There are 47 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2019 GMC Terrainin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly shifted into neutral(N). There was transmission fluid on the ground, and the vehicle became disabled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a transmission accumulator leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 180,400.
Vehicle was started for the second time that day on 1/5/26 and the engine light was on. I drove the vehicle to an auto parts store to have them check it with an OBD-II scanner. It had code P050F. I had no idea how serious this issue could be at the time. I made an appt with the GMC dealership and dropped it off the evening of 1/6/26. They said there was a software anomaly in the engine control module and needed to be reprogrammed. I paid the $200 diagnostic fee for them to reprogram it. I learned that this anomaly could have caused my brakes to not work while driving it. I had been driving the vehicle back and forth to work until I dropped it off. This issue could have caused serious harm or death to myself and others. While researching online, I've seen that other vehicles have had safety recalls and additional warranties added for these issues, but my vehicle isn't included in this.
Drove car approximately 15 miles. Parked car. Car would not turn off. Message- Transmission/Park. Wouldn't Car stayed neutral. Had to call wecker to take dealership. ... Diagnostic Solenoid Valve Body faulty.... 2019 Terrain Miles 91669. Is there recall. Have more reports of issue. Should this happen with a well maintained vehicle All maintenance updated to date.
I bought this Terrain brand new from Betten Baker Chevrolet in Muskegon Mi in 2019 with 500 miles. That same year we had transmission Slippage causing it to slip out of gear then slam back into gear while driving. I took it to the dealer to have it looked at. They did nothing and informed me it was known by the manufacturer that this was an issue. I then had to bring it back for electrical issues as the lights would all start going off in the cab including dome lights and shift buttons. All key fob would not be recognized by the car and would have to be reprogrammed counting 5 times now. Now I am sitting at just oflver 100,000 miles and what I thought was going to be a simple spark plug change gas turned into a complete motor failure. did an oil change and there was no oil in it. The turbo was replaced and now the engine started making a lot of rattling noises and just stopped. the dash says service transmission, ECS, Extremely low battery voltage and has jost die after oil started pouring out the bottom of the car. It is now sitting at the dealership service department where I was told by am employee there that they have been seeing them come in at 150,000 miles for complete rebuilds and mine was early. let me tell you that this car isn't even paid off yet. And the 2006 Ram 1500 is more reliable.
Vehicle struggles to shift from low gears; seems to completely miss 3rd gear. Codes from maintenance indicate TCC slip
The GMC Terrain P187E transmission code indicates a problem with the transmission senor or shift interlock. It prevented our car from shifting into park. The car won't start now. We had to disconnect the battery because the car would not stop beeping. Milage is only 22000 miles and we have owned it for less then 2 months. It is a 9 speed transmission which I understand this to be an on going issue with this transmission.
While working out of town for work my engine light started flashing and the dash lights went nuts. My brakes were nonexistent and were hard as a rock. I had zero warning as to what happened. Working 3 hours away from home the car had to be towed and I was informed the engine code came back as my cam shaft. Took it to the dealer as Gm has a bulletin put out. I didn’t know what that meant. Long story short and 3000.00 dollars later I find out that the vacuum pump exploded which cause the cam shaft to fail. I was out of work for almost a month. There is a recall for almost all vehicles from this year but not the 2019 terrain even though it contains the same vacuum pump as all the recalled makes and models. Vacuum pump, cam shaft, oil pan, oil pump had to all be replaced at under 100,000 highway miles. Someone needs to address this problem.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated upon taking the vehicle to the Nissan dealer where it was purchased for an oil change, the dealer informed the contact that there was a crack in the transmission. The vehicle was then taken to a GMC dealer, where the contact was informed that the crack was more than two months old. The dealer determined that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,700.
Brake vacuum pump premature failure. As you see GMC, terrains, in Equinox, I have an issue, while the engine it's on while driving etc, if this bark fails, you will have an issue I'm trying to stop. This is a known problem or GM. And as of now, they have not come out with a solution or a recall for this problem. This problem has caused many customers. To lose thousands of dollars, he repairs. I'm not covered by the warranty. This should be addressed and repaired as soon as possible as it may cause someone else to lose their life. Second problem is the 9 speed transmission transmission lack power when trying to gain speed as you enter the highway. Lastly they blamed the selenoids etc. Lastly the pulley belt retention broke down premature with only 68k miles. This is an ongoing problem gm is well aware and tries to hide or fix. When someone buys a vehicle we expect to last longer than 100k miles.
Driving home from dropping my daughter off at school. When slowing down at stop sign, car locked up brakes completely, almost went through stop sign, car shut down engine and placed vehicle in park. Diagnosis is a vacuum pump failure, causing reluctor wheel to spin freely from camshaft. This happened without warning at 70k miles. Diagnostic report from three weeks prior showed no bad diagnostics with engine or drivetrain components, or brake components. Had to have car towed from intersection where i was impeding traffic due to sudden failure. Garage is concerned regarding potential for debris and engine damage, as well as timing issues due to sudden failure of vacuum pump. GM has authorized vacuum pump recalls on other makes from prior years, not Terrain for some reason. This is how becoming highly reported failure among GMC/Chevy vehicles with shaft driven vacuum pump design between 2019-2022. GM has stopped using this design on 23 and newer models. They should absolutely recall these older models for this issue. Sudden vacuum pump failure can lead to unrepairable engine damage due to design.
