2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Engine is the leading concern among 827 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the 5th highest complaint count among 19 Silverado 1500 model years with reports.
Of the 2021 reports, 20 involved a crash and 12 involved a fire. 17 people were injured.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Power train, automatic transmission, control module, softwareFeb 12, 2026
General Motors, LLC is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 2500, 3500, and 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 vehicles that may have been repaired incorrectly under recall 24V797. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock up.
Rear wheel lock up increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the vehicles and update the transmission control software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 6, 2026. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N252516560. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall became searchable on NHTSA.gov on February 12, 2026.
Campaign 26V083000 on NHTSA.gov
Engine and engine cooling, engine, hard parts internal/mechanicalApr 24, 2025
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Suburban, and Tahoe, GMC Sierra 1500, Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with a 6.2L V8 gas engine. The connecting rod and/or crankshaft engine components may have manufacturing defects that can lead to engine damage and engine failure.
Engine failure increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will inspect the engine, and as necessary, repair or replace the engine. For vehicles that pass inspection, dealers will add higher viscosity oil, install 6 oil fill cap, replace the oil filter, and update the owner's manual. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 18, 2025. Owners may contact Cadillac customer service at 1-800-333-4223, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N252494000.
Campaign 25V274000 on NHTSA.gov
Power train, automatic transmission, control module, softwareOct 24, 2024
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, 2500, 3500, GMC Sierra 1500, 2500, 3500, 2021 Cadillac Escalade, Escalade ESV, Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban, GMC Yukon, and Yukon XL vehicles equipped with diesel engines. The transmission control valve may fail and cause the rear wheels to lock-up.
Rear wheel lock-up can increase the risk of a crash.
Dealers will install new transmission control module software, free of charge. GM will provide a special coverage program to cover the repair of transmissions that are identified by the remedy software as containing a defective control valve. Owner notification letters were mailed December 12, 2024. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-888-988-7267, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, GMC customer service at GMC 1-800-462-8782 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N242454440.
Campaign 24V797000 on NHTSA.gov
Tires, temporary/emergency spare tireDec 16, 2021
General Motors (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 GMC Sierra 1500 and Silverado 1500 vehicles equipped with certain accessory road tires and a 17" spare tire. The 17" spare tire provided with the vehicle is not compatible for use with the accessory wheels, which can cause the anti-lock brake system (ABS) to not function properly under certain conditions.
An ABS system that does not function properly can increase the risk of a crash.
Dealers will provide a new 17" spare tire and wheel assembly that is compatible with the accessory wheels, free of charge. Dealers will also apply a new spare tire information label, and provide owners with an owner's manual insert clarifying which spare tire to use with the accessory road tires and with the 17" original tires. Owner notification letters were mailed February 7, 2022. Owners may contact GM customer service at 1-800-462-8782 or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is N212346510.
Campaign 21V985000 on NHTSA.gov
Air bags, frontalJul 1, 2021
General Motors, LLC. (GM) is recalling certain 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 vehicles. The front driver's side air bag module may be missing one or more metal tabs that secure the plastic air bag cover to the housing.
The missing tabs may prevent the air bag from deploying properly, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
Dealers will inspect the driver frontal air bag, and replace it if necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed August 16, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N212336560.
Campaign 21V495000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat beltsDec 23, 2020
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2021 GMC Canyon and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Blazer, Camaro, Colorado, Equinox, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, Suburban and Tahoe vehicles. Incorrect bolts may have been used at one or more fastening locations to secure the seat belts to the vehicle. If an incorrect bolt was used, the seat belt may not be properly attached to the vehicle.
If a seat belt assembly is not properly attached to the vehicle, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect bolts, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8785, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202322230.
Campaign 20V811000 on NHTSA.gov
Seat beltsDec 17, 2020
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, 2021 Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe and GMC Yukon XL and 2020-2021 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 3500 and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500 vehicles. The seat belt brackets may not be secured to the seat frame in the front-row center seating position.
If a seat-belt bracket is not secured, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the front-row center seat position, increasing the risk of injury in a crash.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect left-side and right-side front-row center seat-belt bracket attachments and reassemble it correctly as necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 26, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202314670.
Campaign 20V792000 on NHTSA.gov
TiresNov 5, 2020
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.
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.
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.
Campaign 20V684000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints: steering
41 reports, newest first. Show all
Steering, Oct 30, 2023
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle failed to steer as needed. The service now message was displayed. The vehicle was restarted three times, but the steering remained inoperable. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where the system was reset. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired, but the failure recurred. While starting the vehicle, the power steering functionality was inoperable. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 27,000.
Steering, Suspension, Sep 24, 2023
Upper control arm ball joint failed causing me to lose stealing control, luckily I was only driving 10MPH, if I had been on the interstate this could have been more serious possibly fatalities involved, I have read reports this is a common thing, my truck is a 2021 Silverado, I never received a recall notice
Steering, Electrical system, Wheels, Sep 14, 2023
Unknown
Steering, Other or unspecified, Service brakes, Jul 28, 2023
While parked I turned on the truck and got service sec warning and power steering failure. Brakes barely worked and wheel was locked. After restarting the car three times it went away and truck became driveable. Took it to a dealership and they said there’s nothing they could do as a code didn’t pop. Seems unacceptable as my family is consistently in the car and if it happens while driving could be extremely dangerous
Steering, Electrical system, Service brakes, Jul 3, 2023
While pulling out into traffic the vehicle will momentarily lose all electrical power and the engine shuts off causing loss of brakes and steering.
Steering, Jun 22, 2023
Electric power steering loss. Message stated to service power steering and ecs. Could not control vehicle.. After powered off for 20 minutes it went away and then was towed to dealer who found nothing wrong. Extremely unsafe!
