Most common 2002 GMC Envoy problems
Share of the 487 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
GMC Envoy complaints by model year
Best Envoy years: 2001, 1999, 2009. Years to avoid: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2003, 2004. Compare all years →
2002 GMC Envoy recalls (13)
Engine and engine cooling
Some sport utility vehicles equipped with an electronically controlled air suspension (ecas) have a condition in which the ecas May produce a brief electrical spike while the vehicle is operating. This electrical spike can disrupt the powertrain control module (PCM) causing the vehicle to stall.
Remedy: Dealers will install a wiring harness. The recall will begin on August 19, 2004. Owners should contact Oldsmobile at 1-800-630-6537 or GMC at 1-866-996-9463.
Seat belts
Certain light duty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 209, "seat belt assemblies." one of the two sensors in the driver's and front passenger's seat belt retractors could be inoperative.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the driver and front passenger safety belt retractors, and replace them if necessary. Owner notification began on June 24, 2004.
Visibility › Windshield wiper/washer
Certain sport utility vehicles have windshield wiper systems that will not turn on, cease operation while in use, fail to turn off/on by themselves (moisture sensitive wiper system), or have continuous windshield washer pump operation because the presence of water within the wiper modules can either cause a short circuit or can…
Remedy: Dealers will cover the windshield wiper module vent hole with a patch. Also, the wiper motor, circuit board, and electrical connector will be inspected to signs of water intrusion and/or corrosion and be replaced as…
Equipment › Other › Owners/service/other manual
Certain minivans, passenger and sport utility vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 225, "child restraint anchorage system." the owner's manual does not explain the meaning of the location symbols for the child restraint lower universal anchorage system.
Remedy: Owners will be provided with a supplement for their owner's manual. This supplement describes and shows the location symbols for the child restraint anchors that are located in the vehicle and on the child restraint or…
Electrical system › Wiring › Interior/under dash
Certain sport utility vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standards no. 101, "control location, identification, and illumination" and no. 208, "occupant crash protection." these vehicles have an intermittent condition during vehicle start-up in which the instrument panel cluster May not…
Remedy: Dealers will reprogram the instrument panel cluster. Owner notification began May 29, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within…
Power train › Automatic transmission
Certain sport utility vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 114, "theft protection." these vehicles are equipped with a mechanical override that could allow the ignition key to be removed with the shift lever in a position other than park.
Remedy: Dealers will eliminate these conditions by disabling the overrides. Owner notification began on May 29, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the…
Show 7 more recalls
Structure › Body
Certain sport utility vehicles are missing welds on the rear floor plan.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the vehicle for missing welds. If missing welds are found, GM will exchange the vehicle for an equivalent vehicle or provide a refund of the purchase price. Owner notification began October 4, 2002.
Fuel system, gasoline › Delivery › Hoses, lines/piping, and fittings
On certain sport utility vehicles, a fuel filter fitting can become disconnected. If this were to occur while attempting to start the engine, a no-start condition would result and fuel would be pumped out the fuel filter onto the ground.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the fuel filter quick connect retainers. Owner notification began September 20, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the…
Air bags › Frontal
Certain passenger, Mini vans, and sport utility vehicles have an air bag inflator on the driver's side that could fracture at a weld during a deployment.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect, and replace, if necessary, the air bag module assembly on the driver's side. Owner notification began August 15, 2002.
Power train › Transfer case (4-wheel drive)
Vehicle description: sport utility vehicles equipped with 4-wheel drive. The calibration of the transfer case control module could cause insufficient high speed gear engagement.
Remedy: Dealers will update the transfer case control module calibration to increase gear engagement. Owner notification began November 6, 2001.
Power train › Transfer case (4-wheel drive)
Vehicle description: sport utility vehicles (4 wheel-drive). Some of these vehicles were built with a range shift collar in the transmission transfer case that contains cracks.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the transfer cases and update the control module calibration. Owner notification began September 6, 2001.
