There are 17 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2016 Chevrolet Suburbanin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Loss of steering, jerks the week right out of your hand and then you are unable to turn the wheel. Engine stalls and you have to try to coast to the side of the road, put in park and try to restart the vehicle. Service Stabilitrak warning appears on display, Alarm Sounds, Radio beeps and display goes blank, navigation compass does not work. There is a current Technical Service Bulletin for these issues: #18-NA-161, document ID 5075841 that lists the years from 2014 to 2020. There were Product Safety Recalls issued: 17276 Loss of Steering Assist, Reference Number:N172085440 for vehicles listed in this TSB for 2014 and 2015 but no Recalls for later vehicles with the same problems.
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving slower speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. Due to the failure, the vehicle was coasted to a stop before being restarted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The mechanic discovered high resistance in the negative ground battery cable. The contact was informed that the cable needed to be replaced. Upon investigation, the contact discovered Technical Service Bulletin: 18-na-161 and linked the TSB to the failure. The manufacturer and the dealer were notified of the failure and the TSB. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
The vehicle will just stop operating while driving. This past Sunday, December 18, 2022, I was driving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game and turning into the parking lot and the vehicle just stopped operating, completely turned off. Couldn't turn steering wheel, put into neutral or anything. Police assisted me as I was blocking the main road to the parking lot. No electrical in the vehicle. This happened a few times before but the car would usually restart quickly. This time it sat for over 5 minutes and then for some reason I was able to get it restarted. There is a service bulletin for this issue from Chevrolet TSB PIT5405, however there are no parts available for this fix. This is a very dangerous situation as this happened in the middle of a major road and could happen at anytime without any warning. Luckily no one has been hurt or any accident but it is scary to say the least.
While driving the alert “Service Trailer Break System” chimes and shows up on my dash so much that my car is un drivable. I don't even nor have I ever towed anything with my Chevy suburban before. So I have never even used the trailer break system before either.
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Suburban. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the electrical power fluctuated, and the steering wheel jerked abnormally and became difficult to turn. The instrument panel lights turned off with an audible bell chime. The contact stated that during the failure, the engine remained operable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the battery, and the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure later reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure and no service was performed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 117,000.
Car dies randomly while driving taken it to multiple dealerships and they can’t figure it out changed batteries tightened grounds had dealership check everything and they can’t see any problem but have almost been hit and in bad accidents due to this. Car will drive fine then randomly die while in motion losing power steering and brakes and then locked into car without any thing working can’t use flashers or anything just stuck until about 15 mins car will randomly start again.
My 2016 suburban is giving false alerts warnings, making my suv unable to change lines on highway or making it hard to do so. Unable to detect rear cross traffic.
When stepping on brake the electrical system went off for several seconds as in the entire dash shut off, then later when driving at low speeds and backing up dash reads stabilizer track and jerks the steering wheel out of hands
At low speeds while steering, the steering wheel locks up for 1 or 2 seconds causing the vehicle to drive in an unintended direction. This is sometimes accompanied by the electrical system rebooting, and sometimes, there is no warnings at all. It has happened to us 4 times in the last six months. The dealer has had the car twice and is unable to reproduce or diagnose. In addition, sometimes the car has rebooted while driving 60 mph on highways. When this happens, it has engaged cruise control at least three times. I don't view this as unsafe as the steering description given above.
THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 10 DIFFERENT TIMES WITHIN A MONTH. FIRST TIME I WAS PARKED AND WHEN I WENT TO PUT THE VEHICLE IN DRIVE, I TRIED TO TURN STEERING WHEEL AND IT SEEMED TO LOCK UP AND ALL THE LIGHTS STARTED TO FLICKER. AFTER ABOUT A SECOND IT ALLOWED ME TO USE STEERING WHEEL. THIS SEEMS TO HAPPEN AT A VERY SLOW SPEED. WHEN I DRIVE THROUGH AT RESTARAUNTS, THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKS UP. THE RADIO WILL QUIT PLAYING. IF I TURN OFF THE VEHICLE AND RESTART IT THE RADIO WILL WORK ONCE AGAIN. WHEN THE VEHICLE DOES THIS, NONE OF THE TURNING SIGNALS WORK.
