2012 Gmc SIERRA 1500 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5, indicating above-average safety features. It excels in side crash tests with a top score of 5. The vehicle also performs well in front crash and rollover tests, receiving scores of 4 and 4 respectively. In terms of safety features, the GMC Sierra 1500 is equipped with standard electronic stability control, enhancing its ability to maintain control in various driving conditions.

On the downside, this model does not come with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which are increasingly common in newer vehicles for added safety precautions. Despite its strong safety ratings, it's worth noting that the GMC Sierra 1500 has received 45 complaints and has been subject to 2 recalls. These factors should be taken into consideration when evaluating the overall safety of the vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

45

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2012 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC RWD

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.

Standard
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

2012 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2012 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC RWD 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 2009 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2009 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2009 Score 2012 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2012 Gmc SIERRA 1500

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:
"the dash board is crack i replaced 2 times and the replacements also cracks the parts is $1200 plus $1200 labor."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2017-02-06

Complaint:
"the dash has cracked above the instrument panel and by the air bag. unsure when it accorded. noticed it was making a sound and in 2 weeks has gotten much worse"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2019-11-01

Complaint:
"crack in passenger side of dashboard....vehicle was statioary"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2019-03-06

Complaint:
"the dashboard in our vehicle is cracking and getting worse in two locations on the dash. on the passenger side and also on the drivers side. beginning to go into the airbag area"
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2018-03-01

Complaint:
"dashboard is cracked near the passenger side airbag close to the windshield. vehicle has never been in an accident or had the airbags deployed. crack occurred just before 50,000 miles."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2017-02-11

Complaint:
"dashboard cracking above instrument panel."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2016-04-01

Complaint:
"dash is cracking around my passenger airbag. the crack is in front of the passenger airbag closer to the windshield. vehicle only has 32,000 miles but is just out of the 3 year bumper to bumper warranty."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2015-01-09

Complaint:
"this morning when i got in my truck, i noticed the dashboard by the passenger side airbag had cracked overnight. the weather hasn't been too hot or cold. days in lower 90s and lows in upper 70s. i have read this is a common issue and i am afraid an airbag deployment will launch plastic pieces through the cabin."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2015-09-09

Recalls for the 2012 Gmc SIERRA 1500

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"general motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 2500, sierra 3500, yukon, and yukon xl vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of al, ca, fl, ga, hi, la, ms, sc, tx, pr, as, gu, the mp, and vi or "zone a." additionally gm is recalling certain 2011-2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 2500, sierra 3500, yukon, yukon xl and 2011-2013 cadillac escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, and gmc sierra 1500 vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of az, ar, de, dc, il, in, ks, ky, md, mo, ne, nv, nj, nm, nc, oh, ok, pa, tn, va, and wv or "zone b." additionally, gm is recalling certain 2010-2014 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet silverado 2500, silverado 3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 2500,..."
Consequence:
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 25, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed to 40 VIN owners on May 11, 2021. A second owner notification letter was mailed to all other owners on January 24, 2022. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328800.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL > PASSENGER SIDE > INFLATOR MODULE
Date of incident: 2021-02-05

Recall:
"general motors, llc (gm) is recalling certain 2012 cadillac escalade, escalade esv, escalade ext, chevrolet avalanche, silverado 1500, silverado 2500/3500, suburban, tahoe, gmc sierra 1500, sierra 2500/3500, yukon, and yukon xl originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of alabama, california, florida, georgia, hawaii, louisiana, mississippi, south carolina, texas, puerto rico, american samoa, guam, the northern mariana islands (saipan), and the u.s. virgin islands or "zone a." these vehicles are equipped with non-desiccated passenger frontal inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (psan) propellant. these inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling."
Consequence:
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. Interim letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on February 22, 2021. Second notification letters will be mailed once the remedy is available. Owner notification letters were mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006; Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020; and GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212328770.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > FRONTAL > PASSENGER SIDE > INFLATOR MODULE
Date of incident: 2021-02-05

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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