There are 14 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2003 Chevrolet Tahoein NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
When in drive the car will not go into 3rd gear. It slips from. 2nd and back passes 3rd gear completely and goes into 4th gear and the engine revs up/rpm. The transmition filter/screen has been replaced and all transmission fluids were drained and flushed and replaced with new transmittion fluids. And this did not fix the issue.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET TAHOE. WHILE DRIVING AT 25 MPH, THE VEHICLE EXPERIENCED DELAYED ACCELERATION AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 97,000.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 CHEVROLET TAHOE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING. THE DEALER STATED THAT A NEW TRANSMISSION WAS NEEDED BEFORE IT FAILED COMPLETELY. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE LESS THAN 47,261. UPDATED 12/16/08 *CN UPDATED 12/18/0*JB
MY 2003 CHEVY TAHOE Z71 TRANSMISSION FAILED WHILE DRIVING. THE TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT ENGAGE AT ALL AFTER THE INCIDENT. VEHICLE HAD APPROX. 70,000 MILES. THE TRANSMISSION WAS REPAIRED AT THE GM DEALERSHIP. I STILL HAVE THE PARTS AVAILABLE. GM DEALER NOR THE CHEVY CUSTOMER SERVICE LINE WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AS A ISSUE ON THE TAHOE. THE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN A MAIN ROAD WITH SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC - IT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE A SAFETY ISSUE AS I WAS MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN WHEN THE INCIDENT OCCURRED. 4L60 TRANSMISSION. *TR
ON 12/27/06 I PURCHASED MY CHEVY TAHOE 2003 I HAD COMPLETE 4X4 SERVICE ON 12/14/06 AS RECOMMENDED BY THE DEALER AS REQUIRED MAINTENANCE FOR 90,000 MILES AND TO MAINTAIN THE WARRANTY. ON 12/29/07 THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN IN FOR SERVICE FOR THE 4WD SERVICE LIGHT ON AND NOISE WHEN ENGAGED IN 4WD. DIAGNOSIS: TRANSFER CASE CONTROL MODULE. THE DEALER WILL NOT REPAIR VEHICLE NOR WILL EASY CARE GOLD WARRANTY COVER REPAIR. I WAS ASSURED THAT THE VEHICLE WAS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE FOR AT LEAST 2 YEARS. *TR
PIN HOLES KEEP COMING IN CASE CAUSING FLUID TO LEAK CAUSING LOSS OF 4WD AND EVENTUALLY MAKING IT UNUSEABLE. *TR
WE HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE RUNNING LIGHTS, DASH GAUGES NOT WORKING PROPERLY. NOW THE ENGINES IS STARTING TO IDLE ROUGHLY AND MAKE NOISES. WE GOT A NOTICE LETTING US KNOW THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ON A PART THAT RUNS ALL OF THE DASH GAUGES. SOME KIND OF COMPUTER THING. I WENT INTO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME MY CAR HAD TOO MANY MILES TO HONOR THE RECALL AND I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT!. LETS SEE, WE WAIT LONG ENOUGH FOR MILES TO GET PAST 100,000 MILES AND THEN THEY DON'T HAVE TO FIX ALL THE VEHICLES. I CAN SEE ANOTHER TAHOE COMING DOWN THE ROAD AND ONE OF THE RUNNING LIGHTS IS ALWAYS OUT. WE HAVE A 2003 TAHOE. THE DASH COATING STARTED PEALING AND THEY WOULDN'T COVER IT BEING REPLACED. I HAD LESS THAN 60,000 MILES AT THAT TIME. THEY SAID THAT THE EXTENDED WARRANTY DIDN'T COVER THIS. THE TAHOE IS SHIFTING REAL ROUGH AT TIMES AND WILL SPEED UP ON IT'S OWN AT TIMES. THIS SHIFTING HAPPENS AT LEAST ONCE A DAY. THE GAUGES DON'T WORK AT ALL. (FUEL,OIL PRESSURE, AND SOMETIMES THE RPM WON'T WORK AT ALL). *TR
DT: THE CONTACT STATED A DEVICE ON THE TRANSMISSION BROKE DUE TO COLD TEMPERATURES CAUSING THE SPEEDOMETER TO BE INOPERATIVE. THE DEALER INFORMED THE CONTACT THERE WERE NO RECALLS AND ADVISED HER TO CALL THE MANUFACTURER. THE MANUFACTURER OFFERED NO FREE REMEDY. *AK
WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN THE DRIVEWAY AND KEY IN THE ACCESSORY MODE VEHICLE WAS ABLE TO COME OUT OF GEAR WITHOUT APPLYING THE BRAKES. AS A RESULT, VEHICLE ROLLED FORWARD INTO A FENCE. *AK
CHILD WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE GEAR POSITION INDICATOR. IT COULD BE EASILY MOVED FROM DRIVE TO NEUTRAL WITHOUT DEPRESSING THE BUTTON ON GEAR SHIFT. DEALERSHIP WAS CALLED ABOUT THE PROBLEM. DEALERSHIP STATED THAT THIS WAS A NORMAL CONDITION. *AK
WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED 4-WHEEL DRIVE DISENGAGED ON ITS OWN. SOON AFTER, CONSUMER ENGAGED THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE AND A SERVICE 4-WHEEL DRIVE LIGHT CAME ON. WHEN 4-WHEEL DRIVE LIGHT CAME ON 4-WHEEL DRIVE DISENGAGED. DEALER WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM, BUT COULD NOT RESOLVE IT. *AK
4 WHEEL DRIVE LIGHT CAME ON AND WOULD NOT ENGAGE. THE DEALER TOLD THE CONSUMER IT WAS A SOFTWARE PROBLEM. *LA THE CONSUMER THOUGHT THE PROBLEM WAS RESOLVED UNTIL A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO PLACE THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE AND IT DID NOT ENGAGE. AFTER TRYING A SECOND TIME IF ENGAGED AND THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE LIGHT ILLUMINATED AGAIN AND THE VEHICLE FAILED TO GO INTO 4-WHEEL DRIVE. THE CONSUMER WAS FINALLY TOLD THAT THE MANUFACTURER DID NOT HAVE A FIX FOR THE MALFUNCTION OF THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE. THE VEHICLE HAD OTHER PROBLEMS SUCH AS A RATTLING NOISE COMING FROM THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT, THE REMOTE KEYLESS ENTRY WAS INOPERATIVE, THERE WAS A THUMPING SOUND COMING FROM THE DRIVERS SIDE WHEN THE CONSUMER MADE A TURN, THE EMBLEM FELL OFF THE BACK OF THE TRUCK, THE SEAT MECHANISM DID NOT WORK AND THERE WAS IN THE DRIVERS SIDE RUNNING BOARD. *JB
WHEN THE KEY WAS IN THE "START" POSITION, THE VEHICLE WAS SHIFTED FROM PARK. THE CONSUMER'S 4 YEAR CHILD CHANGED THE GEAR AND CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO ROLL INTO A DITCH. *JB
WHILE DRIVING THE VEH AUTOMATICALLY SWITCHES INTO 4 WHEEL DRIVE FOR NO REASON. THEN THE COMPUTER GERNERATED MESSAGE CENTER ADVISES TO SERVICE 4WD. THIS VEH HAS LESS THAN 4000 MILES ON IT AND IT HAS DONE THIS SEVERAL TIMES AND BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR THIS ALSO
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