Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe. While driving approximately 50 MPH during rainy weather, the vehicle accelerated abnormally and crashed into a concrete medium. The vehicle began to spin around and then reversed while the contact depressed the brake pedal the entire time. The vehicle then crashed into a second vehicle before finally crashing into a metal rail before stopping. The air bags did not deploy. The police reported to the scene and a report was filed. The driver of the vehicle sustained neck injuries and swelling to his collar bone. The passenger sustained injuries to her rib cage, neck and face. The vehicle was towed to an auto body shop but was not repaired. The contact stated that the front and rear end of the vehicle sustained moderate damage as well as the rear driver side wheel and the spare tire. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.
This is in reference to complaint # 11327456 the address and the MPH are incorrect. Please see form attached to this complaint # affected parts: steering, brakes, electrical, elec, stability control and speed control this site wouldn't let me check more than 3.
I drive a 2004 Tahoe ls. I am a salesman and drive quite a bit and have racked up around 95,000 miles to this day. While driving, about a year ago, I noticed my speedometer acting erratically. The needle would jump or lurch past each number as it ascended through the numbers on the speedometer. It was more noticeable in the 55 to 75mph range. The speed was still accurate so I viewed it as a non-issue. However, as time went on the accuracy began to degrade as I started noticing the speedometer would stop at 40 MPH while I was driving highway speeds. The degradation has continued up to now where I am lucky if the needle even moves off of 0 MPH. When the needle does move it freezes at about 15 MPH forcing me to guess at my speed by monitoring the tachometer. This is a pretty dangerous situation and I would like to assume GM would look to remedy this situation quickly. …
After coming off cruise control at 55 MPH and proceeding through town, I hit the resume button to once again increase speed from 45 MPH to 55 MPH but while on a road with a slight incline (less than 5% grade.) after pressing and quickly releasing the resume button as I normally do, the cruise control accelerated unintentionally and proceeded to increase speed to over 101 MPH before I disengaged it. This has happened at least 3 times on this vehicle and in the past I always would disengage it immediately but seeing as how I was on an open road I figured I would see if it would disengage itself. When I felt I was going way too fast to talk a policeman out of a ticket and actually didn't feel safe any longer I disengaged the cruise control after figuring that it wasn't going to disengage itself until the speed limiter was reached. …
Approx. 6 months ago I was driving when a vehicle entered the intersection in front of me. I stepped on the brakes and the pedal went to the floor. Luckily there was no crash but my vehicle just barely came to a stop. Towed the vehicle to a dealership and found all the brake lines were rusted out and needed to be replaced. On 3/28/14 I began noticing strong gas fumes coming from my vehicle. I again took it it in and found the fuel pump assembly, all the fuel hoses, and the straps and bolts that hold the fuel tank were rusted out. I read that NHTSA was doing a study of this issue. I understand my vehicle is 10 years old and I live in the northeast but I observed a lot of rust under my vehicle. I am a police officer and a crash reconstructionist and these rust issues could cause serious issues with vehicles resulting in crashes. …
2004 Chevy Tahoe speedometer is defective and reads inaccurately by at least 15 to 20 MPH. Does not return to zero when stop, even after vehicle power is turned off. Begins working again and will soon thereafter malfunction as just described. This is inaccurately calculating mileage, and, when I spoke with service personnel at huffines Chevrolet, q Chevrolet and classic Chevrolet (all in the dallas/fort worth area), all acknowledged this as a known problem that GM will not fix after 80K miles. Although I'm inundated with junk email from GM, they never, ever provided me with any indication that this was an issue. National highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) should never, never allow this to occur. Please insist that GM provide full replacement, including all parts and labor, for such a serious and known safety defect.
2004 Chevy Tahoe speedometer sticks at various speed levels and intermittently will not return to zero when the vehicle is not in motion. Speedometer can stick at excessive speeds indicated on the cluster, this had intermittently effected the cruise control operation. This was a known issue by GM, no recall was provided. My vehicle is over 80,000 (82,500) miles. Issue started with my vehicle at about 78K, but was not brought in by me to GM because there was not an announced recall. GM decided to replace the clusters for customers who had the defect occur between 70 and 80K, with a charge for the labor, not the part. Given the fact this is a safety issue (speed indication and intermittent cruise control, GM should provide full replacement, parts and labor.
I just purchased a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe z71 with 29854 miles on it. Today while driving on the freeway the odometer stopped functioning correctly. While driving 70 MPH the odometer was reading 20 MPH. Then while driving 45 MPH it was reading between 10-20 MPH. I read through the other complaints and found 3 that seemed to be having the same problem. I just lucked out by finding this web site and wonder how many other people are having the same problem. This appears to be a safety defect in the vehicle. I have a 36/36 bumper to bumper warranty and Monday plan on calling the dealer to bring it in to have it repaired under the warranty. This should be a recall since it appears to be happening to several vehicles.
I was driving down one of the busy roads in manatee county, and the back hatch glass of my 2004 Chevy Tahoe blew off of my car. It went air born and landed in the south bound lane almost on top of a car. If the car had not slammed on its brakes and swerved, it could have killed someone. I contacted the dealership, and the will not fix the problem. The hinges are still attached to my vehicle and the insurance company wants a $500 deductible. I know I have been online researching this kind of incident and I am not the only person to have this problem. I feel like it should be a recall before someone gets killed. It is not normal for a 4 year old vehicle to have its glass blow off.
Tl*- the contact owns a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe with an odometer reading of 80000 miles. The contact noticed that when driving for a long period of time and coming to a complete stop then start moving again the speedometer will stay at zero. The contact stated that the only way to get the speedometer to work again was to turn the vehicle off, then let it sit for a moment and restart. This problem made the contact run out of gas several times since the gas gauge did not working properly, the oil gauge wasincorrect as well. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, and they told him that the instrument panel needed to be replaced.
Acceleration complaints in other Tahoe years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe?
NHTSA has 27 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe, 6% of the model year's 467 complaints. The component named most often is accelerator pedal (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe, though it has 2 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 54,000 miles, and 9% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 1 crash, 0 fires and 2 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.