2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 problems owners report most
2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 problems are documented in public: owners have filed 839 complaints with NHTSA, the earliest in 2020 and the most recent in 2026. Sorting those by the component the filer named puts the engine clearly first, at 384 of the 839 complaints, 46 per cent of everything filed.
A complaint is not a repair bill and not a defect finding. It is one owner telling the regulator something went wrong. What makes the count useful is the concentration: when one component takes 46 per cent of everything filed on a car, the pattern is doing more than chance.
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| ENGINE | 384 | 46% |
| POWER TRAIN | 242 | 29% |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 112 | 13% |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 72 | 9% |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 58 | 7% |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 44 | 5% |
Against the 2020 car, this model year has drawn 14 per cent more complaints (839 against 738). Both years are led by the engine, so this is a fault that carried over rather than one introduced with the 2021 car.
Of those complaints, 20 describe a crash and 12 describe a fire. Filers reported 17 injuries.
Recalls on the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
A recall means the manufacturer or the regulator found a safety defect, and the repair is free at a franchised dealer however old the car is. There are 8 recalls on this model year. Your own car may be covered by some, all or none of them, so check the VIN rather than the model.
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 vehicles. The seat belt brackets may not be secured to the seat frame in the front-row center seating position.
The risk. If a seat-belt bracket is not secured, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the front-row center seat position, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
The fix. GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect left-side and right-side front-row center seat-belt bracket attachments and reassemble it correctly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202314670.
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2021 GMC Canyon and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Blazer, Camaro, Colorado, Equinox, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, Suburban and Tahoe vehicles. Incorrect bolts may have been used at one or more fastening locations to secure the seat belts to the vehicle. If an incorrect bolt was used, the seat belt may not be properly attached to the vehicle.
The risk. If a seat belt assembly is not properly attached to the vehicle, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The fix. GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect bolts, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8785, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202322230.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Buick Enclave, Cadillac XT5, GMC Acadia and Chevrolet Traverse vehicles and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles. The vehicles may have been manufactured with Continental tires that were overcured.
The risk. Overcured tires may experience a carcass break in the sidewall resulting in a sudden air loss or could develop a belt edge separation which could lead to partial or full tread/belt loss. Either condition increases the risk of a crash.
The fix. GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect vehicles and replace tires that have DOT number and production mold number combinations identified by Continental, free of charge. The recall began December 17, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202319030.
General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vehicles. The front driver's side air bag module may be missing one or more metal tabs that secure the plastic air bag cover to the housing.
The risk. The missing tabs may prevent the air bag from deploying properly, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
The fix. Dealers will inspect the driver frontal air bag, and replace it if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 16, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N212336560.
General Motors (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 GMC Sierra 1500 and Silverado 1500 vehicles equipped with certain accessory road tires and a 17" spare tire. The 17" spare tire provided with the vehicle is not compatible for use with the accessory wheels, which can cause the anti-lock brake system (ABS) to not function properly under certain conditions.
The risk. An ABS system that does not function properly can increase the risk of a crash.
The fix. Dealers will provide a new 17" spare tire and wheel assembly that is compatible with the accessory wheels, free of charge. Dealers will also apply a new spare tire information label, and provide owners with an owner's manual insert clarifying which spare tire to use with the accessory road tires and with the 17" original tires. Owner notification letters were mailed February 7, 2022. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212346510.
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500, 3500, 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with diesel engines. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock-up.
The risk. Rear wheel lock-up can increase the risk of a crash.
The fix. Dealers will install new transmission control module software, free of charge. GM will provide a special coverage program to cover the repair of transmissions that are identified by the remedy software as containing a defective control valve. Owner notification letters were mailed December 12, 2024. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, GMC customer service at GMC 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N242454440.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, and Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with a 6.2L V8 gas engine. The connecting rod and/or crankshaft engine components may have manufacturing defects that can lead to engine damage and engine failure.
The risk. Engine failure increases the risk of a crash.
The fix. Dealers will inspect the engine, and as necessary, repair or replace the engine. For vehicles that pass inspection, dealers will add higher viscosity oil, install 6 oil fill cap, replace the oil filter, and update the owner's manual. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 18, 2025. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N252494000.
General Motors, LLC is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 2500, 3500, and 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles that may have been repaired incorrectly under recall 24V797. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock up.
The risk. Rear wheel lock up increases the risk of a crash.
The fix. Dealers will inspect the vehicles and update the transmission control software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 6, 2026. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N252516560. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 12, 2026.
In owners own words
These are complaints filed about the engine, quoted as written. They are one persons account rather than a diagnosis, and they are here because a symptom described by a driver is easier to recognise than a component name.