Steering, Other or unspecified, Visibility/wiper, Jun 2, 2023, crash
This is a potential problem for a serious injury to a child , stroller, pet - or damage to front of truck and vehicle in front of truck. The hood of the truck is very high. And sitting in the drivers seat you are "driving blind. " It is impossible to see an object directly in front at bumper level. The only way to judge the distance to an object, or small person, is to get out of the truck and look. I had minor damage to the front of the truck by hitting my garage. But more seriously if there were a child or stroller- you literally cannot see it. This could be easily fixed with a forward looking camera - and the truck comes with a rear one- but Chevynfirs not offer any front camera/ park assist on any of its Silverado 1500's.!The manual says park assist is an option- but Chevy currently does not offer that option. This is dangerous..
Steering, Suspension, Service brakes, Jan 29, 2023
So I have been having issues with my truck losing oil. My dealership told me that Walmart made an issue with the oil filter causing it to leak oil out. After the dealership corrected the issue. I was on my way to the store this morning it was damp so I was having a lot of traction issues. Got to the gas station checked tires, no issue with them. Temperature is above freezing. Just thought maybe it’s in my head. Well I get about 2 miles from my house and low oil light comes on again. So this is an issue. It has happened 2 times to me. Had I not been cautious I could have slipped off the road or had a collision because the oil mixing with the water on the roadways. I will be reaching out to my dealership tomorrow to try and get them to correct this issue again. Seems there is a service bulletin on how to tighten the oil filter. Because of oil leaks.
Steering, Suspension, Electrical system, Sep 22, 2022
Body control modules sas modules no communication service esc light and traction control lights coming on vehicle looses all steers ng when lights come on at any speeds it says service esc power steering loss drive with caution have had it into multiple shops and no diagnostic scanners can get into the 3 systems there 6050 miles on vehicle we haven’t gotten in a wreck yet but that is totally not out of the question it will happen and when it does its going to be devistating
Steering, Service brakes, Jul 8, 2022
2021 Silverado Trail Boss. Went to the store, came outside started the truck and it showed me ESC Warning and Power Steering Failure Drive with Care notice on the dash. The Steering was very hard to turn. I tried multiple times, and it did not work. I started reading information on line and found out that there are multiple truck owners who had same issue. I saw some information to leave the truck off for 20 - 30 min and try again. I left it off for 30 min and started again. At that time it started fine. I am going to the Chevy dealer because this can also happen while I am driving and it can cause an accident. My truck has only 12k miles.
Steering, Apr 28, 2022
Intermittent power steering failure.
Steering, Engine, Nov 16, 2021
Electric steering control and driver assist malfunctioning along with engine misfire Been to the dealership 3x they have reproduced the issue unable to repair Chevy also notified apparently many other vehicle of my same type have this issue Happens daily till vehicle has run for a bit Unsafe till then Started at about 13 k miles still ongoing
Steering, Power train, Oct 11, 2021
Driving the vehicle on October 10, 2021, with my fiancee and her mother in the vehicle. Upon exiting expressway I-75 a noise in the front end could be heard. It was a pinging/clinking noise that didn't change in frequency under braking nor under speed changes. It stayed at the same frequency of occurrence regardless of speed but wasn't present at vehicle stop or idle. It seems only to happen when vehicle is in motion. The noise became louder at lower speeds of driving. Vehicle was taken to a GM dealership on October 11, 2021, for repair. The dealer indicated that they could not repair the vehicle as GM issued a work instruction (PIP5653) stating no repair or resolution is available. GM indicates there is no problem to the vehicle however something is wrong with the front end axle and if it breaks then there is risk of accident as the wheel could lock up causing loss of control and/or loss of steering. Upon reading document PIP5653 I learned that all GM full size pick-up trucks and SUVs from model year 2019 to 2021 are effected. This is a huge population at risk for possible loss of control and/or loss of steering to be supported by simple GM comment. There must be a fix.
Steering, Aug 8, 2021
Upon starting the vehicle got a alert on the dash DIC of, "Reduced Steering Assist, Service Steering System", or something similar to that. The vehicle was very hard to steer so I shut it off and restarted it seeing if it would reset since its electric steering, but it did not reset and was still difficult to steer. I was able to drive it home carefully since I was close to my home. After I got home I opened the hood to look but saw nothing wrong. I restarted vehicle again and the steering was back to normal and power steering was restored. I am very concerned because if this happens during busy traffic it could result in loss of control and a crash.
Steering, Service brakes, Back over prevention, May 6, 2021
BOUGHT THE TRUCK 2 WEEKS AGO AND PUT 500 MILES ON IT. UPON ENTERING I GOT AN ALERT ON THE DASH SAYING ESC POWER STEERING FAILURE, PARKING SENSOR FAILURE AND ABS FAILURE DRIVE WITH CAUTION. ALL THESE ALERTS HAPPENED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND BARELY TURNED ON. SURE ENOUGH I TRY TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE POWER STEERING WAS OUT AND THE PARKING SENSORS WERE OUT. I DIDN'T TRY THE BRAKES SINCE I WAS NOT MOVING AND PARKED.
Steering, Apr 3, 2021
PARKED TRUCK IN MY GARAGE OVERNIGHT. CAME OUT THIS AFTERNOON TO START UP AND GOT THE WARNING MESSAGE 'POWER STEERING ESC' SHUT IT DOWN, RESTARTED THE TRUCK FIVE TIMES SAME MESSAGE. SILVERADO 1500 HAS APPROXIMATELY 3497 MILES ON IT. RST MODEL.