Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2004 GMC Envoy XL owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I was driving and my vehicle on I-985 hall county ga. My check gage light came on and less than 1/2 of a mile it start to smoke and burn as soon as I stopped turned of the ignition. It burnt to the ground from the engine area to the inside.
Passenger window went down with vehicle off. Smoke came from inside the right front door panel. When the smoke cleared, I disassembled the door and found the window switch with a large hole burned in it. Pics available upon request.
My GMC Envoy was parked unattended in my driveway directly next to my house. My sons and I were in the backyard playing when my oldest son went to retrieve his ball from the driveway. He came back screaming mom your truck is on fire.I immediately ran over to see the truck full of fire and smoke. I called 911. The truck damage was already done before the firefighters arrived. It appeared to come from the driver side window area. After doing some research I learned a lot of GMC trucks had recalls on certain parts that could put the vehicle at risk for a for setting it's self on fire.I never received any information on recalls for the window switch or was aware of the national recall until I looked into it the evening of the fire.I strongly believe the window switch is what caused the fire. It had to be a defective product made by the manufacturing company.
I picked up my kids and niece from school and was visiting at my brothers house for a few hours (3 to be exact) when my kids and I went to leave my rear window was shattered. I filed a police report and the officer could not see any reason for my window to shatter like it did.
Was park, went to back up and felt like there was no power steering. Ps fluid is good, belt is good, pulley seems fine, no leaks, but very hard to steer. This 2004 GMC Envoy has been nothing but a headache....not to mention the speedometer doesn't work properly either.
Driving at a low speed down hill on a city street, with the car in the drive position, the car stalled. This happened again driving on a flat service of a parking lot of a shopping center. Again, with the car in the drive position going at a low speed the car stalled.
The speedometer quit working correctly, when I first noticed it my speedometer said I was going 120mph and I was in town in a 35mph zone. I had my GPS device on and it showed that I was actually going 35mph. After stopping at a stop light the speedometer stated that I was still traveling at a speed of 75 MPH, and that was incorrect because I was sitting still at the light. Also, after turning off the vehicle it still registered a rate of speed of 75 MPH. There are some days that the speedometer works for a while and then it goes crazy. Another example, it sometimes shows that I am going at a rate of speed of 0 MPH and I know that I am at least going 55 MPH. This is completely unsafe. Upon contacting the GM service center they stated they thought it might be the instrument cluster needing replaced, but if that would be the case the other gauges would not work properly. …
Approximately 1 1/2 months ago my speedometer went out on my GMC 2004 Envoy. I went to the dealership and the person helping me said that they get alot of repair requests for the speedometers going out on the GMC's. So I stated if this is an often occurrence it appears to me that it should be a national recall being that this seems to occur alot. When I got home I went on line to pull the reviews and to see what others were talking about. That is when I noticed that a I was not the only customer with this problem. Also, when I went onto my iphone application to see if I could find anything that could assist me being that I was going out of town I found an application and one of the people posting a review was a guy who was out of town and his speedometer went out and he too was able to find the same speedometer that I had to use in order for him to get back to where he was going. …
After getting an oil change the technician went to pull the car out of the bay and the car just died. It appeared first that the battery May have died. There was no power at all. Next after letting the vehicle sit for a minute we attempted to turn on the ignition and all the gauges went crazy, registering as if I was driving. Then as in the another complaint, upon attempting to start the vehicle, all the dash board warning lights and turn signal indicators came on and stayed on. All the gauges started acting erratically and all the needle indicators started jumping at random. The next time I tried to start the vehicle again the vehicle did the very same thing as mentioned above (gauges acting erratically, etc.). I attempted to start the vehicle several more time each time with the same result. …
In December 2009 my 2004 Envoy XL's tachometer went off line. It starts at about the 3 o'clock position. Then a month later the odometer stuck at about 40 miles per hour even though I was stopped or obviously doing over 40. When the vehicle is turned off and restarted it corrected itself but was erratic and would tick its way up to about 40-50mph then would stop going up. This has been an ongoing problem with many 2004 envoys. The dealer said it was a instrument panel problem and that they would have to replace it at a cost of around $500.00 this is a serious safety problem. When reducing speed to accommodate a curve that recommends a reduced speed I can not tell what my actual speed is to safely make the curve. Speed limits are posted for safety reasons and if we cant tell how fast we are going do to a faulty instrument panels it puts people in danger. …
Electrical complaints in other Envoy XL years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2004 GMC Envoy XL?
NHTSA has 81 complaints about the electrical system of the 2004 GMC Envoy XL, 43% of the model year's 187 complaints. The component named most often is instrument cluster/panel (37 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 GMC Envoy XL electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2004 GMC Envoy XL, though it has 1 recall 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 GMC Envoy XL electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 65,000 miles, and 5% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 3 fires and 1 injury to electrical system 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.