While driving the car went into power save mode and completely shut down. There were no prior lights or warnings that the car was having issues. While driving at 45mph on a busy road it just suddenly shut down. It would not move to get it out of the road. I was almost hit from behind. After the car was towed, it was diagnosed as a broken vacuum pump and exhaust camshaft. Our Terrain only has 67,773 miles at the time of the incident which was unfortunately just outside of warranty. Since this incident and the repair, the car has had to go back to the shop 4 times. It is still not driving correctly and stalled as I pulled out onto a main road almost causing an accident. Still working on getting it diagnosed and repaired correctly. The mechanics I have spoken to indicated this engine/car is known for these issues. Without any warning lights or signs of issues prior it really put us in a dangerous situation.
My daughter was driving her 2019 GMC Terrain at 15 - 20mph when she suddenly lost her brakes. Fortunately she had just turned into a new housing development where the road ended into an empty field. This could have been catastrophic for her & other citizens on the road. The following morning she would have been heading to work on a highway with heavy traffic with a posted speed limit of 65mph. We towed the vehicle home & after some investigating I found a vacuum pump failure. This vacuum pump broke apart internally sending chunks & shards of metal into her valve train. This issue is mentioned several times in Terrain forums & someone needs to address this issue before it becomes a fatality.
Break booster pressure sensor and engine underbooster causes the car to slam on breaks or not break at all.
First the car started jerking while drive over 50mph, next day driving down the street and the car shut off, stating loss of power. I replaced the battery, it was giving battery low codes, only to get a certified mechanic say the timing chain was out. Just purchased the car in March 2022.
My 2019 gmc terrain, vaccum pump failed at about 45000 miles, was driving on the highway and brakes were hard to stop, almost crashed. About 52000 miles, vacuum pump failed again, also while driving on the highway. Brakes were hard to stop, again almost causing me to crash. 69000 miles again vacuum pump failed while driving on the highway, again almost causing me to crash. All times pump was replaced under warranty and now this has caused my engine to fail. i was denied factory warranty, pre certified and extended warranty. Now im stuck with a car with with three years left to pay on it
jerking at times while driving.
There are 3 recalls and one open on this car I was sold by a dealership, none of them ever fixed. I drive to work in the highway the car never had any warning light on but the RPMS would occasionally go up for no reason. I told the dealership the second day that it had issues , they took it and say they fixed the back brakes but did nothing about the engine or transmission whatsoever ever. This was the beginning of may and it was in the shop two weeks. I called my lender to even get out of the loan and a saleswoman even tried assisting me into talking her manager out of the loan because of all the issues. Fast foreword to august I had just gotten a new job and was driving in the night after hearing that ticking or slight knocking noise and I went to my job and as i tried to park the brakes went completely stiff on me! I could not get the car to slow down I had to weave through other cars and people in till it finally coasted to a stop. So I put it in park and immediately after the check engine light came on. I tried to start it and it would start , putter and turn off over and over. I had to end up calling OnStar to have a diagnosis which she said something like solenoid and something being clogged. So it was towed to my residence and before i could get it towed to s shop they lender came and repossessed it because I had missed payments due to losing my job unexpectedly, completely unexpectedly. I told the lender of the problem and the unfortunate troubles I was having to pay for the car but I had just landed a job and could start payment but she didn’t care. She said she is going to tow it . I had my friends dad who is a licensed mechanic look at it before it was towed and he said the car was trash , basically a lemon that there was oil clogged and instead of passing through like it’s supposed to do it being pushed the opposite way and ending up in other reservoirs it shouldn’t be in. I obviously didn’t do that type of damage oil and trans problems I was scammed
When trying to accelerate, the car will not accelerate. It will start to jerk back and forth and I had cut it off completely in the middle of the road at a stop light.
The contact owns a 2019 GMC Terrain. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, the accelerator was depressed to overtake a vehicle; however, the vehicle hesitated, and RPM revved to 4,000 RPM. The vehicle then shifted into gear with a jerk, causing the vehicle to shake abnormally. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure also occurred while accelerating from a stop. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle but was unable to retrieve a fault code. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but persistent. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
In July 2022 vacuum pump failed and created a hard brake situation going 55 mph downhill. Vehicle removed from roadway safely, transported and vacuum pump replaced. In May of 2023 vacuum pump again failed driving at around 25mph, vacuum pump failed catastrophically and blew up inside cam cover. Taken to garage via flatbed and reported car needed a new engine or alternatively we could try a new cam and vacuum pump with hopes pieces did not make it into engine. Now vehicle sits while I still owe money as I do not have 3-5000 to repair it. The fact that this is such a common issue and has happened frequently with other GM models is criminal. I feel as if GM should offer a buyback on affected models or reimburse customers for damages done. Vehicle is outside of warranty currently at 83k first vacuum pump failure occurred at around 70k.
Showing 1–20 of 47 complaints
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