There are 17 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2016 GMC Canyonin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
On [XXX] at approximately 5:30p, I was driving normal highway speed when I saw what I thought was exhaust trailing behind. There were NO dash warning lights, engine temperature showing normal range, car was performing normally. I pulled over to shoulder, turned off car, released the hood latch. My husband tried to open hood but it was too hot. We then realized it was smoke coming from under hood, not exhaust. Smoke began to come inside car through vents. I quickly exited the car, and within a minute the entire front end engine area was engulfed in flames. 911 was called, fire, police, highway patrol responded. Fortunately there was no injury to myself or husband. There was also concern of starting a brushfire risk here in SoCal, but it was all extinguished thoroughly. Truck was towed to Al’s Towing, 475 W Vermont Ave, Escondido CA 92025, ph 760-745-5933. A report has been filed with our insurance USAA, inspection by adjuster is pending. I also notified Temecula GMC, where I purchased vehicle from, of the incident. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that after arriving to his destination, he became aware that the ignition switch would not release the key. After restarting the vehicle and then turning the vehicle off, the contact was able to remove the key, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000.
Purchased this vehicle brand new and paid extra for Nav and a backup camera as I am a disabled Veteran! Currently have 32000 miles or so as i don't drive that much. No other lights or warnings came up before the following happened. Recently the radio stopped playing and the infotainment system went blank. It occasionally pops up a screen that says waiting on update, other than that it stays blank most of the time. The backup camera comes on intermittently but not always when backing up, maybe 1 out of every 5 times. Also the bluetooth went dead since this all started. As a disabled Vet I depend on the backup camera and built in Navigation so this is an issue! Called the dealer and 3 other radio and entertainment car stores and they stated this is a know issue and would cost around $1000 to $1200 to replace the HMI 2.5 module behind the dash which is the known issue. Looking online this is a well known and common issue and GMC has bulletins to diagnose but no free or discounted replacement or repair, even though it's all over the internet that GMC and Chevy Infotainment centers have issues. There is a class action lawsuit going on due to this issue as well. I'm sure there are others that just haven't complained and should be fixed by the dealer.
The malfunction is: no power, no crank, no electricity at all, can not use key fob to lock/unlock, radio does not work, dash does not work, literally 0 lights 0 power when key is in ignition to and turning to start or when key is not in ignition. The positive battery terminal also overheats to extreme temps which caused my dad a 3rd degree burn since positive terminals should never be hot. Dates of malfunction that have left me stranded 7/16, 8/3, 8/5, 8/11, 8/12, 8/28. I have video evidence of the malfunction on each of those dates. The way we got it to fix is by banging on the battery. on 8/12 I brought the truck to the dealership because I banged on the battery I got error codes- Engine Power Reduced, and Stabilitrak Offline. The engine was shaking very badly, I have video. hey have the truck for a week, get it to trigger the same incident and determine its a bad battery cell that could only be detected when the malfunction was happening. They replaced the battery. On 8/28 the same malfunction happens except nothing is fixing it, not banging on the battery, not waiting 24+ hours. Prior to me buying the truck on June 28th the previous owner has an invoice in the glove box dated May 25th to try to fix the same issues. I bought this from the dealership not the previous owner. The vehicle still sits at the dealership trying to diagnose the issue.
When I put my GMC Canyon into park, the key will not release from the ignition. This does not happen every time, but it is a recurring problem. I first had the issue back on April 6, 2018 and the dealer "fixed" the issue. Three weeks later, April 27, 2018, I had the same issue. This time the dealer replaced the "shift control assembly". The truck was still under warranty so there was no financial burden on me. Then on September 2, 2020 the same issue happened and the shift control assembly had to be replaced again. This time the truck was not under warranty and it cost me $688.72. Now August 2022 the key is not releasing from the ignition once again. This is the 4th time for the same issue. I believe GMC needs to recall this part and come up with a fix that will work.
The contact owns a 2016 GMC Canyon. The contact stated that while the gear shifter was in park(P), the contact was unable to be removed from the ignition. The contact was able to remove the key after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the ignition switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 55,223.
