2003 GMC Sierra SLT 4.8

Summary:

Reliable with gremlins

Faults:

BATTERY: As expected - not a big deal. Replaced the battery.

AIR BAG LIGHT: Air bag light kept coming on/off - which coincided with the recent BATTERY above. I did not place 2 and 2 together until after about 10k miles and a potential 800.00 estimate to replace the air-bag control unit. As I was tinkering, I found that I did not fully tighten the positive battery lead. Once fully tightened, no air bag light. Lesson learned - fully tighten the battery.

REAR WINDOWS NOISE: That's the complaint from any rear passenger, asking if the window is open. Nope, all closed. I took it to the dealer early, they replaced the seal. Still noisy. I don't notice it anymore.

RADIO: Just tonight, after 136,000 miles of care free driving, the (factory) radio decided it will no longer release any "noise" (that's what my kids call my rock-n-roll). Nothing weird, but I did recently read something about the using the emergency brake being tied to the radio. I used the emergency brake today as well (first time in YEARS). Further investigation pending.

General Comments:

SMOOTH RIDE: From the time I bought it until now, it's been a very smooth riding truck. I have towed a 4000# car and have had this thing hit the speed limiter. I have zero mods.

RELIABLE: I used the GM Oil Life Monitor from day 1. I was curious and at times scared to death. There were time that I know I hit 10k miles before my dash told me to change the oil, which I did. After 136k miles, my little V8 is still purring right along. The transmission fluid has NOT been changed (even when I asked them, the dealer said the fluid is fine, but did change the filter). The big 90k service was just service. Did not fix anything, but I did have the coolant flushed/filled, and replaced the platinum spark plugs.

10 years of owning/driving this truck has not made me a believer in GM; however, it has made me a believer in taking care of what you have. I'll track down my gremlins - or - I might just ignore them. So far, I anticipate this truck to see 300k plus miles - unless I can't fix that *&^&$%$ radio. XD

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 17th December, 2012

16th Jun 2014, 15:07

I have a 2003 GMC 2500HD Duramax. Just turned over 100,000 miles. My wife and I used it to go on vacation. Was riding along listening to one of those books on tape (actually a CD) and the radio quit. No clock - nothing. Next stop for lunch, checked the fuses for the radio because that looked like what happened. The fuses were OK. Got back in, started the truck - VOILA, the radio was working. Just pulling the fuses and putting them back in must have done the trick.

2003 GMC Sierra SLT 6.6 turbo diesel

Summary:

Extremely disappointed/dissatisfied

Faults:

Since I bought this vehicle in April of this year, I have had numerous issues.

At 148,000 KM, replaced speedo module.

At 148,000 KM, replaced driver's power seat motor.

At 148,000 KM, replaced both heated seat heaters.

At 149,500 KM, radio quit working, and is still not working.

At 156,000 KM, heater blower module failed.

At 156,000 KM, heater motor failed.

At 148,000 KM, heated seat switch randomly comes on.

At 150,000 KM, seat recall switches failed not working.

General Comments:

Generally comfortable vehicle.

Do like the Duramax.

Leather seats showing signs of wear.

Electrical major issue with this vehicle; many failures.

Spoke to GM customer service re all the failures, told to go get it fixed and pay for it.

I purposely picked what I thought was a really good high end vehicle so I would not have any issues, WRONG.

Note to Ford fans, don't make the same mistake I did, stick with Ford.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th November, 2011

26th Nov 2011, 19:08

That does seems to be quite a long list of electrical issues, however keep in mind that the vehicle has over 90,000 miles on it, so I wouldn't expect the manufacturer to pay for them out of warranty. Sadly I guess this is the price we pay for having all of these electronic gizmos on vehicles nowadays.

However, also keep in mind that any make could have these issues, and more at this mileage or even worse.

27th Nov 2011, 12:24

In 2002, GM started putting more complicated computers, controlling all electrical functions in their vehicles. As a mechanic, I knew this was going to be a major headache for uninformed buyers. Many GM dealerships do not have computer-certified service techs, and customers end up with many problems as a result. I deliberately chose a very good dealership to buy our '03 GMC. They made sure the computer was correctly programmed before we picked the vehicle up, and as a result we have had absolutely no problems whatsoever with our GMC in over 100,000 miles. With more and more of a car's functions being turned over to finicky and often unreliable computers, it is very important to choose a dealership with computer-certified service techs.