There are 14 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2003 GMC Sierrain NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
COMPLAINT INVOLVES REDUCED POWER MODE WHILE DRIVING. THIS HAS BECOME A SAFETY CONCERN BECAUSE OF THE RAPID DROP IN SPEED WHILE DRIVING. IT IS UNSAFE TRYING TO EXIT TRAFFIC LANES WITH NO RESPONSE FROM THROTTLE PEDAL AND APPEARS TO BE A COMMON PROBLEM WITH DRIVE BY WIRE VEHICLES PRODUCED BY GENERAL MOTORS. VEHICLE HAS BEEN TO DEALERSHIP TWICE WITH NO RESOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM. THIS FAILURE HAS OCCURRED AT VARIOUS SPEEDS, TIMES OF DAY, TEMPERATURES ETC. IT WILL ENTER REDUCED POWER ONCE TO TWICE A DAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
I KEEP GETTING REDUCED ENGINE POWER P1516 CODE . READING THE POST'S ON THE INTERNET THIS IS A REAL COMMON PROBLEM.ALSO THE SPEEDOMETER WILL DISPLAY 120 MPH SITTING AT A TRAFFIC LIGHT.
ISSUE WITH THROTTLE BODY REDUCED ENGINE POWER WHEN DRIVING THROWS OUT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. THOUSAND OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS SAME ISSUE MOST HAVE JUST STOPPED DRIVING THEIR VEHICLE LIKE I HAVE BECAUSE IT'S UNSAFE TO DRIVE. I HOPING NOT JUST FOR ME BUT EVERYONE OUT THERE WITH THIS SAME ISSUE TO GET A RECALL BEFORE IT KILLS SOMEONE. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DRIVE MY TRUCK IN THREE YEARS. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 GMC SIERRA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL NEEDLE STOPPED WORKING AND IT IS CURRENTLY STUCK AT 120 MPH. WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL DISPLAYED 80 MPH. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR AND THEY STATED THAT IT WOULD COST $600, IN WHICH HE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING. THE GM MANUFACTURER ALSO STATED THAT HE WOULD BE LIABLE FOR THE SPEED CONTROL REPAIR. THE CURRENT AND FAILURE MILEAGES WERE 44,550.
AFTER SITTING IN STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC I NOTICED THAT THE SPEEDOMETER WAS READING AT 100 MPH AND I WAS AT A STOP LIGHT. AT THE TIME, I HAD LESS THAN 50,000 MILES ON MY TRUCK. SINCE THEN THE SPEEDOMETER WAS ALMOST ALWAYS INCORRECT. IT HAS OCCASIONALLY FIXED" ITSELF, BUT USUALLY DID NOT LAST MORE THAN A DAY OR TWO. THE NEEDLE WAS OFTEN BURIED PAST 120 MPH. A NUMBER OF MY FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WITH SIMILAR VEHICLES HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. CURRENTLY I HAVE NOT PAID TO HAVE THE PROBLEM FIXED, BUT HOPE THAT IT WILL BE RECALLED AT SOME POINT SOON.*AK
OVER ONE YEAR AGO I NOTICED THE SPEEDOMETER MAKING NOISE AND GIVING ERRATIC READINGS. ABOUT 6 MONTHS AGO IT WENT OUT COMPLETELY WITH THE NEEDLE PAST THE 120 MPH MARK. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. GMC HAS BEEN NOTIFIED WITH NO RESULTS.*AK
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THE SPEEDOMETER INSTRUMENT PANEL STOPPED WORKING WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. THE DEALER SUGGESTED REPLACING THE SPEEDOMETER INSTRUMENT CLUSTER PANEL. ALTHOUGH THE VEHICLE WAS SEEN BY A DEALER, NO REPAIRS WERE MADE. UPDATED 02/21/06 .*JB
