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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
39,954 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2001 Chevrolet Suburban transmission problems

transmission problem

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2001 Chevrolet Suburban Owner Comments (Page 1 of 2)

problem #22

Jan 012004

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 60,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban. While driving 35 mph in the rain, the ABS light illuminated. When the contact turned off the engine, it made a humming sound. He disconnected the module and the humming stopped. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer the following day and they replaced the module under warranty. Three years later, the failure recurred. He purchased the third module and had it replaced by a local mechanic. Three weeks ago, the contact noticed that the turn signals on his vehicle were intermittently illuminating. As of June 12, 2008, the vehicle has not been repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000 and current mileage was 80,000. Updated 07/08/08. The consumer also stated there was a delayed engagement from reverse to drive. Updated

- Port Hueneme, CA, USA

problem #21

Oct 112007

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 73,622 miles
I have a 2001 Chevy Suburban and this is the 5th. Transmission I have put in the vehicle. The transmission first failed at 15,339 miles and was repaired under warranty. At 50,525 miles it failed again and cost me $1802.94 to fix. At 62,823 it failed again and a Chevrolet dealer in Oklahoma repaired it, for $2279.24, and gave it a one year warranty. 11 months and 10800 miles later it failed again. This time the Chevy dealer in Missouri wants $1600 to repair it and said the same exact parts did not fail so the one year warranty does not apply!!!!!!!! this vehicle is driven by my wife around town. All of a sudden you loose power.

- Kimberling City, MO, USA

problem #20

Dec 022006

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 76,231 miles
Transmission on a 2001 Chevy Suburban with 76000 miles failed while on expressway almost caused an accident.

- Dover, DE, USA

problem #19

Oct 022005

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 20,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I purchased a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban in late 2005. We are currently on our third transmission with this vehicle. The first one locked up at 20 M miles and was replaced under warranty. The second failed at about 98 M and cost us about $2500 to replace as GM only offered a 1 yr. Warranty on replacement transmissions at that time. I'm already concerned about the third transmission as it occasionally has trouble dropping into first upon stopping. I think GM has a problem here that they are failing to own up to. My only consolation is this transmission has a three year warranty.

- Brea, CA, USA

problem #18

Jan 262006

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 78,000 miles
Transmission failures in 1999 through 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe's, Suburban, and K1500 trucks. I have owned several Chevrolet vehicles. In my small circle of acquaintances, I have experienced what I believe to be too many transmission failures by the afore mentioned vehicles. My brother in law just had to have his K1500 transmission changed out. My brothers son had to have his 2001 K1500 transmission changed out at 60000 miles. My brother has had two transmissions changed out in his 2002 Tahoe. And finally, today January 26, 2006, my wifes transmission in her 2001 Suburban with only 78000, never used to tow anything but a lawn mower trailer, just went out with several school kids on board on a very busy road with no shoulders. This could have turned into a bad situation. What is the deal?

- Denham Springs, LA, USA

problem #17

Sep 012003

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 16,000 miles
Catastrophic failure of transmission; lost all forward gears on NJ turnpike after slowing down for stopped traffic. Transmission had to be completely rebuilt. Only 16,000 miles on vehicle; 1 yr 11 months old.

- Cinnaminson, NJ, USA

problem #16

Jan 172005

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 61,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Transmission failure... replaced transmission at 32000 miles and again at 61000 miles.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #15

Feb 112005

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles
Heated power mirrors with dimming feature has a liquid inside that has turned dirty brown restricting sight rearward. The power switch adjusting the rearview mirrors inop. Cd player inop. Sunroof inop. Sunroof gets stuck inside its rails in open position. Unable to open or close. Engine leaves polls of oil inside my garage approx 1qt. Pr 1000 miles. Just had a catastrophic transmission failure with a very close call accident, loosing 3rd and 4th gear requiring complete rebuild of transmission, drive axle leaking oil. And of course all this happens just out of warranty. This car today costs $ 50,000.- with this trim package. Has only 81000 on odometer. GM this is not good enough, shape up or ship out. This is my 3rd lemon from GM. Do they not make cars that'll last past warranties any more??

- Milton, FL, USA

problem #14

Feb 092005

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 81,000 miles
Performed a "kick down" to pass dump truck on highway. After passing the truck and back in my lane of travel the engine over revs to 5000+ rpms and car halts to a stop in front of the dump truck that I just passed, forcing him to swerve and stand on its brakes to avoid rear-ending me. The car now has only two functioning gears, 1st and 2nd. Transmission downshifts into first when trying to shift to 3rd. Car now has 81000 miles, my transmission shop says that my 3rd and 4th gear clutches are gone!!?? and a $1,500+ rebuild is necessary. The shop says its surprised that this happens to a low mileage truck like this. And so am I.

- Milton, FL, USA

problem #13

Nov 012004

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 54,297 miles
While driving the transmission failed. The vehicle was towed. The cost for a the transmission was $2,576.18.

- Norwalk, CT, USA

problem #12

Oct 222004

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 48,600 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Purchased 2001 Chevrolet Suburban at the end of August, drove it for 1600 miles and the transmission went out. According to the mechanic, the transmission completely came apart inside. This bothered me because of the position of the transmission and my children in the vehicle, and the possibility of shrapnel coming out of the transmission. This, of course, did not happen but the dealership is refusing to take any responsibility and I have not heard from General Motors. The vehicle is less than three years old and has 48000 miles on it.

