Traction Control complaints by model year
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
The contact's wife owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated that upon making a left turn, the steering wheel would forcefully jerk to right, thrusting the vehicle into the opposite direction. The contact stated that the service ESC and service brake assist warning lights were illuminated. The warning lights would disappear soon after the failure as well as upon restart. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer on multiple occasions where he was repeatedly informed that unless the service light was illuminated upon arrival to the dealer, they would be unable to service the vehicle. The vehicle remained in the possession of the dealer and was not repaired. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Two incident warnings on my dashboard saying of my back hatch was open when it was not. Had it serviced because the dash warning would not shut off. Service said it was fixed then happened again. Twice this happened intermittently. Another incident when on navigation screen, when the navigator gave directions it changed to phone screen and went back to navigation screen when she stopped talking, like she was calling me to verbally give me directions! The most worrisome was as I was going 50 MPH on city street, my gas peddle stopped engaging with the engine and I was loosing speed, as I pressed on the gas peddle harder the car was decreasing in speed as I watched the speedometer. During that incident all was working including brakes, radio and steering. I proceeded to drift into a driveway to stop the car for help, good thing I was not on the freeway could have gotten killed. …
Driving on a downslope heading north on 65 going into tennessee from alabama I experienced a loss of power system lights went off along with gauges going off and on. At which time stabiatrak and transmission lights came on saying to pull over immediately.we did so called GM OnStar where they told us we would experience a loss in power but could travel onward. We chose to get towed, however due to the holiday we had difficulties getting a tow and were forced to drive home 90 miles away. The problem did not present itself again on the drive home. We took it to a GMC dealer in vestavia hills they pulled off the codes but had no reason for the issue nor were they able to get service bulletins from GM on the issue. I documented the findings went home and a later on 11/23/18 the problem occurred at about 130 miles from the first incident. …
Stopped at a light to make a left turn. The vehicle jerked, then shifted from drive to park. The info system gave me the following messages: transmission, stabilitrak and parking assist. I turned the vehicle off and tried to restart it. I got a message that said "this vehicle is unsafe to drive.:" at this time non of the gear options were available. A roseville, michigan police officer had to position herself behind me becsuse cars were going around me on both sides (my four way blinkers were on).the tow truck driver was unable to put the vehicle in neutral, thus my vehicle had to be dragged onto the truck. At the dealer they were unable to change gears and once again my vehicle was dragged off the tow truck prior to this incident. I reported to the dealer the rocky, bouncy, pulling ride which made the vehicle hard to control. …
I purchased my vehicle from a dealer in June 2018, and about a month of purchasing it my vehicle has been hesitating in acceleration, at first I didn't think anything of it, but it started getting worse. Two days ago when I was driving my vehicle in the downtown area (city streets), it was bucking a lot. When I got to my destination and restarted the vehicle, I put it in reverse and proceeded to drive back but the car shuddered and then shut off completely and the malfunction indicator lamp light came on (but it didn't stay on long). Today as I was driving it continued to jerk, especially when I was driving around 20 MPH or below (which I had to do because of the school zones). My vehicle shut off again as I began to pull off from dropping my child off at school, which almost caused another parent to crash in the back of me. …
Started March of 2017 progressively getting worse. SUV jerks, gauges go crazy, check engine light comes on, if slow to below 20 MPH it sputters and won't accelerate, if I stop completely it won't accelerate. Multiple times this has happened on the interstate during rush hour traffic & at busy intersections. If I turn car off and back on the system resets. Then it starts all over again. It has been in and out of the shop. Probably 10-15 times in 2years. They get codes, but then these go away before they can be 'run'. I broke down 1-1/2 weeks ago in bay minette & the car wouldnt start back up. I was stranded out of town and had to rent a car to get back home. The dealer there got 7 error codes that all cleared out. I have filed a compjaint with GMC, but they are slow to handle the problem & I can't get supervisors on the phone or at least one who doesn't seem like he's been drinking.
Stopped at a light and car just stalled without warning. Put the car on park and put my blinkers on. Looked at dashboard and no check engine light on. Turned car off and on then it started to drive but stalled 4 more times after I came to a full stop at a light. Used the fixd app and it detected 1 problem code p0011 intake camshaft position sensor and the test turned the check engine light on and explained that variable valve/camshaft timing in the internal combustion engine control the intake and exhaust gases in and out of the gas combustion chamber. Sensor should last as long as your car but can become damaged due to wear and tear but my car only has 93000 hwy miles and is only 4 yrs old.
Driving between 40-45mgh and stabilitrak failure service and ABS failure light comes on. At every bump the service lights goes on and off. Then on a smooth service the stabilitrak lights comes on until I get home. With the collision warning turned on the car also and almost frequently tends to brake on its own while driving. But here's the real problem this 2014 GMC Terrain denali car is not on the 'recall' list - why? Seems it's from the same car manufacturer with same issues, shouldn't it be on the same recall list.
Frequently asked questions
Which GMC Terrain years have traction control problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 2010 (22), 2011 (22), 2012 (13), 2013 (8) and 2014 (8) model years. Traction Control complaints make up 8% of all complaints for the 2010.
Is there a recall for GMC Terrain traction control problems?
No. NHTSA lists no stability & traction control recall for any GMC Terrain model year. A widespread problem may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin, so ask a dealer.
At what mileage do GMC Terrain traction control problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 60,000 miles; 42% happened 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.