What breaks most · 1995 to 2009 model years
GMC Envoy problems by year
Owners have filed 2,336 safety complaints with NHTSA about the GMC Envoy across model years 1995 to 2009. Three years stand out: 2002 for engine and cooling complaints, 2005 for electrical system complaints and 2003 for electrical system complaints. The quietest years are 1995, 1997 and 1996.
- Years to check closely: 2002, 2005, 2003
- Fewest complaints: 1995, 1997, 1996
- Complaints on file
- 23361995 to 2009, all trims
- Worst year
- 2002469 complaints
- Crashes reported
- 14476 fires · 150 injuries · 9 deaths
- Typical failure mileage
- 73kMedian where owners gave mileage
- Recall campaigns
- 46Across the years shown
Complaints by model year
Raw filings with NHTSA, not adjusted for how many were sold.
| Model year | Complaints | Crashes | Recalls | Most-reported component |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Fuel system (1) | |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | Electrical system (1) | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | Fuel system (1) | |
| 19 | 0 | 2 | Visibility (3) | |
| 9 | 0 | 1 | Suspension (3) | |
| 22 | 0 | 1 | Visibility (6) | |
| 5 | 0 | 1 | Electrical system (3) | |
| 469 | 40 | 14 | Engine and cooling (88) | |
| 370 | 41 | 8 | Electrical system (73) | |
| 346 | 23 | 2 | Electrical system (160) | |
| 464 | 23 | 3 | Electrical system (173) | |
| 333 | 5 | 9 | Fuel system (134) | |
| 208 | 7 | 5 | Fuel system (60) | |
| 73 | 5 | 0 | Electrical system (17) | |
| 14 | 0 | 0 | Exterior lighting (5) |
What fails on the 2002 GMC Envoy
| Component | Share of complaints | Filings | Crashes | Parts for this job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine and coolingRadiators, thermostats and cooling | 19% |
88 | 0 | Shop engine and cooling parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| Powertrain and transmissionTransmission parts | 17% |
81 | 3 | Shop powertrain and transmission parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| Electrical systemAlternators, starters and ignition | 14% |
65 | 2 | Shop electrical system parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| VisibilityMirrors and glass | 10% |
49 | 2 | Shop visibility parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| Air bags | 8% |
39 | 28 | Check recalls for air bags on NHTSA.gov |
| SuspensionStruts, springs and control arms | 7% |
35 | 2 | Shop suspension parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| Fuel systemFuel pumps and injectors | 6% |
30 | 0 | Shop fuel system parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
| Exterior lightingHeadlights, tail lights and bulbs | 5% |
23 | 0 | Shop exterior lighting parts for the 2002 GMC Envoy |
One complaint can name more than one component, so shares add to more than 100%. "Unknown or other" is NHTSA's uncategorized bucket and is shown but never ranked.
In owners' words
Complaint narratives as filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length.
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2002 envoy slt also when slowing down to an idle has shut off engine. Put up in park and will start back up. Dash light states service engine and service on star. Have not been able to fix problem yet.
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Suv dies and won't start back until it cools down. I was traveling 55 mph on a five lane highway and the vehicle just died. I had the vehicle towed to the local dealer and it couldn't be diagnosed.
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Car dies when driving, car wont start sometimes and hour or 2 later starts mechanic said alternator and battery are good, in parking lot and driving in the city
How to read this page
Every figure comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's public complaint database, which holds every safety-related defect complaint filed by owners since 1995. We refresh it monthly and count each complaint once per component it names. Data through September 30, 2026.
NHTSA only accepts safety-related complaints. Rattles, paint, infotainment bugs and other annoyances are under-reported here, so this page is a map of what fails in ways owners consider dangerous, not a full reliability score.
Counts are raw. Use the year-over-year shape and the component mix, not the absolute numbers. Where a component maps to parts we stock, the row links to that category filtered to the year you are viewing. Air bag and seat belt complaints link to the recall checker instead, because those repairs are almost always covered.
Common questions
Which GMC Envoy years have the most problems?
By NHTSA complaint volume, 2002, 2005, 2003 carry the most filings on the GMC Envoy. The 2002 alone has 469 complaints, led by engine and cooling.
What is the most common GMC Envoy problem?
On the 2002 model year, the most-reported component is engine and cooling with 88 complaints. The table above lists the top components for every year.
At what mileage do GMC Envoy problems start?
The median mileage at failure across all GMC Envoy complaints that include mileage is about 73,000 miles. Older model years skew higher; the per-year figure is in the "at a glance" card.
Are these complaints verified?
No. NHTSA publishes complaints as submitted and does not investigate individual filings. Patterns across hundreds of complaints are meaningful; a single one is not.