When turning off vehicle the key will not to “off” mode. It stays in accessories mode and prevents the key from being able to be removed.
MY WIFE AND I WERE TRAVELING AT APPROXIMATELY 55 MILES AN HOUR WHEN ALL DASH LIGHTS NAV SYSTEM GAUGES ETC. TURNED OFF. IT WAS AS IF I TURN THE IGNITION OFF. THEN IT TURNED ITSELF BACK ON AND SEEM TO FUNCTION NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE HAD A SIMILAR PROBLEM PREVIOUS TO THIS AND THERE WAS A RECALL PERFORMED ON IT RECENTLY. ALSO THIS VEHICLE IS SUPPOSED TO GET CLOSE TO 30 MPG AND NOW THE BEST I CAN GET IS 21 MPG. IT HAS HAD A ROUGH IDLE AND SHUT DOWN ON ME SEVERAL TIMESDURING THE LAST FEW YEARS. I FEEL LIKE THIS VEHICLE IS UNSAFE AND GMC SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. I BOUGHT THIS VEHICLE BECAUSE I WANTED GOOD FUEL ECONOMY FROM A DIESEL AND THAT IS NOT THE CASE. THIS VEHICLE HAS HAD A NUMBER OF MAJOR ISSUES AND NUMEROUS RECALLS BUT NONE HAVE ADDRESSED THE VEHICLE SHUTDOWN. I HAVE READ MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS OF OWNERS NEARLY GETTING KILLED WHEN THEIR VEHICLE RANDOMLY SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING. THE VEHICLE SEEMS UNSAFE AND I FEEL THEY MISREPRESENTED THE FUEL ECONOMY OF THE DIESEL ENGINE.
MY INFOTAINMENT CONSOLE 'IS FREAKING OUT'. MODEL 84042934 WILL RANDOMLY CHANGE SCREENS, MOVE ICONS, CONNECT AND DISCONNECT THE APPLE CAR PLAY, SWITCH FM, AM, BT INPUT, CHANGE MENU POSITIONS, AND OTHER RANDOM (AND DISTRACTING) ACTIONS. NOBODY CAN USE THE RADIO, BLUETOOTH OR HANDS FREE PHONE INTERFACE. THE USB INTERFACE IS WORSE THAN THE WIRELESS CONNECTION. THE PROBLEM HAPPENS REGULARLY AFTER THE ENGINE REACHES OPERATING TEMPS. IT HAPPENS MORE WITH IPHONE THAN ANDROID. THIS ISSUE HAS BECOME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS. IT WILL HAPPEN IN MOTION OR AT REST AS LONG AS THE ENGINE IS RUNNING. WE HAVE HAD THE UNIT TESTED (OF COURSE THERE IS NO TROUBLE FOUND EVEN WHILE IT WAS ACTING UP) IN TWO DIFFERENT AREAS IN THE USA (FL AND TX). WE HAVE CHANGED THE PRIMARY BATTERY ON THE TRUCK BELIEVING IT WAS CAUSED BY IRREGULAR VOLTAGE FROM A 3.5 YEAR OLD BATTERY. RESEARCH IMPLIED GMC KNOWS ABOUT THE RE-ISSUANCE OF 2015.5 INFOTAINMENT UNITS INSTALLED IN 2016 MODEL YEAR TRUCKS BUT WILL ONLY OFFER $500 INCENTIVE TOWARDS A REPLACEMENT VEHICLE, THEY WILL NOT REPLACE THE RADIO HEAD UNIT THAT IS CAUSING RECKLESS DISTRACTIONS WHILE DRIVING. THE PROBLEM HAS BECOME SO PRONOUNCED THAT THE TRUCK IS NOT DRIVE-ABLE WITH THE RADIO ON AND THUS CANNOT USE THE HANDS-FREE FEATURE (WHICH IS MANDATORY IN SEVERAL STATES IN THE USA.