MY FAMILY AND I HAD A TRIP TO L.A. ABOUT 2 HOURS AWAY. WHEN WE WERE HALF OF THE TRIP. MY TRUCK STARTED TO FLICKERING ALL INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR LIGHTS. ALL SOUNDS INCLUDING RADIO AND TURN SIGNAL WHEN OFF. AFTER THAT I TRIED TO GET OUT OF THE NEXT COMING EXIT, BEFORE THAT THERE WAS A CURVE WHEN THE WORSE PART HAPPEN. MY TRUCK TURNED OFF ALL LIGHT IN THE VEHICLE FOR 1 SECOND AFFECTING THE STEERING WHEEL. I WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE THE TURN THAT WAS COMING IN FRONT OF ME LUCKILY WAS ONLY 1 SECOND THAT THIS HAPPENED THEN ALL POWER CAME BACK. GOT OUT OF THE FREEWAY RIGHT AWAY. THIS EXPERIENCE WAS REALLY TERRIBLE FOR OUR FAMILY AND I. THE MOTOR NEVER WHEN OFF ONLY ELECTRICAL ON THE TRUCK. BY THE WAY WE WERE DRIVING 70MPH ON THE FREEWAY WHEN THIS HAPPENED.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 CHEVROLET SUBURBAN. THE CONTACT STATED THE AIR CONDITIONER FAILED TO PRODUCE COLD AIR THROUGH THE VENTS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO ALL STAR CHEVROLET (11377 AIRLINE HWY, BATON ROUGE, LA 70816) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AN AIR CONDENSER LEAK. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS OVER THE MILEAGE FOR MANUFACTURER TO COVER REPAIRS UNDER SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT: N162080780. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED BUT OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE AS THE VEHICLE WAS OVER THE MILEAGE. THE CONTACT WAS UPSET AS SHE DID NOT RECEIVE THE NOTICE FOR SPECIAL COVERAGE ADJUSTMENT: N162080780. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 70,000.
AT TIMES, THE ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILS WHILE THE VEHICLE IS OPERATING. TYPICALLY, IT QUICKLY REBOOTS, BUT AT TIMES WILL NOT RESTART FOR SEVERAL MINUTES. THIS HAS HAPPENED WHILE MAKING A HARD TURN AT LOW SPEED, IN WHICH THE POWER STEERING FAILS, WHEEL JERKS, AND ENTIRE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND ENGINE BECOME DISABLED, AND HAS ALSO HAPPENED AT HIGHWAY SPEED WHILE OPERATING ON CRUISE CONTROL, WITH THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TYPICALLY SHUTTING DOWN WHEN THE BLINKER IS ENGAGED TO CHANGE LANES. WHEN ELECTRICAL SHUTS DOWN, RESULTS IN COMPLETE LOSS OF ALL ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS INCLUDING POWER STEERING, BRAKE ASSIST, ENGINE POWER, LIGHTS, ETC.
WHILE DRIVING THE DOOR LOCKS BEGAN OPENING AND CLOSING, THE EMERGENCY FLASHERS TURNED ON AND OFF REPEATEDLY, THE GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM STOPPED WORKING AND THE BLUETOOTH OPERATIONS FAILED
THE TRANSMISSION ON MY 2016 CHEVY SUBURBAN STARTED TO GIVE ME PROBLEMS AT 30000 MILES, AT FIRST I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THE TRANSMISSION. THE TRUCK STARTED TO JUMP WHEN I SWITCHED GEARS, IT LAGGED ON ACCELERATING, THERE WAS A HUMMING NOISE AND GEARS SLIPPED. CURRENTLY AT 80000 MY TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED CAR IS NO LONGER DRIVEABLE. I TOOK IT FOR SUSPENSION PROBLEMS AND I KEPT TELLING DEALER THAT THE TRUCK SEEMED OFF AND FURTHER INVESTIGATION IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING.
I HAVE EXPERIENCED MY RADIO AND STEERING CONTROLS FAIL TO RESPOND TO TOUCH, DISCONNECT FROM PHONE CALLS, MY CRUISE CONTROL HAS STOPPED WORKING ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND IS NOW INTERMITTENT. THE VEHICLE'S LANE DEPARTURE ASSIST IS INTERMITTENT AS WELL.
I AM REPORTING A SEVERE AND RECURRING SAFETY DEFECT WHERE MY VEHICLE SUFFERS A COMPLETE LOSS OF ELECTRICAL AND ENGINE POWER WHILE IN MOTION. THIS HAPPENS WITHOUT WARNING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS AND DURING VARIOUS MANEUVERS, INCLUDING MAKING TURNS AND DRIVING STRAIGHT. THIS HAS HAPPENED OVER 500 TIMES SINCE THE 3 YEARS I HAVE HAD IT. I HAVE NOT FELT SAFE IN THE VEHICLE FOR A LONG TIME AND WHEN I HAVE TAKEN IT TO HAVE IT CHECKED NO ONE COULD TELL ME ANYTHING BECAUSE IT WAS NOT HAPPENING AT THE MOMENT. WHEN THE VEHICLE DIES IT COMES BACK TO LIFE ON IT'S OWN BUT THE TIMING IS NOT PRECISE AS TO WHEN IT HAPPENS. THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THESE POWER FAILURES CREATES AN IMMINENT RISK OF A HIGH SPEED COLLISION OR BEING STRANDED IN A DANGEROUS INTERSECTION. I CAN'T EVEN SELL IT TO SOMEONE IN GOOD CONSCIOUS KNOWING IT HAS THESE SERIOUS ISSUES. NOT SURE I AM DOING EVERYTHING OR CONTACTING WHO ALL I NEED TO ABOUT THIS SITUATION BUT THIS IS A START
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026