There are 3 owner-reported steering complaints for the 2018 Chevrolet Suburbanin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
TECHNICIAN - Was unable to perform test drive of vehicle. Inspected operation & found; Vehicle will not turn over, battery very weak. Removed battery, put on charger for approximately 45 minutes. Reinstalled battery. Vehicle had power but did not start. Was unable to get shifter into neutral. Found engine still not turning over. Found starter motor making clicking sounds. Got to turn over once but was very labored, but did not start. Disconnected shift cable at transmission and rolled vehicle into shop for diagnostic. - Scanned computer control modules & found; Approximately 30 codes total in multiple modules, with high and low voltage codes. - Inspected & found; Performed basic electrical faulty tracing. Performed battery test, voltage was low at 16%.Battery(new FY22) failed load test. Found starter making "thunking and clicking" sounds. Unable to move shift lever out of park position. Let battery charge an additional 1 hour and found battery failed testing. Tester states "short" which indicates internal failure. Tested starter draw, found excessive draw at 400amps, spec is 70-120amps. After testing tried to start. Engine turned over slowly for approximately 1 second and then made clicking sounds. Found body module voltage codes returned. Verified engine does turn over when manually turned with breaker bar. FURTHER SHIFT LOCK ISSUES OR OTHER ISSUES. Technician removed and replaced the starter assembly and the battery. Found engine started up and ran. Verified repair. Found shift lock still not working. Shifter will not leave the park position. Performed testing. Verified transmission will shift to drive and to reverse. Verified brake switch working properly and sending signal out to ABS module. Verified shift cable not frozen. Found no fault tracing available for this type of shift lock. Eliminated other possibilities which indicates the issue is with the shift lock actuator/gear shifter. Determined/Suspect; The shift lock actuator/gear shifter is faulty.
I have three occasions where I have been turning and my steering wheel locks up and is very hard to turn. I almost crashed twice. I have three young children in the car. I could not get out of the way fast enough but luckily avoided a crash.
When driving with the 4x4 switch in the auto setting the car would jerk while driving at high speeds. Almost seemed like the left front tire would engage on dry pavement. Also there is a loss of steering while the vehicle is in motion. Speed does not change when it happens. Seems to happen more when driving around a corner. Loss of steering happened for a split second or multiple seconds.
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