Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIGITAL INSTRUMENT PANEL | |||
| 11/10/2009 | 94000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. he stated that on november of 2009 while driving approximately 25 mph, he noticed the speedometer was failing. the speedometer began to increase and decrease in speed until it stopped working. he took the vehicle to the dealer. the diagnosis located the failure as the cluster program. the dealer replaced the cluster program. the cost for repair was $500.00. the manufacturer took a report and stated that they will not assist with the repair. the failure mileage was 94,000 the current mileage was 106,000. | |||
| 07/16/2009 | 79500 | 1 | |
| While driving in a 45mph zone, i checked my speedometer as i passed a police officer and it read 75mph so i immediately hit the brakes to slow. i didn't think i was speeding as i was going with the flow of traffic. upon further investigation i discovered the default position of the gauge was 30mph. eventually the speedometer was fully pegged at 120+ mph. i discussed the failure with colleagues at work and two independent mechanics and i discovered 1) the problem is common in gmc trucks in model years 2002-2006 and 2) the only way to correct it is to replace the entire instrument panel at a cost of approx. $700. i believe this is a safety hazard for two reasons: first, the failure is insidious and can cause an overreaction (one case ii know of where someone was pulling a boat trailer on a wet road, looked down and saw 90mph, hit the brakes and skidded off the highway), and second, because of the high cost of repair for older vehicles owners (as i am) will be hesitant to spend the money to fix one indicator needle. thank you for assistance. *tr | |||
| 10/01/2008 | 48000 | 1 | |
| 2003 chevy suburban 53000 miles, instrument cluster failing, speedometer pegged at 120 mph. started intermittently at 49,000 miles. *tr | |||
| 10/15/2008 | 1 | ||
| Speedometer is currently stuck at 120 mph. problem started with it being stuck at 45 mph when vehicle was stopped. *tr | |||
| 09/05/2008 | 115000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer jumps while i am driving hwy speeds. it jumps to 120 mph while i am doing 60 to 65 mph. *tr | |||
| 04/01/2006 | 70000 | 1 | |
| My speedometer on my 2003 suburban doesn't work. concerned about driving not knowing the speed i am going. it stopped working several months after i bought it used, couldn't afford to get if fixed then. after recall obtained recently, i took it to dealership and they said it was over mileage claimed in recall. *tr | |||
| 03/09/2008 | 106000 | 1 | |
| Speedometer on our 2003 suburban quit working back in march 2008 with approximately 106,000 miles on it. (it now has 110,000 miles) the speedometer went up to 120 when we were going approx. 40 mph and then it stuck down past 160 and has net moved since. so far i haven't been able to find a recall notice from chevrolet/gm. we have owned many different makes of cars along with another suburban with many more miles than this one and the speedometers never stopped working. i was told it would cost over $600 to fix and have not been able to come up with the money yet. searching on-line, this is obviously a problem that gm is not willing to fix as many, many other people have reported this same problem. *tr | |||
| 04/12/2008 | 70455 | 5 | 04/12/2008 |
| My speedometer displays incorrect mph, creating a driving hazard. i would like gm to fix this problem that so many others like me have had. *tr | |||
| 03/12/2008 | 85900 | 1 | 10/04/2003 |
| Speedometer sticks in excess of 120 mph or is very erratic. fluctuates between 30 mph (while stopped) to >120 mph. *tr | |||
| 02/24/2008 | 99000 | 10 | 12/11/2006 |
| Oil pressure gauge drops to 0 after about 20 minutes of running. *tr | |||
| 02/16/2008 | 84000 | 1 | 10/30/2007 |
| Instrument panel failure: speedometer, gas, gauges. 2003 chevy suburban. *tr | |||
| 12/15/2006 | 90000 | 50 | 12/16/2002 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. whenever the vehicle is driven, the speedometer freezes and displays inaccurate readings. the vehicle was taken to the dealer once. there is a customer reimbursement, but the vehicle exceeds the mileage requirement. the current mileage was 120,000 and failure mileage was 90,000. updated 4/29/08 *cn | |||
| 01/22/2002 | 91000 | 3 | 01/18/2002 |
| Speedometer failure: speedometer calibration error resulting in incorrect speed level. *tr | |||
| 11/04/2006 | 47000 | 40 | 08/14/2006 |
