a lot of metal (that was in the bottom of the pan). I have had to pay to have a whole new transmission redone. This is absurd with a car that is only 4 years old.

NHTSA ODI 11436506

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Working with the data? Download all 147 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 2017 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 verdict →