Home · 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 · Complaints

What 211 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 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 (211)Crash / fire / injury (2)Engine (137)Transmission & drivetrain (36)Electrical system (24)Engine & cooling (12)Brakes (11)Fuel system (11)Speed control (7)Driver assistance (6)Visibility & wipers (6)Backup camera & sensors (5)

Newest first · 211 complaints · page 9 of 9

Mar 24, 2024Engine

On March 15, while driving on a busy road our vehicle STOPPED from catastrophic engine failure without warning which put my family and I instantly in danger and nearly got us killed. Due to the high traffic where it stopped we were scared to stay in the vehicle and also scared to exit it .. so we contacted the police before calling a tow truck. When the police arrived, they parked a car in front and behind us and put their flashers on to make us somewhat more safer... we had the vehicle towed to the local dealership and contacted the actual dealership where we purchased this brand new vehicle with zero miles that was about an hour away and they sent soneone to get the SUV . Once they ran a diagnostic they discovered metal shavings in the oil and said it needed a new engine! What's alarming is that after hearing this we started googling terms like "Denali engine failure" "Cadillac ecalade engine failure" and discovered a huge amount of consumer complaints from other GMC customers on forums with their brand new GMC vehicles with little to no mileage and ALL had the metal shavings in the oil and shockingly needed new engines! FYSA- All complaints are on the 6.2 engines specifically. This is a huge safety issue as these vehicles are stopping in the road without warning. If someone doesn't do something I'm afraid someone is going to get killed. Please look into this and help us. We paid over $100k for a vehicle we no longer can trust. We were not given a police report but I'm sure the information about this incident is available by FPD since they were called and remained on scene with us for nearly an hour waiting on the tow truck. The dealership was great by the way, we do not blame them as we feel they are victims too. This is a GMC problem who are knowingly building and selling unsafe SUVs with the 6.2 defective engine that's literally stopping without warning while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11579144

Mar 13, 2024Electrical systemLights

Dealer install illuminated sill plates GM Part No.: 84667517 causing dangerous distracted driving since they do now turn off when the doors are shut and driving as advertised. Dealer double checked installation, but I feel GM installation need to be revised. See product description below from GM website: Product Information Help give your vehicle a customized appearance Water, UV and chemical resistant Designed for a precision fit Protect your door sills from scratches and scrapes Kit includes four hardwired door sill plates for the front and rear doors Features the Denali script Make your GMC shine with stylish soft lighting that creates a more upscale appearance Automatically illuminate when door is opened and turn off when door closes

NHTSA ODI 11577128

Mar 10, 2024Transmission & drivetrainEngineFuel system

Vehicle shuts off and goes into neutral at highway speeds I am reaching out because it has happened to me three times in a seven month old vehicle and also five family members with Yukon Tahoe, Escalade same issue is very very dangerous please, I beg you take this very seriously and contact me so I could verify to you the other owners that I’ve had the same issue, but have not went far enough to make a complaint. I will prove it to you with other owners, same problem, where the vehicle just shuts off.

NHTSA ODI 11576457

Feb 16, 2024Speed controlDriver assistance

The vehicle was crawling to a stop in preparation to park in front of my garage door. When I move my hand across the steering wheel, my hand must have come in contact with the toggle/scroll for the “resume speed” function of the cruise control. The vehicle abruptly began accelerating towards my house. I was able to press the brake pedal to deactivate and stop the vehicle safely. I note that in the past week, perhaps even two, the cruise control has not been used. The vehicle is driven 2-4 trips a day.

NHTSA ODI 11572450

Dec 19, 2023Visibility & wipersLane DepartureBackup camera & sensors

Brand new vehicle, at about 5k miles the backup camera went out in April 2023. It is now December of 2023 and I have not had any sort of resolution. I have 3 children ages 2, 4 and 5 and it is very concerning for me and my wife to not have a backup camera especially at night.

NHTSA ODI 11560933

Dec 14, 2023Transmission & drivetrain

Drive shaft fell out of the vehicle while pulling out of a parking lot

NHTSA ODI 11560095

Nov 15, 2023Seats

The headrest in the 2nd and 3rd rows of the 2023 GMC Yukon are not adjustable or removable, reference page 39 of an owners manual. This is a major problem when installing car seats into the vehicle. Because of the design, the headrest tilt forward and do not allow car seats to properly sit against the back of the seats. This causes a gap between the back of the car seats and the seat back of the car. I have 4 kids and 3 different types of car seats. All of the car seat manuals say that for proper installation the car seats must seat flush with the seat back of the car. Well this cannot happen because of the design of the vehicle. Therefore I cannot properly install car seats of any type into this vehicle. I am not the only consumer with this issue as it is all over the internet as well. I have called GM corporate and they are not willing to address this safety concern as it would require a design change. I have attached pictures of 2 of the seats which have a gap between 2-5 inches depending on the height the car seats are set at.

NHTSA ODI 11555294

Jul 7, 2023Transmission & drivetrainEngine

After driving on an Interstate Highway for approximately 2 hours I exited and brought the vehicle to a complete stop at a stop sign while preparing to turn right onto a busy 2-lane road. I applied moderate gas pedal pressure and the vehicle momentarily accelerated and moved forward but then the engine stalled as the transmission was attempting to shift automatically from 1st to 2nd gear. The vehicle was partially stuck out into the busy road without any power. This created a traffic conflict and near-miss with cars traveling along the 2-lane road that I was attempting to turn onto. I restarted the vehicle and drove it slowly onto the shoulder. The vehicle’s engine repeatedly stalled any time enough gas pedal pressure was applied to cause the transmission to attempt to shift from 1st to 2nd gear. This issue only occurs after the engine and transmission have been running at operating temperature for several minutes. The dealership could not duplicate this issue, but they only drove the vehicle a total of 7 miles over two different occasions. The vehicle was purchased new on June 23, 2023 and had approximately 1,700 miles on it when the issue first occurred. There were no warning lights or messages illuminated prior to the engine stalling. Vehicle is currently at a dealership service department being evaluated.

NHTSA ODI 11530998

Jun 29, 2023Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Yukon. The contact stated while approaching a stop light at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled and lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact shifted the vehicle into park and restart the vehicle. Once the vehicle restarted, the vehicle started operating normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not repaired. A software update was performed however, the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 3,000.

NHTSA ODI 11529646

Mar 11, 2023SteeringTransmission & drivetrainSpeed control

On March 10, 2023 I exit Hwy 35 at the City of Cottula Texas, as I took the exit lane and arrived at the stop sign, the vehicle came to a complete stop the engine stop idling and the transmission switch to neutral, this created a safety issue for me and my family because I was unable to restart vehicle and I created traffic congestion at the intersection, I am worried that this can happen again and I might be exposed to other vehicles crashing against my vehicle or even worse if this is to happen in the highway I will not be able to control the proper handling of my vehicle

NHTSA ODI 11511335

Mar 10, 2023Visibility & wipers

The contact owns a 2023 GMC Yukon. The contact stated that the reflection of the instrument panel lights from the driver’s side window was significantly impairing his vision of the roadway while driving. The dealer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 133.

NHTSA ODI 11511222

← Newer

Working with the data? Download all 211 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 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Xl 1500 verdict →