What are the most common problems on the 2023 GMC Terrain?

Q: What are the most common problems on the 2023 GMC Terrain?

NHTSA has 35 owner complaint(s) on record for the 2023 GMC Terrain. Fuel/Propulsion System is the most-reported problem area on the 2023 GMC Terrain, cited in 14 of 35 filed complaints (40%).

Problems › GMC › 2023 Terrain

2023 GMC Terrain Problems & Owner Complaints

35 NHTSA owner complaints

2 crash 1 fire 1 injury

Age-normalised, this year draws ~8.8 complaints per year on the road — ranking 14 of 15 GMC Terrain years we track (1 = most complaints per year).

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What owners report

Fuel/Propulsion System is the most-reported problem area on the 2023 GMC Terrain, cited in 14 of 35 filed complaints (40%).

Engine is next (12 complaints, 34%), followed by Electrical System (7), Fuel System (5), Power Train (5).

Across all complaints, 2 report a crash, 1 report a fire, 1 report injuries.

The most safety-critical cluster is Lane Departure: 2 crash, 1 fire, 1 injury report(s).

Complaints by vehicle system

Owner complaints filed with the U.S. NHTSA for the 2023 GMC Terrain, grouped by the vehicle system each cites. A single complaint can name more than one system, so the group totals can add up to more than 35.

Fuel/Propulsion System 14

“I have had 2 different instances where my vehicle stops in the middle of a busy intersection or traffic and have no warning what so ever. Vehicle just shuts off and I am not able to turn back on to move out of the way. First time I got it repaired it was related to the fuel pump and now I am waiting to hear back from my mechanic to see what the issue is but so far it is an indication of the fuel pump as well. Both times I required help from law enforcement because vehicle shut off in the middle of the road and safety to myself and other drivers was an issue until tow truck arrived to move my v…”
NHTSA complaint #11741516, 2026

“Vehicle stalled while driving and would not restart. Strong gasoline smell present and on ground. Third occurrence. Vehicle stalled while driving at on busy road (safety issue both times). Strong raw gas smell. Would not crank afterward. Dash powered normally with check engine light. Happened previously around 27k miles in September 2025. Occurred again May 9, 2026. Occurred again today l, May 18, 2026. Vehicles is being towed to dealership again for the 3rd time”
NHTSA complaint #11738493, 2026

“I was driving down the hwy and all of a sudden the car went into reduced power mode and the dealership is saying it’s a high pressure fuel pump which is not covered under the standard warranty My vehicle only has 46000 miles Fennigan GMC Rosenberg tx”
NHTSA complaint #11737870, 2026

Engine 12

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the check engine warning light illuminated, the message "Engine Power Reduced" was displayed, and the vehicle lost power. The vehicle stalled on three separate occasions. The vehicle was able to restart each time after approximately 15 minutes of waiting, but the vehicle failed to accelerate above 40 MPH. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and DTC: P228C, P0089, and P006C were retrieved, and the contact was informed that the fuel pump and fuel injectors needed to be replaced. The v…”
NHTSA complaint #11731486, 2026

“Took dealer 3/26 for Sam issue Engine Power reduced after already cause me hit curb. Got it out 4/1/26 Now 4/5/26 it happened again same codes after they claimed they fixed it. Also keep having Emergency services come on a caused my dashboard out. My issues is car keeps stalling losing power. Same codes as week ago after dealer fix. Also 4 time took for noises in my car from passenger side. They keep telling me they can’t replicate it, but you can clearly see where the door is not lined up. This has been going on for over 30,000 miles for that. Like some of these issues have been going on sinc…”
NHTSA complaint #11729391, 2026

Electrical System 7

“Out of nowhere and driving this morning, my engine reduced power came on. Then I started losing power in the car then it died on me once out of nowhere. I managed to make it home an hour and a half later, but that could’ve got me killed stopped by AutoZone since dealerships closed today and it tells me that it’s code P228C, P0089 fuel pump. And then last night my emergency service calling came on which one I looked it up so something to do with OnStar and could be a module so I’m not sure what that is. And then you add on the fact all the sudden in the last 24 hours, my screen keeps going in a…”
NHTSA complaint #11726152, 2026

“The infotainment system is not working. It has the "black screen" issue.”
NHTSA complaint #11715519, 2026

Unknown Or Other 7

“Car reduced speed and the smell of gas filled the car. Car shut off. Check engine light came on with reduced speed. This is the second time this has happened. Gas leaked onto ground from car. Car stalls immediately while driving and does not allow you to press the gas to keep moving. Almost hit from behind on Main Street.”
NHTSA complaint #11736700, 2026

