The Most Reliable GMC Terrain Years, And Some To Avoid (According To Owners)

GMC loves to make really big automobiles. With full-size SUVs like the GMC Yukon and Yukon XL and the exceptionally popular GMC Sierra pickup truck, each vehicle seems bigger than the last. The company makes no sedans or coupés at all now. The smallest and least expensive offering that the company has is the compact crossover SUV that is the GMC Terrain.

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This is a vehicle that GMC first introduced for the 2010 model year, and back then, it was actually a mid-size crossover SUV. It wasn’t until the 2018 model year that it was updated for a new generation to reclassify it as a compact. Although the compact crossover SUV is an immensely popular vehicle type in the United States, sales for the Terrain have never been the strongest, particularly in the last five years. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your time. There are several model years that drivers have praised for reliability that would make for good options if you’re on the hunt for a used car. We are going to recommend three GMC Terrain model years that you should keep at the top of your list because of their reliability. However, we will also spotlight three remarkably unreliable years that you shouldn’t give a second glance to.

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[Featured image by HJUdall via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC0 1.0]

Deciding between whether you want a GMC Terrain from the first or second generation on the used market comes mostly down to whether you want a mid-size or compact crossover SUV. If you desire a mid-size, there are fewer years to choose from when it comes to reliability. The vehicle may have first entered production in the 2010 model year, but the first year that there is any kind of consensus around the vehicle’s reliability isn’t until the 2016 Terrain, the penultimate model year for the first generation, as it’s the first to see a drastic decrease in the number of complaints levied against it by drivers.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has only received 123 complaints for the 2016 Terrain. For comparison, that is over 170 less than the previous year’s model and is the first to get below the 200 threshold. On CarComplaints, you see just 17 complaints from people, about 24 percent as many as the previous year. The quality and reliability score from drivers surveyed by J.D. Power fits right in line with this reduction in complaints, earning an impressive 87 out of 100. If you want to get yourself a mid-size GMC Terrain, the 2016 model is really the only sensible way to go, as the 2017 model that ended this generation has its fair share of problems.

[Featured image by Bull-Doser via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public Domain]

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The second generation of the GMC Terrain also began with a rocky patch — though nowhere near as rocky as the first generation — but by the time it arrived at its third year, the 2020 Terrain was pretty firmly the most reliable model year for the SUV until that point. Drivers have submitted a total of 84 complaints to the NHTSA. That not only makes it the model year with the fewest number of complaints thus far, but it’s the first model to actually be under 100. The NHTSA has also only issued two recalls for the vehicle.

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Over on CarComplaints, there’s a truly shocking lack of complaints for the 2020 GMC Terrain. In fact, there are only two. Not only that, but the two complaints made there aren’t even that severe. One concerns an A/C condenser leak, and the other is a complaint about the driver’s door not locking if the vehicle’s key fob is inside the vehicle, including while driving. While these are certainly things you want to get fixed, they aren’t dealbreakers like engine failure or broken seats. Drivers surveyed by J.D. Power agreed that this was quite a reliable model, with an 84 out of 100 quality and reliability score. The 2020 GMC Terrain would be a quite reliable addition to your garage.

[Featured image by Bull-Doser via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | Public Domain]

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The 2023 GMC Terrain remains part of the same generation as the previously mentioned 2020 model, but the company refined this vehicle to be even more reliable than it has ever been. Drivers surveyed by J.D. Power gave it a very impressive 88 out of 100 for its quality and reliability. This is also the highest rated model by drivers surveyed by Consumer Reports for its reliability at 77 out of 100, and this is an outlet where its drivers have been far more critical of the Terrain than J.D. Power drivers.

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What really puts it over the top though is the true lack of complaints levied against it. The 2023 GMC Terrain basically has none. The NHTSA has fielded zero complaints from drivers, and no one has posted a single complaint about the SUV on CarComplaints either. That would make sense if the vehicle just hit the streets, but it has been out for a few years now. To see no complaints and no recalls is almost unheard of. It is still relatively early days for the 2023 GMC Terrain, but in terms of reliability, it could not be doing better as of now.

[Featured image by HJUdall via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC0 1.0]

We now move onto the GMC Terrain model years that are not worth the investment for your used vehicle needs. During the SUV’s first generation, there were plenty of options to choose from. The first three years of the vehicle were rife with issues, leading to mass complaints from drivers that would scare away any potential buyer. Looking at the year-by-year time on CarComplaints, you will see that these three first years have the three highest totals of complaints from drivers with 121, 151, and 92 respectively. The 2011 model, with 151 complaints, is what CarComplaints determines to be the worst year for the Terrain, due mostly to the engine’s propensity to excessively consume oil, a problem that CarComplaints estimates to cost you over $5,100 to fix on average.

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The complaints made to the NHTSA are also quite numerous. The 2010 model accrued 289, and 2011 saw those numbers go up to 392, with the engine being the cause of 176 of those complaints. The 2012 Terrain went slightly down to 357 complaints, and once again, engine issues remained persistent. These three model years make up three of the four most problematic years for the GMC Terrain, and this isn’t how you want the launch of your new vehicle to go. They are among the least reliable GMC models of all time.

[Featured image by Hammer51012 via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]

The first three years for the GMC Terrain did not instill much confidence that the company could produce a reliable SUV. Unfortunately, the next three years did very little to dissuade those fears. We run into another three-year stretch where each model year has hundreds of complaints made against it. Starting with the 2013 model, drivers have made 357 complaints to the NHTSA. Rather amazingly, that is the same number as the previous year. On CarComplaints, there are 71 complaints submitted for it. That is the lowest for any model in these first six years, which is the definition of damning with faint praise.

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Moving to the 2014 Terrain, we see the number of problems on CarComplaints go up to 78, but the NHTSA did see the number of complaints go down to a total of 287, which is about the same as the original 2010 model. As for the 2015 model, the NHTSA logged slightly more than the previous year with 295, and the total on CarComplaints was slightly fewer with 72. Across all of these complaints, the engine consuming oil was the biggest issue. Luckily, the 2016 model year came around and was finally able to iron out all of these issues, allowing the first generation to go out on a respectable note.

[Featured image by LotPro Cars via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 2.0]

The second generation also has some dips in quality, particularly the 2018 Terrain. SlashGear was already lukewarm on this model on a first drive, but the years have shown it to not be very reliable as well. It has received the highest number of complaints for any year from this generation, with 166 made to the NHTSA. Problems with the brakes contributed to the biggest proportion of complaints. That bears itself out with the complaints made on CarComplaints, of which there are 23 total. In comparison to the first generation models, the number of complaints here are significantly less, but compared to the rest of this generation, it has easily the most.

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Another factor contributing to the 2018 Terrain ending up on this half of the list is the ratings from J.D. Power. Drivers surveyed by the organization are generally pretty favorable towards the Terrain, but the 2018 model has the lowest ratings of any model year. The overall score is a 79 out of 100, which is the only year to get below an 80, and that is due in part to the quality and reliability score of 78. These still aren’t terrible scores, but when you have much more reliable options available, why take this one?

[Featured image by Mr.choppers via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 3.0]