Structure › Body
Vehicle description: certain sport utility vehicles fail to comply with requirements of FMVSS no. 201, "occupant protection in interior impacts." these vehicles have a console cover/armrest lid latch that could release at less than the 10g vertical load requirement of the standard.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the console latch mechanism and install a striker plate. Owner notification began July 16, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not…
Suspension › Front › Control arm › Lower arm
Vehicle description: sport utility vehicles. Under certain circumstances the front lower control arm brackets May fracture. This fracture could result in separation of the front lower control arm from the frame.
Remedy: Dealers will replace the left and right front lower control arm brackets. Owner notification began by telephone on April 4, 2001. The followup letter to consumers was mailed May 3, 2001.
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 11 possible defects involving the 2002 GMC Envoy:
Loss of Headlights
The subject vehicles are model year (MY) 2002-2009 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, 2004-2007 Buick Rainier, 2003-2008 Isuzu Ascender, 2005-2009 Saab 9-7X, 2002-2004 Oldsmobile Bravada, 2003-2006 Chevrolet SSR, 2005-2009 Buick Lacrosse, and 2006-2008 Pontiac Grand Prix. This scope includes the Trailblazer/Envoy variants: 2002-2006 Envoy XL/Trailblazer EXT and 2004-2005 Envoy XUV.
Hazard light switch failure
On November 30, 2001, general motors (GM) conducted safety recall 01v-364 for the subject vehicles built between September 16, 1999 and August 28, 2001 to remedy a defective hazard switch that would cause a loss of hazard and stop lamp illumination.the hazard switch is contained within the vehicle multifunction switch.odi opened this investigation based on reports that some consumers were not notified of the…
Fuel pump module leaks gasoline
Odi has received reports that the fuel pump module leaks fuel and or vapor underneath the vehicle.GM states, the failure mechanism is corrosion of the fuel pump module flange which May lead to a fuel leak.corrosion of the fuel pump module flange is the result of the vehicle operating in a corrosive environment.odi has upgraded this pe to engineering analysis (ea07-009) to further assess this issue.
Windshield wiper failure
The subject vehicles (Chevrolet trailblazer (ext), GMC envoy (xl), and Oldsmobile bravada) are built on the gmt360 and gmt370 platforms and were originally equipped with a windshield wiper assembly referred to as the ?family? Design module (p/n 15171306 base, p/n 15171307 for vehicles equipped with rainsense automatic moisture sensitive wipers).the windshield wiper assembly is located inside the plenum at the base…
ENGINE STALL
Of the 697 total complaints, 240 were received for theenvoy and 457 for the bravada.GM has identified about 5,000 warranty claims related to stalling in the subject vehicles.GM reports that a transient voltage spike generated in the ecas degrades the performance of the PCM resulting in engine stall.GM modified the ecas wiring bundle and the PCM for vehicles built after December 6, 2001 to address the stalling…
2002 trailblazer/envoy fuel tank leaks
See attached report.
Pincher/chafed wiring
Fuel pump module leaks gasoline
During the course of this ea investigation, odi observed that the majority of the complaints (88%) and warranty claims (94%) were reported for vehicles that are registered for use in the salt belt region of the us.this area includes 20 states in the northeast, mid atlantic and the midwest regions and the district of columbia.consumers in the salt belt region reported to odi that they could smell fuel vapors in their…
Brake lamp failure
GM states that some brake/tail lamp bulbs can prematurely become inoperative due to malfunctioning brake/tail lamp sockets.on March 2, 2004, GM initiated a 6-year/72,000 mile special policy for 989,487 subject vehicles to inspect and replace the rear brake/tail lamp bulb socket assemblies.on April 4, 2004, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation (pe04-032) based on consumer…
Windshield wiper failure
On September 17, 2003, the office of defects investigation (odi) opened a preliminary evaluation (pe03-042) to investigate alleged windshield wiper failure in certain model year (my) 2002 and 2003 Chevrolet trailblazer and trailblazer ext, GMC envoy and envoy xl, and Oldsmobile bravada vehicles.the investigation was upgraded to an engineering analysis on January 6, 2004, and the scope was expanded to include certain…
ENGINE STALL
Model year (my) 2002 bravada and certain my 2002 envoy vehicles with optional electronically controlled air suspension (ecas) May be subject to engine stall caused by an errant voltage spike transmitted to the powertrain control module (PCM).in addition to engine stall, if the spike damages the PCM, the vehicle May not restart.on October 31, 2001 GM introduced into production a wiring harness containing an inductor…
What 2002 GMC Envoy owners say
Engine & cooling all 104 →
Vehicle listed caught on fire while driving on interstate with unknown cause. No previous warnings. Was a risk to safety of driver/and or passengers.