Fuel System 5

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated and the engine stalled. The contact attempted to drive the vehicle to the shoulder of the road, the engine seized. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a failed fuel pump. The contact was informed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The failure reoccurred. The vehicle was towed back to the independent mechanic where…”
NHTSA complaint #11740826, 2025

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 MPH, and entering the roadway from the driveway, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that there were no warning lights. The contact stated that the vehicle had lost electrical power. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle. The vehicle used a push-button gear shift PRNDL, and the contact was unable to set the vehicle into park(P) to restart the engine. The contact was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts and drove the vehicle to a dealer. The contact stated that on the drive to…”
NHTSA complaint #11681669, 2025

Power Train 5

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact was informed by his wife that while attempting to accelerate from being stationary, the vehicle was shaking abnormally and hesitated before accelerating. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed but the cause of failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The manufacturer opened a case for the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.”
NHTSA complaint #11730114, 2026

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Lane Departure 4 2 crash 1 fire 1 injury

“My son was making a left onto a freeway on ramp after traffic cleared and the steering wheel completely locked up resulting in him going over the curb and rolling completely over in a steep ditch. This occurred at a low speed (no more than 25mph), confirmed by the Life369 app. My son's description was that it felt like the wheels were against a wall and the wheel wouldn't turn even though he was using both hands in an attempt to turn. My son said there was no warning lights or any other indication that he noticed, other than the complete locking up of the steering. The resulting rollover i…”
NHTSA complaint #11673998, 2025 · crash · 1 injury(ies)

“No warnings of any kind went off; I wasn’t even going 2 m.p.h. and hit a piece of wood that was right on the edge of the grass next to the road at the park. This is dangerous, especially at a park or other places where smaller children are present if I get that close to something and the none of the sensors go off letting me know there is something/someone that my vehicle could strike if not careful. I have not had it looked at yet, but plan to. No warnings of any kind have went off and it was functioning properly prior to this. There is severe damage to my vehicle”
NHTSA complaint #11608605, 2024

“When I bought the vehicle new from dealership, they told me that side blind zone alert was not available at that time due to a semiconductor shortage, but that it would be available and could be retrofitted after they were available. I noticed that the 2022 retrofit had been authorized, and I need to know when I will be able to get this option retrofitted on my vehicle. It has horrible blind spots, and I have to literally turn around completely to see if there is anyone in the blind spots which is very dangerous because I’m taking my eyes off the vehicles in front of me to see the blind spots.…”
NHTSA complaint #11608035, 2024

Vehicle Speed Control 2

“I was driving the vehicle on the highway the cruise control was on. All of a sudden I got a warning on vehicle info panel that stated vehicle power is reduced. The vehicle decelerated on its own and I could not accelerate past 55. The check engine light came on. I pulled off the road and turned the vehicle off. After about 10 minutes, I started the car back up and proceeded down the highway at normal speed. The check engine light remained on. I stopped at a Chevrolet dealer service center in Ft Stockton, TX, to have the vehicle looked at. They could find no error codes and could not duplicate…”
NHTSA complaint #11740102, 2025

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that while driving 70-71 MPH, the vehicle suddenly decelerated. There was a red flashing light illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle then accelerated. Additionally, while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle decelerated, and the message that the sensor was dirty was displayed. The contact stated that the windshield was clean and clear but utilized the windshield wipers, and the warning light disappeared. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and ref…”
NHTSA complaint #11626382, 2024

Air Bags 1 1 crash 1 fire

Back Over Prevention 1

Engine And Engine Cooling 1

“The contact owns a 2023 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving 15 MPH, the message "Engine Power Reduced” was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated that the vehicle the lost motive power in the middle of the roadway. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the high-pressure fuel pump, causing fuel to leak into the oil, resulting in damages to the catalytic converter and Oxygen sensor. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was…”
NHTSA complaint #11669569, 2025

Forward Collision Avoidance 1

Steering 1 1 crash 1 injury

Structure 1

Visibility 1

How we read this (methodology)

How to read this: raw complaint totals are not a clean reliability score — a model year with more cars sold, or simply more years on the road, accumulates more complaints regardless of how good it is. So this page leans on two signals that are not distorted by sales volume: the share of complaints falling on each vehicle system (the breakdown above) and NHTSA's own crash / fire / injury / death flags. When we compare model years of the same model, we normalise by years on the road (complaints ÷ vehicle age) rather than comparing raw totals. Age-normalised, the 2023 GMC Terrain draws about 8.8 complaints per year on the road, ranking 14 of 15 among the GMC Terrain model years we have ingested (1 = most complaints per year on road).

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Data source: U.S. NHTSA (nhtsa.gov). SaveVIN surfaces public recall data and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NHTSA.