AutoUtility currently tracks 152 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2016 GMC Terrain. Visibility, Wipers & Glass issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 49 complaints (32.2% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 9 filings cite a crash, 8 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 152 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Visibility, Wipers & Glass (49 reports • 32.2% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Engine & Cooling (45), Powertrain & Transmission (11)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 9 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 0 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 8 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2016 GMC Terrain
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Visibility, Wipers & Glass
Engine & Cooling
Powertrain & Transmission
Air Bags & Restraints
Exterior Lighting
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #22V137000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 GMC Terrain
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Loss of Motive Power While Driving
Engine Coolant Intrusion / Oil Leak
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2016 GMC Terrain
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The timing chain snapped and caused the engine to seize on our 2016 GMC Terrain 2.4L SLC-1 SUV/Truck. Since this has occurred multiple times on the 2.4L engines in this model from 2012 - 2016, we believe that there should be a recall as this issue could cause a major accident if the timing chain..."
"For an undetermined amount of time- many months for certain, I have been unable to get the key removed from the ignition when the car is shut off and placed in the locked position. I am forced to start and shut off the car for multiple times before I am finally able to remove the key. There is no..."
"My cousin thought I had a trailing arm bushing was bad on the driver's side. The subframe holding the trailing arm rusted out completely. He was able to put his thumb through it with little pressure when trying to see if it can be fixed."
"My 2016 GMC Terrain 2.4L Ecotec first stalled while idling at a red light in Raleigh, NC. I restarted it and it sounded different, so I drove it home. The next morning it would not start. The failure occurred at approximately 69,939 miles with no meaningful warning. The dealer’s diagnostic report..."
"Windshield wiper mechanism broke while driving in heavy heavy rain near [XXX] . Extremely dangerous situation and almost resulted in a crash but I was able to make my way off of the interstate safely. Huge inconvenience because we had to wait out the rain! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE..."
Complaint History for GMC Terrain
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 GMC Terrain | 315 | 10 | 3 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 GMC Terrain Current Page | 152 | 9 | 2 | Current |
| 2017 GMC Terrain | 133 | 11 | 1 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 GMC Terrain | 218 | 14 | 5 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 GMC Terrain | 181 | 7 | 3 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 GMC Terrain | 192 | 7 | 2 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 GMC Terrain | 34 | 4 | 2 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 GMC Terrain | 81 | 0 | 2 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 GMC Terrain | 37 | 2 | 2 | View 2023 Problems → |
| 2024 GMC Terrain | 48 | 1 | 1 | View 2024 Problems → |
| 2025 GMC Terrain | 12 | 2 | 0 | View 2025 Problems → |
| 2026 GMC Terrain | 0 | 0 | 1 | View 2026 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2016 GMC Terrain
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 34 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENGINE,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| PARKING BRAKE,POWER TRAIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SEAT BELTS,SEATS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (2)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Front Wiper Transmission Inoperative
On December 13, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded RQ18-002 to an Engineering Analysis (EA19-005) to further assess the MY2010-2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain windshield wiper failures. Due to a prior recall, 16V-582, addressing this issue in the MY2013 subject vehicles, MY2013 was not included in the analysis. To date, ODI had received 998 complaints with allegations of the front windshield wiper failing in adverse w...
Windshield Wiper Transmission Failure
On November 2, 2018, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Recall Query (RQ18-002) to assess the scope of Recall 16V-582.General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intrusion into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detac...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.