| While driving speedometer randomly locks up at different speeds. sometimes it shows i'm doing 55mph in a 25mph zone. i've called gm on several occasions in the past but was told it was an issue with my vehicle. i called the dealership and was informed the cost to fix ranged from $500-$600. i got a letter from gm today but was told since my vehicle was over 70,000 i was stuck with the repairs. this i think is absurd. if it is clearly a defect then it should be remedied regardless of the mileage on the vehicle. i am the second owner of this vehicle so i took the liberty of calling the previous owner this evening and he told me he had this problem around 46,000 miles. he said he was informed since the vehicle was past 36,000 miles gm will not cover it. therefore, he traded the vehicle in due to this same issues with the instrument cluster. *tr | |||
| 01/03/2008 | 85000 | 7 | |
| I was driving at about 50 mph and looked down and my speedometer read 120 mph. i stopped, shut the car off and started again, the speedometer froze at 20 mph. now it randomly freezes or reads a much higher speed than i am going. *cn | |||
| 06/24/2007 | 65000 | 1 | 10/03/2006 |
| Speedometer does not work correctly. it has been this way on and off for the last six months. it will jump around or the needle sticks in the 120 mph position. i have received a notice in the mail regarding this issue elclosure letter 07187. i have just went over the 70,000 warranty stated in the letter by 712 miles. i've contacted chevrolet and the dealer which they have told me that i fall outside the warranty. the cost of repair is around $560. i would have had it fix six months ago but could not afford it. this should be a recall and be repair at no cost since this is clearly a manufactured defect.*cn | |||
| 01/02/2008 | 100 | ||
| The speedometer in my suburban 2003 will not return to zero when i stop. therefore, it reads higher speeds than actual due to this offset. this morning i had it past 120 mph while driving slower than other cars on the highway. i searched the internet and it looks a common problem. why it is not a recall. speed is safety, is in it? why nhtsa is keeping silent?*cn | |||
| 12/23/2007 | 79800 | 1 | 05/13/2003 |
| Common speedometer problem on my 2003 suburban (79k miles). gauge reads erratic incorrect speeds. pulling the ipc/dic fuse resets the gauge temporarily. many, many complaints about this issue can be found, yet no recall has been issued. *tr | |||
| 11/15/2007 | 70000 | 2 | |
| Speedometer reads 120 when stopped. works when it wants, but right now the speedo is buried as far as it can go. dealer wants $500.00 to fix when they know the stepper motors are bad. very unsafe!!! *tr | |||
| 12/02/2007 | 139920 | 2 | 11/02/2002 |
| Speedometer defective, jerky behavior, incorrect speed displayed, not returning to zero when car is stationary. *tr | |||
| 06/01/2006 | 35000 | 300 | 12/01/2003 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet suburban 1500. while driving at any speed, the speedometer would display inaccurate readings. the contact stated that this was an intermittent failure. the dealer stated that the motors inside the speedometer failed. as of october 30, 2007, the dealer had not repaired the vehicle. the failure mileage was 35,000 and current mileage was 49,000. | |||
| 09/15/2007 | 74000 | 20 | 09/10/2007 |
| Speedometer clicking, sticking. this happened without any warning. started acting erratic. stopped vehicle and speedometer showed 80 mph. started driving slowly and registered 110 mph. through research on internet found many had same issue. can turn off engine and restart multiple times to get speedometer back to zero, however, within a short amount of time it is stuck back on a higher speed when stopped. cannot tell what the correct speed of the vehicle due to this problem. *jb | |||
| 07/22/2007 | 43600 | 2 | 08/22/2003 |
| Speedometer stuck while driving at highway speed home from wisconsin and keeps going up until it tops out around 140 mph. speedometer does not go down when decelerating. when shut off needle returns to about 70 mph and does the same thing. cannot determine what speed vehicle is traveling. *jb | |||
| 01/10/2007 | 1 | 04/15/2006 | |
| I have a 2003 chevrolet suburban that the speedometer has quit working in. chevrolet refuses to take care of the problem. i have researched this online and found many others having the same problem, some have even filed lawsuits. this item is extremely costly and i can not afford to replace it, nor do i feel that i should. i think the manufacturer should recall them and take care of the problem. *jb | |||
| 02/16/2007 | 68500 | 20 | 11/22/2006 |
