2008 Gmc CANYON - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 GMC Canyon Regular Cab does not have an overall safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). However, in specific crash scenarios, it received decent ratings such as 4 stars for front crash driver and passenger sides, as well as for the side crash drivers side. The vehicle also scored well with 4 stars for rollover ratings.

It is worth noting that the GMC Canyon does not come equipped with electronic stability control, forward collision warning, or lane departure warning systems. In terms of complaints and recalls, this particular model has received 41 complaints and has been subject to 2 recalls. While the individual crash test ratings are respectable, the absence of some advanced safety features may impact the overall safety assessment of this vehicle. Drivers should exercise caution and consider these factors when choosing this model.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

41

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2008 GMC Canyon Regular Cab Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 GMC Canyon Regular Cab

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

No
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2008 GMC Canyon Regular Cab Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 GMC Canyon Regular Cab Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 4
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 4
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 4 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 4 4 3
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 Not Rated 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated 4
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 3
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Complaints for the 2008 Gmc CANYON

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2008 gmc canyon. on several occasions, while driving 55 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and was able to restart. also, the decreasing power message was displayed. the contact called bishop gmc cadillac (400 mackinaw ave, cheboygan, mi 49721, (231) 627-5669) to notify them of the failure. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure mileage was 56,000."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2019-01-05
Complaint:
""fan belt pulley" i started my truck and was leaving work driving about 10 mph when the fan belt broke. i had power but no acceleration to the truck. luckily i was able to coast to a full stop in the parking lot. i looked under the hood where i noticed the fan belt was broke. i had the truck towed to my accredited mechanic which he said that the shaft that holds the pulley was completely broken off inside the engine. cost to me $600.00"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2017-03-02
Complaint:
"purchased vehicle new with 417 miles. from the beginning, there was a ticking noise at start-up, which gradually worsened to a loud knocking and vehicle shimmy for several seconds, sometimes requiring multiple attempts to start. originally, it was only on cold start-up. multiple visits to the dealer resulted in incorrect diagnoses or no diagnosis. finally, at 18,071 miles, the problem was diagnosed as loose timing chain and worn gears. all were replaced by the dealer under warranty. problem was significantly reduced but not solved. it then began to again worsen through multiple trips to the dealership, until 43,384 miles, when it was once more diagnosed as the timing having jumped or the chains having stretched. we declined to have the dealer replace everything with us paying for it, and had our own mechanic do the work. our mechanic believes there is some sort of timing chain defect in design or composition, which keeps causing/allowing the chains to stretch."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2016-08-02
Complaint:
"vehicle sets an "ac off" fault message frequently. when this occurs, the temperature gauge goes to zero and the ac does not work. the truck is not overheating and no other faults are set. no trouble codes are found during scan. after some time (20-50 miles of travel), the fault disappears and the temperature gauge and ac begin working again. there are literally 1,000's of messages on discussion boards about this problem on numerous websites on different gm vehicles. people have changed one, some, or all components of their cooling system to no avail. the problem sometimes goes away for a few hours or a few months, but always seems to return. i had my vehicle to the gm dealership in may 2016 and the condition was unable to be duplicated at that time. i paid the dealership to do a complete servicing and inspection of the entire vehicle, which included the cooling system. no anomalies were found by the dealership. since the problem continued, i replaced the coolant temperature sensor hoping it was a just a bad sensor/connector problem. this has not changed the condition in any way. my concern is that this is possibly an issue related to the actual placement of the temperature sensor. i'll explain with the following scenario: once the engine comes up to operating temp, the thermostat opens, and when the coolant begins to circulate, the temp sensor is left exposed, the temp gauge tanks, and the system kicks into a safe mode. while this is a great system safe response, i am prevented me from seeing a real overheat condition. i personally live and work in the mojave desert. in an environment where temperatures are commonly above 100 deg f, a properly operating vehicle cooling system can mean the difference between life and death. i can't be entirely sure if my coolant system really has a problem or is just giving false indications at this point."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2016-01-05
Complaint:
"when first starting the vehicle(especially cold starts) the engine is making a loud knocking noise and then stops after it warms up for a while. i brought it to my mechanic and he informed me i need new lifters and have a internal engine problem. he told me that gm is well aware of this problem because it is happening in many different models. he even showed me the technical bulletin gm has out on it to tell mechanics how to repair it. i did not have him repair it because of the cost and because i only have 30,000 miles on it. i'm hoping there are enough complaints about it to force gm to recall it. my warranties on it have expired. thank you. *tr"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2014-01-03

Recalls for the 2008 Gmc CANYON

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"gm is recalling certain model year 2004-2011, chevrolet colorado, gmc canyon, model year 2006, isuzu i-280/i-350, and model year 2007-2008, i-290/i-370, regular cab vehicles and extended cab vehicles without a rear seat and equipped with a front 60/40 split bench seat. these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 225, "child restraint anchorage systems." the top tether anchor for the front center seat is not accessible and the owner manual does not include instructions regarding how to use the top tether."
Consequence:
BOTH NHTSA AND GM DISCOURAGE PLACEMENT OF A CHILD IN A FRONT SEAT. NEVERTHELESS, THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAY REQUIRE PLACEMENT OF A CHILD IN A RESTRAINT IN THE FRONT CENTER SEATING POSITION OF THIS VEHICLE THAT DOES NOT OFFER A REAR SEAT. LACK OF ACCESS TO THE TOP TETHER ANCHOR AND A LACK OF INSTRUCTIONS AS TO HOW TO USE IT, MAY RESULT IN IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF A CHILD RESTRAINT. IMPROPER INSTALLATION OF A CHILD RESTRAINT CAN RESULT IN A REDUCTION IN THE RESTRAINT'S PERFORMANCE IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH AND AN INCREASED RISK OF INJURY OR DEATH TO THE CHILD SEATED IN THE RESTRAINT.
Remedy:

DEALERS WILL CUT A HOLE INTO THE BACK PANEL TRIM COVER TO ALLOW ACCESS TO THE TOP TETHER ANCHOR FOR THE FRONT CENTER SEAT POSITION AND WILL PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION AS TO USE IN THE OWNER'S MANUAL. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT YET PROVIDED AN OWNER NOTIFICATION SCHEDULE FOR THIS CAMPAIGN. OWNERS MAY CONTACT CHEVROLET AT 1-800-630-2438, GMC AT 1-866-996-9463, ISUZU AT 1-800-255-6727 OR VISIT GM'S WEBSITE AT WWW.GMOWNERCENTER.COM.

Component(s) Involved: CHILD SEAT
Date of incident: 2010-11-18

GMC Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

GMC ranks 8 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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