DRIVING MY 2003 GMC SIERRA AND THE SPEEDOMETER WENT OUT , IT WAS GOING 100 MILES PER HOUR WHEN I WAS GOING AROUND 50 - 55 ? HARD TO TELL IT NEVER RIGHT ANY MORE AND I ONLY HAVE 58,000 ON THE ODOMETER . THIS A SAFETY PROBLEM AND GMC SHOULD RECALL THESE CLUSTERS BEFORE PEOPLE START GETTING HERT BECAUSE THE SPEED IS WAY OF , AND THE DEALERS WANT USE TO PAY AROUND 1200.00 TO FIX. THIS IS A GMC FIX NOT. *JB
WHILE DRIVING ANY SPEED, THE SPEEDOMETER WOULD READ THE WRONG SPEED. THE CAUSE WAS NOT DETERMINED. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION. *JB
WHILE DRIVING, COMING TO A COMPLETE SUDDEN STOP, AND UPON DEPRESSING THE BRAKES PEDAL, THEY WENT COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR, AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT STOP. THE CONSUMER THEN PLACED BOTH FEET ON THE BRAKES TRYING TO STOP THE VEHICLE, THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED, RESULTING IN AN ACCIDENT. THE CONSUMER REAR ENDED ANOTHER VEHICLE. *AK THE CONSUMER REQUESTED TO BE REIMBURSED FOR THE EXPENSES. *SC *JB
WHEN USING FEATURE "FLY BY WIRE THROTTLE" THE ACCELERATOR CANNOT BE CONTROLLED.*MR WHEN ENCOUNTERING ANYTHING MORE THAN THE SLIGHTEST BUMP OR VARIATION IN THE ROAD OR ON THE HIGHWAY, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP CONSTANT PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR. WHEN THE VEHICLE WENT OVER A BUMP ETC. ACTION WAS UNABLE TO BE CONTROLLED AND THE ACCELERATOR WAS SEVERELY DEPRESSED WHICH CAUSED AN INCREASE IN SPEED AND THEN A VOLUNTARY RELEASE OF THE ACCELERATOR, EVEN WHEN THE CONSUMER KNEW HE WAS APPROACHING A BUMP, HE WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE ACCELERATOR. *TS *JB
POOR THROTTLE RESPONSE. DRIVE BY WIRE THROTTLE. ENGINE HAS NO RESPONSE UNTIL 2000 PLUS RPMS. OUR 1999 YUKON,AND PREVIOUSLY OWNED 1996 SIERRA RESPONDED IMMEDIATLY TO THROTTLE INPUT,UNLIKE OUR NEW GMC. AS THE CORVETTE HAS A DRIVE BY WIRE SYSTEM,THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SORTED OUT LONG AGO. AS INSTALLED,THIS SYSTEM MAKES IT A HAZARD TO PASS SLOWER VEHICLES BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO ANTICIPATE WHEN THE THING WILL WORK. VEHICLE GOING BACK TO DEALER FOR REMEDY.*AK
WHEN DRIVING THE VEHICLE WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL ON THE VEHICLE SURGED FORWARD THEN DECELERATED BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL SPEED AFTER 3 TO 4 SECONDS. THE CONSUMER HAD MADE CONTACT WITH THE DEALERSHIP. *JB WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS EMPTY, THEN IT WOULD WORK AS IT SHOULD. IF A TRAILER WAS HOOKED WITH 400 LBS, THE CRUISE CONTROL WOULD GO FROM 1500 RPM TO 45 OR 4600 RPM'S FOR ABOUT 3 TO 4 SECONDS, THEN DROP DOWN TO 2600 RPM OR 3500 RPM'S DEPENDING ON THE HILL THE DRIVER WAS GOING UP AND WOULD STAY THAT RPM UNTIL THE DRIVER WAS AT THE TOP. THREE DEALERS SUGGESTED THAT THEY COULDN'T REMEDY THE PROBLEM. *SC *JB
THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS UNPREDICTABLE. WHILE DRIVING ON CRUISE CONTROL THE VEHICLE WILL SHIFT GEARS AND DRIVE ROUGH. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER , WHO STATED THIS I WAS NORMAL. *AK
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 25, 2026