| Instrument cluster: at any given time, the speedometer will stop registering the vehicle's speed and go past the maximum speed (120mph in this case). when you stop, the speedometer usually stops on approximately 80 or 90 mph depending on the speed you were originally traveling. also, the oil pressure gauge does not show the accurate reading. the oil pressure gauge will all of a sudden go down to zero, or max out at 80 and stay there. it takes several days for the speedometer to go back down to zero, or several times cranking the vehicle and turning off the ignition to get the speedometer to go back to zero, causing premature wear on the ignition components and starter. *tr | |||
| 04/15/2007 | 40000 | 1 | 05/01/2003 |
| About 18 months i had the instrument cluster on the 03 chevrolet suburban. i was told then that this is a very common thing with chevrolet brand clusters. well, apparently it is. it has happened again. only now, all of my stepper motors need replacement this time. i can be driving down the road about what i believe is 60 mph, but my speedometer measures 120 mph. i will get this fixed this week, but i believe chevrolet ought to recall these. if you look online or talk to enough repair shops, you will quickly find out that this seems to be a chronic problem. as such, you will also see vendors online, or ebay etc selling repair services. to me, any misreading of speedometer is a very serious safety issue and ought to be fixed by the manufacturer under a recall. *ak | |||
| 12/10/2006 | 69500 | 15 | 12/03/2002 |
| I have a 2003 chevrolet suburban which has experience several episodes of speedometer malfunction while driving on the interstate. usually, the speedometer will malfunction when disengaging the cruise control, speeding up or stopping. after 1-2 days the speedometer will gradually return to baseline. the malfunction has caused me to assume that i was driving slower than i was which has resulting in a high risk for accidents. *jb | |||
| 01/10/2007 | 45000 | 20 | 10/10/2003 |
| Speedometer stick and jumps. only way to resolve is to pull fuse or start/stop ignition repeatedly until it reaches 0. it then works for a while and then does it again. the starting/stopping the ignition surely is not good for started. it first started back in january and continues to happen. *jb | |||
| 03/02/2007 | 1 | 03/02/2007 | |
| I own a 2003 suburban made by chevrolet and the speedometer will know longer work . this seems to be a very common problem with gm vehicles of this year class. it seems dangerous and the fix is $500 or more depending on dealer for the total instrument cluster. seems like a faulty product to me. *jb | |||
| 01/01/2007 | 1 | ||
| Speedometer and other gauges in the instrument cluster of my 2003 chevrolet suburban not working properly. speedometer indicates 60 mph when at a full stop and 120 mph when moving. *nm | |||
| 12/31/2006 | 55000 | 10 | 07/01/2003 |
| 2003 chevrolet suburban. speedometer acts very erratically, often indicating incorrect speed. the problem causing the speedometer to fail also seems to affect the oil pressure gauge. 2004 gmc k1500 z71- speedometer is erratic also. *nm | |||
| 12/07/2006 | 90005 | 1 | 10/15/2005 |
| 2003 suburban instrument cluster stopped working, speedometer is erratic, sometimes it gets stuck other times it reads extremely high also battery gauge is dead. i have found numerous web forums with countless threads dedicated to complaints on 2003 gm instrument clusters. whole cluster must be replaced, as it is very dangerous to not know your speed. *jb | |||
| 11/30/2006 | 53000 | 1 | 03/10/2004 |
| Speedometer is erratic, reads incorrectly, sometimes doesn't work at all. | |||
| 12/17/2006 | 55000 | 1 | 09/20/2003 |
| I have a 2003 chevrolet suburban and the speedometer stays at 30 mph when the vehicle is stopped. when traveling down the road i have no idea how fast i am going but am sure that 110 mph is not correct. *jb | |||
| 10/25/2006 | 58000 | 9999 | 08/15/2003 |
| The speedometer quit working (gets stuck and reports in accurate speeds or sticks below 0 mph) on my 2003 suburban with only 59000 miles. i am told this is a common problem with the instrument cluster and that gm issued a tsb but no recall even with the many reports and complaints of safety concerns. i am told the repair cost will be $500-$700. i also had to replace a bad a/c compression costing $1k and intake gaskets $320 in the last 3 months. this is ridiculous for this new of a vehicle. i thought gm built better quality products than this. it's a safety issue not knowing how fast you are going or if the other gauges are working correctly. i am nervous putting my wife and 4 kids in this vehicle due to these safety concerns. i will not risk my family's safety due to this low quality of product. *jb | |||
| 10/22/2006 | 84500 | 12 | 12/31/2002 |
| Speedometer failure in 2003 chevrolet suburban. speedometer is producing inaccurate readings. will read 0 mph at highway speeds, will also read higher speeds while vehicle is stopped. instrument cluster was replaced at a cost of $550. *jb | |||