While driving the Envoy at about 45 MPH, a warning light saying "reduced engine power" came on suddenly, the car dropped down to about 20 MPH, and that continues to occur. I can turn off and restart the car, but the problem returns within a minute after driving it again. I started investigating what that means online, and, as with anything else on the internet, I see many opinions, guesses, and possibilities. Could be a bad sensor, bad throttle control, bad wire connections, etc. But this much appears clear: (1) it is a GM problem, and a very, very common one. (2) it is a dangerous problem. This seems pretty obvious - the car suddenly loses speed and evidently sometimes stalls out altogether. But hearing about so many other people's scary experiences just confirms this. (3) it can be difficult and expensive to diagnose and fix. …
Transmission & drivetrain all 83 →
The contact owns a 2002 GMC Envoy. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was shaking. Upon inspection, the contact noticed that the rear subframe had fractured and detached. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the subframe needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
While driving the Envoy at about 45 MPH, a warning light saying "reduced engine power" came on suddenly, the car dropped down to about 20 MPH, and that continues to occur. I can turn off and restart the car, but the problem returns within a minute after driving it again. I started investigating what that means online, and, as with anything else on the internet, I see many opinions, guesses, and possibilities. Could be a bad sensor, bad throttle control, bad wire connections, etc. But this much appears clear: (1) it is a GM problem, and a very, very common one. (2) it is a dangerous problem. This seems pretty obvious - the car suddenly loses speed and evidently sometimes stalls out altogether. But hearing about so many other people's scary experiences just confirms this. (3) it can be difficult and expensive to diagnose and fix. …
Electrical system all 70 →
I began to have issues with my headlights, low and high beams, flickering off and on at random for about 4 months until my brake lights started to do the exact same 7 months ago and now they have quit working all together! I have taken this SUV to 4 different shops now, and nobody has been able to figure out why this is happening. The last mechanic who attempted to fix the issue, says he found an older recall on the original manufactured tag lights being malfunctioned to the point it causes issues with the front and back lights. The man shown me the information on this recall, seeing the part # is listed on there, I compared it to mine and a neighbor's 2002 Envoy; which both of our envoys have these malfunctioned parts. GM has not contacted us back, and we're at a loss because it's a part needed from them directly. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 GMC Envoy. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, a tire was on the road and the contact swerved to the left to avoid the object however, the power steering assist failed and the brakes failed to respond. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and flipped approximately ten times and crashed into a guard rail. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact was taken to a hospital where there were injuries reported. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. Updated 09/05/14 the consumer stated the ignition switch May be the cause of the failure. Updated 12/16/2014
2002 GMC Envoy engines & fuel economy
| Engine | Transmission | Drive | MPG city / hwy / combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.2L 6-cyl | 4-speed automatic | RWD | 14 / 20 / 16 |
| 4.2L 6-cyl | 4-speed automatic | 4WD/AWD | 14 / 19 / 16 |
EPA ratings. Class: SUV.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2002 GMC Envoy a good car?
Based on 487 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2002 Envoy rates avoid: 6.1× as many complaints as a typical year of the Envoy at the same age. It is one of the Envoy years we suggest avoiding. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2002 GMC Envoy?
The engine & cooling — 104 complaints, 21% of all complaints for this model year, most often about engine › gasoline. Next are the transmission & drivetrain (83) and electrical system (70).
How many recalls does the 2002 GMC Envoy have?
There are 13 recalls for the 2002 GMC Envoy, the most recent from June 23, 2004 (engine and engine cooling). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the GMC Envoy?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2001, 1999 and 2009. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2003 and 2004. See the full GMC Envoy years comparison.
At what mileage do 2002 GMC Envoy problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 65,000 miles; 39% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
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.