On or around XXX a my 2021 Silverado started making a rattling sound from the engine. The truck began to stall and the engine shut off three times while driving. I attached scanner the next day and the track showed P00011 and P00016 codes. Those codes are for the Camshaft Sensor and the Crankshaft Sensor. I went online and did research about the two codes and discovered there had been a couple recalls for these codes concerning my year model truck: (Recall Number 25V-274; GM: Campain N252494000). NHTSA Engineering Analysis EA25007 or RQ26001 I spoke with the Dealer I purchased vehicle from
My 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 RST with the 6.2L engine experienced an engine seizure. The engine was replaced by a Chevrolet dealership under a GM safety recall. Immediately after picking up the vehicle following the recall engine replacement, the truck stalled while still in the Chevrolet dealership parking lot. There was no warning before this first stall. We continued our trip because we did not realize at the time that the stall could indicate a problem following the engine replacement. During the drive from [XXX] to [XXX], the problem continued. In [XXX], the check engine light illumin
For the second time in my 2021 Chevrolet Silverado with a 5.3-liter engine, I've had GM lifter failure. It's directly related to the Active Fuel Management System (AFM), and was confirmed by my Chevrolet dealer's mechanic and service writer, Burdick Chevrolet in Cicero, New York, on both occasions. They've had to perform a multi-thousand-dollar lifter replacement service job. They've told me that GM is aware of the safety issues, but won't do anything about them. It also happened to me with my 2014 Chevrolet Silverado, but I was lucky that time. It was fixed with new spark plugs and wires.
I bought a 2021 Chevy Silverado 1500 Badlander edition in February of 2025. I love the truck and drive it everywhere. I have brought it in for every oil change when needed. I got my first oil change April of 2025 and had no issues. Then I got my second oil change June of 2025 and both of these were done at the dealership that I purchased the truck from. At the June oil change I asked Jeff Belzers to do an oil consumption test and they said they would not because my vin did not show up in the recall. On July 31 of 2025 I got an engine oil low light on my dash, which I took a picture of. At that
When i first purchased the vehicle off the lot a few years back (its a 21, so probably in 22?) Brand new off the lot minimal miles. Within the first few months we started having issues with the power wanting to shift down. We took it in, the dealership found nothing wrong with it and cleared the codes. This happened a few more times. The last 2 times I took it in. They mentioned that there were recalls on it and could possibly be causing the issue. Took care of that (last august- have docs. to prove it as along with what they did and what we stated). Fast forward now 2 months ago (April of 25)
August 30th 2024 the pickup was just turning to roughly 30,000 miles and started a knocking sound. The GM dealership tore it apart and fixed what I believe they said was a bent rod. I cycled through two oil changes and decided to pull an oil sample. I sent oil sample off for analysis. The oil analysis came back urgent with very high levels of copper and lead showing in the testing. I then called the GM dealer and they had me bring it in. They did not send off any oil sample because when they pulled the filter, they could already see metal in the new oil. They had me call GM customer service b
Every component, by complaint count
The full breakdown of what owners named when they filed. Components below the top ten are grouped out of this table.
| Component | Complaints | Share of all complaints |
|---|---|---|
| ENGINE | 384 | 46% |
| POWER TRAIN | 242 | 29% |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 112 | 13% |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 72 | 9% |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | 58 | 7% |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 44 | 5% |
| STEERING | 42 | 5% |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 29 | 3% |
| STRUCTURE | 29 | 3% |
| AIR BAGS | 20 | 2% |
How other model years compare
The same nameplate across the years we hold. Complaint counts fall naturally for newer cars because fewer of them have been on the road for long, so read the column as a rough signal rather than a ranking. In this set the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 has drawn the most complaints and the 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 the fewest.
What to check on the engine
Engine reports range from oil consumption between services to rough running, stalling and a loss of power under acceleration. Oil use is the one owners notice latest, because nothing warns you until the level is already low.
Buying a used 2021 Silverado 1500
Ask for every service record and check the gap between oil changes against the level on the dipstick now. An engine using oil quietly is the most expensive fault on this list and the easiest one to miss on a test drive.
If you already own one
Start a log of oil level between services. A documented consumption rate is what turns a conversation with a dealer from an opinion into a claim, and some manufacturers have covered these repairs well past the warranty.
- Check the oil level and condition yourself before buying.
- Ask for service records covering every oil change.
- Record oil level between services to document consumption.
- Have a compression or leak down test done before a major repair.
Where the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 problem data comes from
Every figure on this page is counted from complaints and recalls published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, read October 12, 2026. Complaints are filed by owners and are not verified by the agency before publication. We count each complaint once per component it names, so a complaint naming two components appears in both rows.
- NHTSA recalls and complaintsRead October 12, 2026
- NHTSA record for the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500Read October 12, 2026
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