2020 Gmc TERRAIN - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2020 GMC Terrain SUV FWD has received the highest safety rating of 5 in all major crash categories, including front crash, side crash, and rollover. This indicates that the vehicle provides excellent protection for both the driver and passengers in the event of a crash. Additionally, the GMC Terrain comes equipped with standard electronic stability control, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning systems, further enhancing its safety features and helping to prevent accidents.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the vehicle has a total of 68 complaints and 2 recalls. While the number of complaints is relatively high, it's important to note that the overall safety rating and advanced safety technologies can provide peace of mind for potential buyers considering the 2020 GMC Terrain.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

68

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2020 GMC Terrain SUV FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2020 GMC Terrain SUV FWD

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.

Standard
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.

Standard

2020 GMC Terrain SUV FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2020 GMC Terrain SUV FWD 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 2010 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 5

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2010 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 5 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
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 2010 Score 2020 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating 4 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2020 Gmc TERRAIN

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:
"i was driving approximately 75mph on the interstate. 3 hrs into my trip i started feeling hot so i turned the a/c up. in my peripheral vision i saw orange and thought a car was beside me on fire. immediately i realized it was my vehicle. i immediately slowed and came to a stop. i put it in park and opened the door. by the time i started to exit there were flames higher than the rear windows. a car that was behind me stopped. they said about a mile back there was a spark under the car by the rear tire. then it went up in flames."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2023-04-06

Complaint:
"screen system prompts to accept terms of service while moving. this is unsafe and the system should know it is in motion. unsafe programming, require manufacture to only prompt when system is at reset. require ota reprogramming."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2025-05-05

Complaint:
"the engine "auto stop" feature can have enough of a delay to allow the accelerator to be pressed as the engine starts causing it to lurch forward rather than accelerate smoothly. it also can cause a delay when pulling out into heavy traffic. there is currently no way to temporarily or permanently defeat the system on this gm model according to gm service department. though i am sure it is operating as designed for certain owner driving styles and traffic conditions this can be a serious hazard. car makers should be required to either disable the feature permanently by owner request or have a method for the owner to bypass the system. with less than 250 miles i have experienced 2 incidents of almost hitting the car in front of me from a stop and 1 of almost being hit pulling into heavy traffic from a stop. i see many other similar complaints and hope this can be addressed before someone is hurt or worse due to it."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2022-08-12

Complaint:
"i had an incident this morning when i put my car in park position it remained in reverse. i took it out of park and put in drive then i put forward but the vehicle still remained in reverse. i turned the vehicle off and it still remained in reverse. ali controls on infotainment panel was inoperable. ( example: i couldn’t turned off or turned radio)."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-08-10

Complaint:
"after starting my vehicle on may 28, 2021, the infotainment screen was pink and green with lines. the radio was playing loudly, and i had not previously set it to that volume. additionally, the volume control button did not work. i headed to the nearest gm dealer, and i did not attempt to turn off the screen. a service representative said i needed an appointment, and i could not be seen until one day during the next week. i needed the turn-by-turn navigation, and i did not know if the issue would worsen or cause other issues, so i asked for a rental vehicle. my vehicle had accumulated less than 10,000 miles, and i have an extended warranty. i was told the vehicle has to be diagnosed before a rental is approved, and their loaner vehicles were out for two and a half weeks. every dealership i called stated i could not get an appointment that day. i asked gm to call dealers, and nothing worked. gm said if i rented a vehicle, they would not reimburse me because my vehicle would need to be diagnosed beforehand, with a minimum of a one-day, overnight stay. normally, the back-up camera takes too long to transition to the radio screen, and it has temporarily appeared black. at less than 300 miles, the vehicle stopped going into drive. that occurred three times, placing me into a dangerous situation the third time, before the selling dealer decided to replace the transmission. at less than 8,000 miles, the driver door switch had to be replaced. i purchased the vehicle with seven accumulated miles. i am still getting familiar with this state, so i need navigation, but it would have caused major safety issues had i attempted to visit family members out-of-state, like i had planned, without turn-by-turn navigation. i had to forgo visiting my family. if more pressing issues had arisen, i would have been completely stranded, over a long weekend, and possibly on a roadside, like before. if i had a family emergency to attend to, the situation would have been horrible."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2023-04-05

Complaint:
"when ever i go to turn my steering wheel and i go tp puch in the gas peddle there is a vibration during motion."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2021-12-01

Complaint:
"the ac system produces a toxic chemical smell causing the driver and/or passenger to open the windows in order to remove the toxic odor. the smell is intermittent and can be moderate to extremely potent.the vehicle is usually in motion when this occurs and can happen while driving locally and on the highway. the last time this happened was aug. 1, 2020. i have had the vehicle seen at a local gmc dealer 3 time since june, 2020. the vehicle was not driven between march and early june due to the pandemic."
Components Involved: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Date of incident: 2020-01-08

Recalls for the 2020 Gmc TERRAIN

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"general motors llc (gm) is recalling certain 2018-2019 chevrolet cruze and buick lacrosse, 2018-2020 chevrolet equinox, chevrolet traverse and gmc terrain, 2018 chevrolet malibu, 2019-2020 buick encore, buick enclave, cadillac xt4, chevrolet blazer and gmc acadia, and 2020 cadillac xt6 vehicles. the start/stop accumulator endcap may have missing bolts."
Consequence:
Missing bolts on the start-stop accumulator endcap could result in a transmission oil leak and may progress to a loss of propulsion, increasing the risk of a crash. A transmission fluid leak in the presence of an ignition source may increase the risk of fire.
Remedy:

GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the start-stop transmission accumulator and replace it if any bolts are missing, free of charge. The recall began December 15, 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 N202313440.

Component(s) Involved: POWER TRAIN > AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Date of incident: 2020-10-29

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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