WHEN I'M DRIVING MY TRUCK MY WARNING LIGHTS COME ON LIKE POWER STEERING ISN'T WORKING ( WHICH IT DOES STILL WORK), ABS LIGHT COMES ON, BRAKE LIGHT COMES ON, AND TRACTION CONTROL LIGHT COMES ON. THE TRUCK RUNS FINE LIKE THERE NO ISSUES. WE EVEN REPLACED THE BATTERY AND IT STILL DOES IT. GMC LOOKED AT IT AND SAID IT WAS FINE WHICH I DOUBT.
WHILE DRIVING, THE INSTRUMENT PANEL SHUT DOWN AND THEN REBOOTED AS IF I WAS STARTING THE VEHICLE EVEN THOUGH THE ENGINE NEVER SHUT OFF.
FRONT PASSENGER SIDE FLOOR-CARPET AND FLOOR BOARDS WET, ENGINE LIGHT ON, INTEL LINK COMPUTER FAILED HAD TO REBOOT TOOK TO DALE EARNHARDT TALLAHASSEE FL THEY FIXED THE ENGINE LIGHT IT WAS THE PURGE VALVE AND IT HAD SHORTED OUT, THEY STATED THAT WE WOULD NEED TO TAKE TO A BODY SHOP AS THE LEAK IS COMING IN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE A-PILLAR FILLING UP AND THEN STREAMING OUT OF A "CHRISTMAS TREE HOLE AT BOTTOM OF FUSE BOX ON RIGHT SIDE. THIS HAPPENS ANYTIME ANYWHERE DRIVING OR STATIONARY WHEN IT RAINS. WE JUST PURCHASED THIS TRUCK ON 04/02/2019. 45,710 MILES THEY SAID THEY WOULD NOT FIX IT WE HAD TO TAKE IT TO A AUTOBODY SHOP.
VEHICLE IGNITION KEY CAN NOT BE REMOVED AND IT DOES NOT STAY IN PARK. VEHICLE CAN CRASH CAUSING INJURIES AND PROPERTY DAMAGE VEHICLE HAS ABOUT 35000K MILES UNDER WARRENTY AND GMC REFUSES TO DO ANY THING ABOUT IT.
The key does not always release from the ignition after parking the truck. I have to shift into Drive and back into Park multiple times or wait up to a minute to remove the key. Took it to the dealership, but at that time, it was only happening once a week or so, and they could not reproduce the problem. 3 years later and it still happens and it's getting much worse. Happens at least once a day. I have seen this problem pop-up on many forums, and while it is not a safety issue, it is a quality issue that should be addressed by GMC.
RODENTS ARE EATING THE WIRING IN MY NEW TRUCK. I'VE DRIVEN A NISSAN TRUCK FOR 18 YEARS WITH ZERO ISSUES WITH RODENTS. I PURCHASED THE NEW CANYON IN JULY OF 2016, AND WITHIN 6 MONTHS, ENTIRE WIRING HARNESSES WITH 7 WIRES ARE CHEWED COMPLETELY THROUGH. THE DEALER REFUSES TO COVER DAMAGE UNDER WARRANTY.
REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER ON PASSENGER SIDE OF SLIDING REAR WINDOWS DOES NOT WORK. MANY COMPLAINTS ONLINE OF SAME PROBLEM.
I HAVE A FRIEND WHO HAS A 2016 GMC CANYON WHERE THE RADIO/ONSTAR/REAR VIEW CAMERA ETC CUTS OUT AFTER A SHORT OPERATION TIME -- MY FRIEND HAS TAKEN IT TO THE DEALER WITH NO RESULTS. MY FIEND IS ELDERLY AND DOES NOT HAVE A COMPUTER THAT IS WHY I AM DOING THIS FOR HIM. THE BACK-UP CAMERA DOES NOT OPERATE WHEN THE RADIO/ONSTAR/CAMERA CUTS OUT. THE OPERATION OF THE VEHICLE IS STATIONARY, IN MOTION, ON A CITY STREET OR A HIGHWAY, TURNING
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