- Meridian, ID, USA

problem #11

Sep 232004

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 54,338 miles
During routine driving, the vehicle's wheels locked up and stopped forward progress. The vehicle was only going 20+- mph at the time. The transmission had failed. The vehicle was able to move in reverse but no other gear. I had noticed some slipping of the transmission but was not sure if that was in fact slipping. The transmission was changed at my local dealership.

- Rayne, LA, USA

problem #10

Sep 092004

Suburban

  • Automatic transmission
  • 43,000 miles
Consumer stated every 43,000 miles transmission failed. As a result, consumer had to replace the part.

- Fayetteville, GA, USA

problem #9

May 102004

Suburban 4WD 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
When the vehicle has warmed up and I am driving between 10 and 30 mph transmission seems to slip between 1st and 2nd gears. While slowing down to make a turn transmission doesn't know what to do. It can't decide to stay in the present gear or shift down to accomadate the lower speed. Therefore, it takes about 10 seconds for the transmission to finally find a gear so I can proceed. Also, when coming to a stop, the transmission takes about 10-15 seconds to shift into 1st, if I want to go immediately after stopping, the transmission is still trying to downshift and the engine races until the transmission finally catches up. Again, the dealer found "no problem" with the vehicle/transmission.

- Bloomington, IL, USA

problem #8

Aug 302004

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 40,900 miles
While driving 20 mph vehicle stopped in motion with engine still running. Vehicle operated in reverse, but not in drive. Dealer was not notified.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #7

Jul 022003

(reported on)

Suburban

  • 60,000 miles
While exiting the vehicle gear shift locked up. The vehicle would only go into reverse. Took vehicle to dealer, and dealer stated that a piece of metal got loose an tore up the transmission.

- Conroe, TX, USA

problem #6

Jun 202002

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 16,000 miles
My 2001 Chevrolet Suburban got in an accident due to parking pawl failure while parked on a sloped surface. Parking pawl is a transmission gear safety locking mechanism that will prevent a vehicle from moving while in park position. I contacted General Motors product allegation department to inform about this serious defect. General Motors assigned an investigator to gather details and information the investigator submitted all the information and details of the accident to a General Motors engineers who will review the cause of the failure of the parking pawl. Initial finding by GM authorized service repair shop, the cause of the failure was the premature wearing of the parking pawl mechanism. From a design standpoint this parking pawl mechanism by no means should not be subjected to any premature wearing. Otherwise, this is a serious and dangerous design error. After several months of review and investigations, GM said they found that it was material defect. The big question now is how many 2001 Chevy Suburban was affected by this material defect. Also, GM representative was reluctant to provide me a copy of the investigation results conducted by their design engineers. The parking pawl mechanism failure cannot be detected easily by an average person, unless a thorough investigation will be conducted or an accident will occurred. Also, my 2001 Chevrolet Suburban was discovered by GM authorized service shop that the emergency parking brake was having a premature wearing on the brake pads. This really a very serious and dangerous case for all 2001 Chevrolet Suburban for having a potential emergency brake pad and parking pawl mechanism defect. I am highly suggesting this office to conduct an investigation to avoid a similar fate with Firestone case. Because I suspect GM is covering up this defect to avoid massive recalls on all 2001 Chevrolet Suburban.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #5

Jun 202001

Suburban 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 16,000 miles
I would like to request your Agency to conduct a thorough investigation about a defective parking pawl on a 2001 Chevy Suburban, this parking pawl mechanism supposed to lock the transmission gear to prevent a vehicle to roll or moved while on park position, especially on a rolling hills or sloped parking lot. I am sharing this information for the safety of the general public and consumers who owned a 2001 Chevy Suburban, because the vehicle has the tendency to moved while on parked position on a rolling hills or sloped parking lot. This problem cannot be detected easily by an average person. The vehicle need to be inspected at the dealership service shop and have it check for a sign of a worn out of the parking pawl mechanism. This information will benefit current owners of 2001 Chevy Suburban that GM is not more than willing to pay any out of pocket expenses will incurred in case of an accident. Unless someone will get seriously injured as case may be. This input was on based on the accident happened on my 2001 Chevy Suburban last June 20,2002. The body repair cost of my 2001 Chevy Suburban was $4000 plus.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #4

Jul 022002

Suburban 4WD

  • miles
Transmission has not been shifting correctly for a long time. Became very noticeable in July of 2001. Rear air sometimes does not turn off when ignition is off. Front airs sometimes cuts self off and begins to blow warm air. Although not applicable. The dealership has changed out front and middle seat covers from cracking problem I talked with GM and they advised the dealership to correct these since I do still have a warranty. I am still unsatisfied with the performance of my vehicle. This is the 3rd Suburban I have owned. The other 2 were GMC's. I never had a problem of this nature before. This one has been annoying with small problems since day one!

- Dalton, GA, USA

problem #3

Jul 172002

Suburban

  • miles
Automatic transmission failed, dealer only "reconditioned" the transmission, I have taken the vehicle back to the dealer for transmission repairs;rubbing, bumping noises from transmission, I hava not trust in this vehicle because of the long history of mechanical problems and defects, I want the manufacturer to replace this vehicle and not wait until a mechanical failure hurt me or my family or innocent people in the road. Please help me. Nlm

- Anaheim, CA, USA

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