2020 Gmc SIERRA 1500 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5, indicating above-average safety features and crash test performance. It scored well in front and side crash tests, with a perfect 5-star rating in categories such as front crash driver side, overall side crash, and side pole crash. The vehicle is equipped with standard electronic stability control, which enhances its handling and safety on the road.

Unfortunately, the GMC Sierra 1500 does not come with forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which could have further improved its safety features. The car has had 122 complaints reported and a relatively high number of 10 recalls, suggesting some issues that potential buyers should be aware of and address with the manufacturer. Despite these drawbacks, the GMC Sierra 1500 still offers above-average safety performance and should be considered a safe option in its category.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

122

Recall Count

10

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2020 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC 2WD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC 2WD

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

2020 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC 2WD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 PU/RC 2WD 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 2020 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 2020 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 2020 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2020 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:
"we are unsure what happened that caused the issue. one day the dashboard just started giving us error messages, 3 of them to be specific. one says check turn signals, another says check trailer brake light and another something else about brakes or turn signals. (we have to dismiss them all before anything on the dash is viewable). this issue is causing the blinkers to blink fast as though the blinker lights need replaced and it happens when turning right or left. the alerts continue to give us error messages every few minutes, even after we have dismissed them all. we had the truck at a shop trying to figure out the issue and his guys spent hours and replaced things he thought were causing the issue but nothing fixed it. he referred us to take it to the dealership service shop for troubleshooting so we took it to the gmc dealer where we bought the truck. gmc has already spent hours, maybe 5-7 hours at $150 per hour, trying to figure out what's wrong and have been unable to find anything wrong. the truck is still at the gmc dealership shop but i can get pictures of the errors when we get it back."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2025-03-02

Complaint:
"bought 9-4-2020. on 9-4-2021 went start vehicle and no electrical power, battery dead. will not hold charge to start. brand new purchased at morgan gmc in shreveport louisiana"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-04-09

Complaint:
"service esc, service power steering, antilock brakes disabled all flashed on information center of vehicle. service engine light, antilock brake light, esc, low battery all illuminated. vehicle would not start - try to start it would go through all issues on information center. this is the same esc issue described for 2019 silverado and gmc sierras."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-12-06

Complaint:
"the display for the backup camera and infotainment system became blank. other owners have the same complaint. this is a serious safety issue because i was backing up when it went blank."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2022-10-05

Complaint:
"tl* the contact owns a 2020 gmc sierra 1500. the contact stated while driving, the side view mirror's blind spot alerts on both sides engaged with no vehicle nearby. the vehicle was taken to turner buick gmc (612 e main st, new holland, pa 17557) where the contact was informed that the sensors were dirty. the contact then washed the vehicle however, the failure recurred. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 400. the vin was not available. *bf"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2020-09-03

Complaint:
"[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-06-01

Complaint:
"display is dangerously too bright when backing up cannot see to back up vehicle safely"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2020-01-09

Complaint:
"vehicle does not start and flashing various codes service just about everything on the vehicle"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-02-09

Complaint:
"the night time backup camera is really bright and blurry and it makes it hard to see when backing at night"
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2020-02-03

Complaint:
"battery was dead in the garage. called road side assistance who jump-started car. car would not go into gear. we rolled it out into driveway where it sat for 24 hours. when it was loaded for travel to dealership, it cranked and was driven up on wrecker trailer like it had no apparent problems. was carried to dealership where they recharged and checked the battery and reset 14 different codes which were lost with the low voltage."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Date of incident: 2021-06-07

Recalls for the 2020 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 2020 buick enclave, cadillac xt4, xt5, escalade, escalade esv, chevrolet suburban, tahoe, traverse, gmc yukon, yukon xl, 2018-2021 chevrolet express, gmc savana, 2019-2020 chevrolet blazer, silverado 1500, gmc acadia, sierra 1500, and certain continental tires sold to the aftermarket for various model year 2018-2021 vehicles. the affected tires were cured for too long during production."
Consequence:
Over cured tires may develop a break in the sidewall resulting in sudden air loss or a belt edge separation which could lead to a tread/belt loss. Either condition can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the tires, replacing them as necessary, free of charge. The recall began March 22, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N212329050.

Component(s) Involved: TIRES
Date of incident: 2021-02-25

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2020 buick enclave, cadillac xt5, gmc acadia and chevrolet traverse vehicles and 2020-2021 chevrolet silverado 1500, gmc sierra 1500 vehicles. the vehicles may have been manufactured with continental tires that were overcured."
Consequence:
Overcured tires may experience a carcass break in the sidewall resulting in a sudden air loss or could develop a belt edge separation which could lead to partial or full tread/belt loss. Either condition increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect vehicles and replace tires that have DOT number and production mold number combinations identified by Continental, free of charge. The recall began December 17, 2020. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Buick customer service at 1-866-608-8080, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020 or Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006. GM's number for this recall is N202319030.

Component(s) Involved: TIRES
Date of incident: 2020-11-05

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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